Every time a major acquisition takes place in the business world, there are clear cut winners and losers – the recent buyout of Motorola Mobility by Google being no exception. However, what makes this particular example rather unusual is that, according to analyst, neither of the companies involved really comes out on top overall. Instead, [...]
Here You Have Virus Email, Regardless that you are most less likely to find filled with malware in the event you’re using Linux rather than Windows, that doesn’t mean that security software ought to be entirely ignored. ClamTK – or KlamAV, determined by the environment through which to utilize – gives your Linux PC with [...]
News has been reported that Google have started to remove Windows from their in-house computers. They are blaming the Windows operating system for their network breach late last year, causing rumors there could be security risks with the Windows software. Google employees have long been able to choose which operating system they would use whilst [...]
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Wakey wakey, eggs and a culturally accepted meat or vegetable product that can be diminutized to rhyme with “wakey!” Have we got a surprise for you. This weekend we’re giving away an HTC HD2 GSM phone for T-Mobile . If you recall, the HD2 is a glorious Windows Mobile 6.5 phone with lots of great things built-in including a huge, beautiful screen, Wi-Fi, and it even comes with two Transformers movies right on the handset. Seriously good stuff. I haven’t been a fan of Windows Mobile since 2000 and even I like it. How do you win? I need you to comment below with a reason why you, dear sir, deserve this phone. Maybe your current phone is garbage. Maybe you need it for a great uncle who is also a Duke and if you give it to him you will get his hereditary title when he dies. Either way, you need to convince us of this. Extra points go to folks who email contest@crunchgear.com with a picture of themselves with their old, busted phone and a sad, sad face. We’ll pick the best sob story and send them this phone.
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I’m not quite sure what this was important to someone, but Todd Bishop of TechFlash sat down with Microsoft to discuss those crazy Seinfeld ads from way back in ought-8. He essentially asked Microsoft “What were you thinking?” and got some interesting replies. Essentially, Microsoft wanted to introduce Windows 7 in a big way but they weren’t sure how to go about it. Their marketing execs wanted an icebreaker to invite the world back into the mind of Microsoft. The result? Some of the craziest commercials the company ever released. But the truth is, we actually hadn’t been doing that for a while. So we were a little worried about just having a cold start into that process, just jumping in with some Windows ads around features, and speeds and feeds. We thought we needed an icebreaker. Because at that moment, our biggest fear — and this is the part that I would say you would be right to say was laughable — would be that we would run ads and nobody would notice. That somehow, we would have a party and nobody would come. Now, knowing the level of scrutiny that every slight twitch that we have gets at this point, that was an incorrect assumption, certainly on my part, that anybody would fail to notice that we had started running a new ad campaign. So the idea that we came up with was, what if we sort of eased into this, not with a hard sales pitch on one of our products, but with something that said, hey, I’m getting back in touch with consumers, I’m going on this journey as a company to get back into having a consumer conversation with people. Let’s try to find an icebreaker. Ultimately, these commercials were the precursor to the humanizing “I’m a PC” and “Laptop Hunter” ads that came later. So think of Jerry and Bill as sort of a nice sherbet before the real meat.
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I’m not sure how useful this will be, but it sounds interesting. Chinese manufacturer Creation Tech is selling a 7 inch ultra mobile PC for $65. The specs aren’t very impressive, but for that kind of money what do you expect? I guess it’d be ok for doing your computing in the cloud, but the CTEB7G wouldn’t be useful for much more then internet browsing. The thing is powered by a VIA 533MHz processor, has 128mb of RAM, 2GB of flash storage, and sports an 800
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Here’s a quick look at the first US version of the HTC HD2 , a really nice Windows Mobile 6.5 phone. We’ve have plenty of coverage of this phone over the past few months but now it’s available on T-Mobile for $200 with contract. It’s a really beautiful phone – and I don’t say that much – but will it take off with WinPho waiting in the wings?
