Category: Tech News

Seven Companies Decide Open Source Is the Future of Cellphone Technology

October 4, 2007July 14, 2008 Bob Caswell 28 Comments

ARM is a British company best known for designing chips for cellphones and licensing them to semiconductor companies. The company’s technology is the most widely used in cellphones, though any company implementing the technology modifies it however it deems best. But now a new effort is under way to exploit this chip technology by creating a standard layer of software.

The collaboration was announced at the fourth annual ARM Developers’ Conference being held this week in Santa Clara, California. The idea is to address the rise in consumer demand for Internet access and advanced applications on cellphones. The seven companies are ARM, Samsung, Texas Instruments, Mozilla, Marvell, MontaVista, and Movial. The new standard chosen: a Linux-based open source platform to be designed for next-generation mobile applications.

Gadgets, Internet, Tech News

Radiohead’s Social Experiment: Choose Your Own Price for Our Music

October 1, 2007 Bob Caswell 7 Comments

Radiohead has decided to follow Prince’s lead by trying a new distribution model for their music. The band announced that the new album, In Rainbows, will only be available via Radiohead.com. And the consumer picks the price for the digital download. Time made it sound like “free” was even an option, though another source explains that there is a minimum charge of 1 pence plus a 45 pence credit card processing fee. In dollars, about $0.94, and that’s for the entire album.

Music, Tech News

PC Gaming Soon To Be Affordable: Growing Popularity Equals Better Competition

September 11, 2007August 20, 2008 Bob Caswell 5 Comments

HP Gaming The big computer companies seem to have one thing in common right now: bring computer gaming to the masses. Last week HP launched the Blackbird 002 desktop PC, the company’s first HP-branded gaming PC. The starting price is $2,500, roughly half the cost of much of the high-end gaming competition.

Then there’s Gateway (soon to be purchased by Acer), which plans to introduce a gaming PC in November called FX540 with a gaming-oriented notebook line planned for release in January. And let’s not forget that both Toshiba and Dell released new, more affordable gaming computers this summer. Toshiba, with its Satellite x205 series of gaming notebooks which start at around $2,000, and Dell with its XPS 720 gaming desktop, which starts at roughly $1,700.

Computers, Gaming, Tech News

Geoweb & Geotags vs. Geospam & Geohacking: The Latest in So-called Web 3.0

September 7, 2007August 20, 2008 Bob Caswell 3 Comments

Geoweb The Economist (subscription required) dives into what it thinks is the next generation of the Internet: the Geoweb. Interestingly enough, it formalizes the thoughts of TechConsumer author Marion Jensen who received attention when he wrote on this subject two months ago. While Marion stopped short of calling the location-based Internet Web 3.0, it’s good to know he is not alone in his concept of the “next big thing.”

Apparently, the geoweb already has an emerging architecture: traffic jams, seismic tremors, crime rates, and melanoma stats are just a few areas where data is being collected and tied to location. A new discipline of “geographic information systems” (GIS) is on the rise, which includes fancy software used mostly by governments and companies to analyze spatial data. And the data “tend to be of impeccable quality.”

Microsoft, Privacy, Tech News, Web 2.0

Purdue University To Use Text Messaging for Campus Emergencies

September 6, 2007August 20, 2008 Bob Caswell No Comments

Purdue University plans to test a text messaging system in late September. So far, about 6,000 students, faculty, and staff have signed up, according to Scott Ksander, executive director of information technology networks and security. In order for the test to be valid, however, the university claims it needs three times that number.

Registration is a simple process. Users go to http://www.purdue.edu/securepurdue and click on “Change My Password.” They then enter their account name and password, and then select the “Emergency Contact Information” link.

Results from the test will be used to determine what works, what can be improved, and how best to evaluate a system for the campus. The university explained that it will use the system only for this test and emergencies involving public safety. Here are some more details (which you can only get to after logging into the system as a student or staff member):

Gadgets, Privacy, Tech News

Sony’s Latest Secret Revealed: Focus on TV, Movie Downloads… Good Luck

September 3, 2007August 20, 2008 Bob Caswell 3 Comments

Sony TV The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) has an article out quoting the usual mix of analysts, speculators, and “people privy to Sony’s plans.” I must say that the article’s title of “Sony to Challenge Apple In TV, Movie Downloads” makes the news sound more exciting than it really is.

Perhaps I should give Sony a chance rather than point out the obvious that the company has a very long way to go. Meaning, it’s a bit of a late comer in an already crowded space (Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Netflix all compete here just to name the big boys). I suppose it’s true that first movers don’t always win, and there isn’t a clear leader yet. But good luck to Sony on this one…

Amazon, Apple, Gaming, Media, Microsoft, Music, Netflix, Sony, Tech News

Apple’s Captive Audience: New iPod Coming Next Week?

August 30, 2007 Bob Caswell 2 Comments

Apple Logo There is lots of buzz surrounding a special event Apple will be hosting next Wednesday. The general consensus is that Apple is introducing an iPod with more features. Forbes seems to think iPhone-like features are likely, such as a large, touch-sensitive display. Another possibility is that of a Wi-Fi receiver which would allow the iPod to browse the Internet and/or send and receive e-mail.

The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) brings cost into the equation by saying that Apple “is expected next week to introduce new versions of its digital music players that have more features, but cost the same.” The WSJ, however, doesn’t admit to its own speculation, instead relying on a new source: “Apple fan sites.” Here’s another excerpt:

Apple, Music, Tech News

World of Warcraft to Introduce Disease in the Name of Science?

August 27, 2007 Bob Caswell No Comments

The Economist (subscription required) has an interesting article out on how epidemiologists (those who study epidemic diseases) would like to use World of Warcraft (for the unofficiated: an extremely popular MMORPG or Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) as part of research to see how people will react when faced with wide spread disease. This type of situation, obviously, can’t be introduced in the real world for study (at least not very ethically).

Gaming, Tech News