Month: February 2008

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The new N96 is available now

N76

The new N96 is official! The word’s all over the Internet, with pictures and a limited spec sheet. Nokia finally made the phone available at GSMA Barcelona today, and tech2 reports that the phone is a union of the N81 and the N95.

The N96 has a 5MP camera with Carl-Zeiss lens and Xenon flash, and will come with S60 3rd feature pack, which is yet to make a release. To make the surfing experience a little richer, a fully flash-enabled surfing interface is included. The phone will come with 16GB of space built in, with an option to double that

source:tech2

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AOL’s New Open Mobile Platform

aol

At the GSMA congress in Barcelona they’ve announced their own open mobile platform, which will enable developers to build RIAs for mobile devices.

“The platform will consist of three components: an XML-based, next-generation markup language; an ultra-lightweight mobile device client; and an application server. A dynamic presentation layer will allow for rapid deployment of new features and easy optimization for a wide variety of mobile devices, allowing developers to build and update applications once, and then distribute them across all supported devices and platforms.”

The platform will become available to developers sometime in the summer and the applications built on the platform will work across most major mobile device platforms – BREW, Java, Linux, RIM, Symbian and Windows Mobile – but interestingly enough, Android is nowhere to be seen.

Furthermore, developers will be able to integrate applications build on the platform with third party APIs, AOL’s other open APIs (AIM, AOL Mail, AOL Video, MapQuest, Userplane, Truveo, Winamp, and others), as well as monetize their mobile apps through AOL’s Platform-A advertising platform.

source:reuters 

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Samsung introduces ARM-based smartphone chip S3C6400

s3c6410

Samsung Electronics introduced a new ARM-based processor for smartphones at Mobile World Congress 2008 in Barcelona, Spain. The S3C6410 “mobile application processor” includes special hardware accelerators to handle motion video processing and 3D graphics, thereby freeing up the main processor for other tasks and speeding overall performance.

Samsung Electronics will update its mobile processor lineup with a new chip that combines a 667MHz processor core with hardware acceleration for multimedia, including 3D graphics and video, the company said Sunday.

The S3C6410 mobile processor is made using a 65-nanometer process and is designed for use in smart phones and navigation devices. To be shown at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week, samples of the new chip will be available to device makers in May with volume shipments planned to begin during the third quarter.

The S3C6410 combines a 667MHz Arm processor core with a hardware video accelerator that supports multiple video formats, including MPEG4 and H.264. The chip, which supports a variety of smart phone operating systems, including Symbian, Windows Mobile and Linux, can capture and replay video using less power than would otherwise be possible, thereby extending battery life, Samsung said.

The chip has also been designed to work with a variety of memory types, including DRAM and flash memory, which should give device makers more flexibility when designing future products, the chip maker said.

Pricing for the S3C6410 was not disclosed.

source:pcworld 

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Highly demanded OS! Red Hat, Ubuntu Win Linux

pc

Alfresco collected data between July and December of last year, with survey participants coming from 260 countries, according to the company. Fifty percent were from Europe, the Middle East and Asia, while 24 percent were in the U.S., and 26 percent from other nations, Alfresco said.

Ubuntu and Red Hat are the most used Linux distributions among the 35,000 members of content-management vendor Alfresco’s community, the company found in its second survey of trends in enterprise open-source software usage.

Among Linux operating systems, usage of Ubuntu and Red Hat stood at 35 percent and 23 percent, respectively, according to the survey. Suse, OpenSuse and Suse Enterprise collectively garnered 13 percent; Debian, 15 percent; and “other” distributions usage of 14 percent.

Users also reported using a variety of proprietary enterprise software.

Among Windows users, Vista adoption was just 2 percent, compared to 63 percent for Windows XP and 28 percent for Windows Server 2003.

The surveys help inform Alfresco’s technology strategy, according to Ian Howells, Alfresco’s chief marketing officer. “It’s important for us to know which platforms to test against first,” he said, adding, “It’s in users’ interest to give us good data.”

Microsoft’s Office suite remained strong, however, with 66 percent usage. Twenty-four percent of the respondents reported they used OpenOffice. However, German and French users were twice as likely to use the latter compared to those in the U.S. or U.K., Alfresco said.

Tomcat held a dominant position in the application server category, logging 72 percent. JBoss’ entry stood at 18 percent. Entries from Sun, BEA and IBM rounded out the field.

MySQL took home the database prize, with a 60 percent tally, followed by Oracle with 14 percent and Microsoft SQL Server with 13 percent.

In the virtualization category, VMware perhaps predictably ranked highest, at 61 percent. Microsoft’s Virtual Server took 16 percent, followed by Xen, Parallels, Virtual Iron and “other” offerings, according to the study.