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I hate it when a product like the Viliv S10 Blade looks so good as a concept but fails to live up to its potential. The S10 has a late-model Atom CPU, 1GB of RAM, and a multitouch 10-inch screen. Should be solid, right? Wrong. Features Multitouch resistive touchscreen Convertible design 32GB or 64GB SSD Intel Atom Z530 or Z550 CPU Pros Battery life at around 7 hours with WiFi on Multitouch screen combined with Win7’s Touch Pack Great 3G modem Cons Chintzy build quality Very weak screen hinge No way to lock the screen in tablet configuration Review The Viliv S10 Blade is the largest and latest model in Viliv’s growing arsenal. It’s essentially an S7 with a larger screen, with the same convertible touchscreen design and 3G modem. However the S10 adds a 7-point multitouch to the mix along with Windows 7. These two main additions make for a much more pleasing user experience. Computer power-wise, the S10 is technically faster than the S7 with a 1.66GHz Atom rather than a 1.33GHz. But it doesn’t seem faster because it also uses Windows 7 instead of XP. Even with all of Windows 7’s fancy user enhancements turn off, there’s still some noticeable lag opening and closing programs. Things tend to stutter. But that’s a small price to pay for the goodies that come with Windows 7 Touch Pack. While Windows 7 certainly isn’t a touchscreen-type interface, the Touch Pack makes it at least usable with a slightly modified pointer. The pack builds the touchscreen interface controls directly into the OS, rather than relying on 3rd party solutions that often didn’t work well. Touch the screen and the pointer turns from an arrow into a small round circle, which is better suited for a finger or the included stylis. Touch and hold brings up the right click menu along with the ability to drag and select multiple icons. Even the Microsoft Surface apps are included with the pack, although the graphically-intense programs do not run well on the low-power S10. Also, the handwriting app could use a little work. (see the pic to to the left) None of this touchscreen fun is Viliv’s doing, though. It’s an official Windows 7 add-on pack. Viliv however opted for a nice mutlitouch touchscreen that full takes advantage of this pack. Everything from pinch-to-zoom works. It’s practical use however is still in question because right now there isn’t much taking advantage of it on the small, low-power device. While the multitouch screen is cool, it’s also one of the S10’s main disappointment. It has a horrible viewing angle. It must be +/-10 degrees. Users cannot be at all off of center. Forget about folding the screen flat and laying the it on the table in slate mode. You can’t see it unless you’re directly above the screen. Then there’s the screen hinge. This is where the S10 really starts to fall apart. It’s a bit on the loosey goosey side. A loose hinge is even worse on a convertable notebook as there’s nothing stopping the screen from twisting and turning at the slightest touch. Generally convertable notebooks and netbooks have a little latch or a very strong hinge to prevent the screen from moving when in notebook mode. Then in tablet mode, there should be another latch that locks the screen in place. But the S10 doesn’t have either allowing the screen to move around way too much. This could be a dealbreaker for some power users coming looking to upgrade from older convertible models. It’s not just the screen that looks and feels cheap. Even the slightly amount of pressure between the battery and the front lip causes the plastic to flex, revealing the hard edge of the battery. The keyboard is mushy and while the trackpad is fine, the mouse buttons are the single bar-type that rock between right and left click that require you to click on a small sweet spot rather than anywhere on the bar. The speakers are horrible, which is actually a bit of a surprise. The two previous Viliv’s I’ve reviewed, the X70 tablet and S7 netbook, both had speakers that were both loud and clear. Not the S10, though. The computing power is on par for an Atom. It handles YouTube and Xvid videos fine, but chokes when it comes to Hulu and any of the included Microsoft Surface apps. GeekBench gave it a 793. There is some good news, though. The 3G modem is great and I found the battery lasted around 7 hours under normal use with the WiFi on. (that’s it) So while I love to tell you that the S10 is a viable slate alternative, I can’t. The bad screen hinge is that big of a deal in my mind. It not only contributes to the cheap feel, but also seriously limits the S10’s ability as a tablet as there’s no way to confidently keep the netbook in tablet mode without the aid of a latch or locking mechanism. It’s a fine netbook with the normal mediocre performance that an Atom CPU offers, but don’t think that the S10 is the best of both the netbook and tablet worlds.
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If it turns out that Gates really is an evil genius, we’re all screwed. I mean, first he’ll unleash a plague of hurricanes on the coasts of the world, then he’ll release clouds of mosquitoes all over the newly marshy world, and then he’ll tell all the Windows-running reactors to shut down and he’ll be only power source, running for 100 years off depleted uranium. But if he’s not… well, then we’re all in for a treat. Because the guy is tackling some seriously heavy issues. The latest is a project with Toshiba and Terrapower to create a nuclear reactor that can run for 100 years on a single charge of fuel . There are currently projects underway to create compact reactors that will run for 30 years, but 50-100 is the goal of the new “traveling-wave” style. Gates is said to be putting a lot of his own money on the line, and the project should run into the hundreds of billions of yen, which is to say billions of dollars at least. I mean, developing a new breed of nuclear reactor isn’t a thing one does lightly. Well, guys, if this isn’t part of some master plan to rule the world, good job.
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Now here’s a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. LookTel is an object identifier – you point it at something and it tells you what it is. You can teach it to recognize new objects and by aiming it at a product, the program can tell what it is using real speech and when you need to ID something on the fly, you can stick on an image sticker and read that sticker. It’s more or less a barcode and QR scanner with some image recognition thrown in, but it really could be a boon to those with failing – or failed – eyesight. The system needs a little more computing power than is available in the average smartphone so you need a local PC to help ID some things. The machine learning works like this: Users running the LookTel Mobile software, which runs on compatible Windows Mobile Smartphones, use the cell phone’s touch-screen interface to navigate and the cell phone’s camera to recognize objects. The LookTel Mobile software transmits the live images from the cell phone to a PC running LookTel BaseStation, our sophisticated recognition software. When the PC receives a request to look up an image, it sorts through the image library to find the matching image stored in the database. It then sends back the information that permits the Smartphone to speak the description of the item to you. LookTel “learns” to recognize new items by storing an image of the item, captured by the Smartphone, and matching it with a tag. The tag can be your own voice or a text tag that is read by the text-to-speech engine, similar to what your home PC can do. There is also a live-assistant portion that lets human beings tell you what’s going on around you as you point your phone’s camera at the scene. It works with Windows smartphones and MIDs. There is no current pricing – I have an email into the company – but I looks like a great idea. Considering my eyes will probably eventually go from all this monitor usage, I may need this sooner than later.
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