“It kind of validates that people want to have a mixed stack,” Howells said of the overall results.

source:pcworld 

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Intel, STM Delivers innovative memory technology

Intel-ST

Intel Corporation and STMicroelectronics reached a key industry milestone today as they began shipping prototype samples of a future product using a new, innovative memory technology called Phase Change Memory (PCM). The prototypes are the first functional silicon to be delivered to customers for evaluation, bringing the technology one step closer to adoption.

The memory device, codenamed “Alverstone” uses PCM, a promising new memory technology providing very fast read and write speeds at lower power than conventional flash, and allows for bit alterability normally seen in RAM. PCM has long been a topic of discussion for research and development, and with “Alverstone,” Intel and STMicroelectronics are helping to move the technology into the marketplace.

“This is the most significant non-volatile memory advancement in 40 years,” said Ed Doller, chief technology officer-designate of Numonyx, the new name for the pending STMicroelectronics and Intel flash memory company. “There have been plenty of attempts to find and develop new non-volatile memory technologies, yet of all the concepts, PCM provides the most compelling solution – and Intel and STMicroelectronics are delivering PCM into the hands of customers today. This is an important milestone for the industry and for our companies.”

The technology is still experimental, but the companies marked another step in its evolution, delivering samples of the new chips to device makers. Proponents say that phase-change memory (PCM) is more reliable than flash memory, and that it will offer faster data transfer speeds and be more durable.

source:intel 

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Sony Ericsson Unveils Windows Mobile Handset XPERIA™ X1

sony_ericsson logo   X1

Sony Ericsson has created phones around the Symbian operating system, jumped quietly onto the Windows Mobile bandwagon with the announcement here today of its Xperian X1 smartphone.

Today marked the launch of XPERIA™  and a new era in mobile communications with the announcement of the XPERIA™ X1, a stand-out, arc slider phone from Sony Ericsson designed to address the growing need for a premium, converged mobile experience.

In fact, the handset has a custom user interface–consisting of 9 square icons that Sony Ericsson calls panels–which sits on top of the usual Windows Mobile 6 interface. The company also said the Xperia brand was not tied to Windows Mobile, so that future Xperia models could support other mobile phone platforms.

However Rikko Sakaguchi, head of Portfolios and Propositions for Sony Ericsson, said using Windows Mobile would allow the company to broaden its customer base, and also said it was the best platform in terms of PC integration.

The handset itself has a resistive 3-inch VGA touchscreen atop an optical navigation pad; the display slides sideways in a gently curved arc (and changes screen orientation to landscape mode) to reveal a roomy QWERTY keyboard. It supports assisted GPS and Wi-Fi as well as HSDPA, and has a built-in 3.2-megapixel camera.

Sony Ericsson also announced a slew of other phones, including new Walkman and Cyber-shot handsets, plus a couple of high-speed HSPA XpressCards.

Sony Ericsson XPERIATM X1 – energised communication, the premium experience.

  • Convergence of multimedia entertainment and mobile Web communication
  • Unique arc slider with wide pitch easy-to-use QWERTY keyboard
  • XPERIA™ panels  – arrange as you want for easy access
  • Enjoy multimedia entertainment on bright wide VGA display
  • Windows Mobile® capabilities

The X1 won’t appear until the second half of this year, but most of the others should begin shipping worldwide by mid year. Most of the phones support either HSDPA or its slightly slower (but still considered broadband) sibling, UMTS–although some only support the latter in Europe (and are therefore unlikely to ship in the U.S.).

source:sonyericsson 

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Microsoft,Google, IBM, Yahoo, VeriSign all in OpenID board

openID

At the beginning of 2006, there were less than 500 websites where OpenID could be used. Today there are well over 10,000, according to the Foundation.”OpenID has grown to be implemented by major open source projects such as Drupal, cornerstone Web 2.0 services such as those by 37signals and Six Apart, as well as a mix of large companies including as Apple, Google, and Yahoo!,” it said.

The move follows Yahoo! last month announcing that its accountholders would be able to use any web site supporting OpenID without creating a separate username and password. A year ago, Microsoft pledged to integrate OpenID 2.0 with the CardSpace identity management systems developed in conjunction with Windows Vista.

According to Technology Business Research, these heavies joining the board will accelerate the secure us of the Internet for commerce, communication, and social networking and go well beyond a one-size-fits-all user ID.  “TBR believes the major corporations that joined the OpenID Foundation board today will help OpenID address problems of security, provider trustworthiness, and user education. Eventually, there will develop a somewhat more complex identity environment than the single sign-on that the creators of OpenID first envisioned, one in which uses have several IDs, tailored to their business and social needs.”

While the OpenID Foundation serves a stewardship role around the community’s intellectual property, the Foundation’s board itself does not make any decisions about the specifications the community is collaboratively building. However the Foundation claimed that “By bringing on these companies and their resources, the OpenID Foundation will now be able to better serve the needs of  the entire OpenID community. In 2008, we can expect to see a larger focus on making OpenID even more accessible to a mainstream audience, the development of a World-wide trademark usage policy (much like the Jabber Foundation and Mozilla have done), and a larger international focus on working with the OpenID communities in Asia and Europe.”

TBR said that such a multi-tiered ID scheme would “make it easy for the website provider to screen users without the burden of verification. In addition, an easy way to implement a user identification system makes it easier for providers to monetise their websites by blocking – or removing – content for anonymous users. Many providers have been unable to monetise their content due to the low willingness of users to register for every little website. With an easy-to-use and open system, every website could require a login.”

source:itwire

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Vista SP1: Is It mean Slow Pack 1?

vista sp1

Some in the media have received the final SP1 code too, as evidenced by reviews online, with an article at PC World showing mixed performance results with SP1, with ‘file copy performance notably improved’, yet with some tests showing Vista pre-SP1 actually faster than SP1 itself.

The Vista SP1 debacle continues, with TechNet and MSDN subscribers unable to download the final RTM code of SP1, despite around 15,000 SP1 beta testers having been confirmed by Computerworld as having received the final SP1 code, weeks before the general public.

Another article at Computerworld shows Vista SP1 to be 20% slower at copying files than pre-SP1, while the ‘old’ Windows XP beats both Vista pre-SP1 and SP1 at copying files by a wide margin.

This has forced Microsoft to delay SP1’s release to the general public to give themselves and hardware manufacturers some additional time to iron out the driver bugs, something that, ironically, was Vista’s original problem, something that was meant to be fixed with the release of SP1 itself.

What is clear is that SP1, despite having reached ‘release to manufacturing’ or RTM status, still isn’t 100% finished. What’s holding things up is Microsoft’s discovery, thanks to the beta testers, that some PC manufacturers have loaded drivers onto their machines which SP1 just doesn’t like.

Microsoft will actually delay some users getting Vista SP1 until April, as it uses the Windows Update software built into Vista to determine which machines might be affected by the SP1 driver issues.

Microsoft should never have told the world SP1 was ready when it plainly wasn’t, but as they have, the bad PR onslaught has been massive, with some TechNet and MSDN subscribers wondering if they will be re-subscribing to the services when they next come up for renewal. All in all, it’s a big mess

Read more                                       source: itwire

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Portable Speakers for iPhone

dol

Compact yet powerful, the DLO Portable Speakers for iPhone let you enjoy your music and videos in stereo sound without any threat of TDMA interference. Featuring an extra-wide sound stage and bass vents for delivering powerful sound, these small speakers pack a powerful punch.

Small enough for home, office or dormitory desktops, the speakers also feature a unique compact design that makes them ideal for travel. Each speaker snaps neatly into the base to create a “ball” approximately 6 inches in diameter. The base features a recessed area for keeping cords securely wrapped and out of the way when not in use. Powered by either AAA batteries or the included AC adapter, the DLO Portable Speakers for iPhone are versatile enough to be used at home or on the go. Although our Portable Speakers were created with the iPhone in mind, they will also work with any audio device that has a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The removable, rotating stand holds the iPhone upright or horizontally for the ideal portable movie-viewing experience. Plus, you don’t have to disconnect your iPhone if a call comes in – the Portable Speakers simply turn into your iPhone into a speaker phone! So while iPhone is connected, you can take and place calls as usual, without any disruption.

source:dlo 

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Palm Centro in Europe

Centro

The Centro, launched in the States late last year, has email, web, Palm’s organiser, contact and calendar capabilities, a full colour touchscreen and full keyboard.

The phone has proved popular in the States, and has been credited for attracting a younger audience to Palm’s devices.

At launch, the phone was said to be aimed at students, young professionals and “CEOs of households”.

Palm has announced that the Palm Centro, the smallest and lightest Palm smartphone to date, will be coming to Europe at the end of February.

Key features (in Palm’s phrasing):

• All-in-one phone and messaging device
• Small and light, weighing just over 4oz.
• Full keyboard and a colour touchscreen
• Text messaging with a chat-style view
• Ability to store names, numbers, appointments, notes and to-dos
• Access to wireless email accounts, such as Gmail and Yahoo
• Web browsing capabilities
• Google Maps for maps and directions
• 1.3-megapixel digital camera with video capture
• Easy-to-use Palm OS software
• Ability to play music with PocketTunes
• Ability to create, edit and view native Word and Excel compatible files
• Ability to view native PowerPoint and PDF documents
• Microsoft Direct Push Technology for delivery of Outlook email, as well as personal email, such as Gmail and Yahoo
• Bluetooth 1.2 for connecting wirelessly with compatible headsets and car kits
• 64MB dedicated user storage with support for up to 4GB microSD cards
• Thousands of add-on applications available
• Ability to use Centro as a modem for connecting a laptop to the Internet via Bluetooth, so users can stay connected anywhere within wireless coverage

source:sky