Monday, March 22nd, 2010
Amazon revealed the Kindle app for the iPad, which will give consumers access to 450,000 e-books through Amazon.com. The application will provide the same Whispersync technology that is in the PC, Mac, iPhone and BlackBerry apps. The Whispersync will remember and sync the last page read by a user, as well as, sync bookmarks, notes, and highlights across devices. In addition, the app will allow for changing the background color and font size to customize e-books.
Monday, February 1st, 2010
Google will be teaming up with Neustar UltraDNS to work on a proposed extension to DNS. The concept of the project would make it so that the first three quarters of a user’s IP address would be included in a DNS request. Each DNS request would then have a built-in geographic awareness, which would improve the responsiveness and accuracy of the Domain Name System.
Sunday, January 17th, 2010
As Google readies it’s mobile hardware set titled Nexus One for the markets, Apple may be looking to support a less threatening search company. Hell has frozen over. The increasing tensions between Apple and Google, highlighted by the resignation of Eric Schmidt from Apple’s board, may lead Apple to entrust Microsoft’s Bing with it’s search functionality for the precious iPhone.
Apple has likewise moved into Google territory furthering the tensions between the two companies. With the 275 million dollar purchase of Quattro Wireless, Apple has embarked on a journey of discovery in the world of mobile advertising–trying to solve one of the big needs of the day–how to profitize the mobile web with an advertising model.
Friday, November 20th, 2009
According to Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Google may change directions and focus on a single operating system down the road rather than two. Currently the company has two independent OS projects taking at the same time. Google wanted to give the two projects freedom to evolve, so they never admitted the apparent conflict between the two projects. Currently, each OS has unique benefits, for example Android is widely adaptable to a range of devices and hardware outfits, including netbooks.
Perhaps the future convergence of the two projects speaks to a larger direction in the computing market–an inevitable convergence of the mobile phone and the workhorse computer.
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
The Motorola Droid smartphone on the Verizon Wireless network received some good reviews due in part to the updated Google Android (2.0) mobile OS. The Motorola Droid was the first phone to use Android 2.0. Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA also use Android but have not upgraded to the new software.
The upgrade to Android offers a performance boost and some new features, such as the voice command turn-by-turn directions for Google Maps. Another feature supported by the upgraded Android OS was the integration of multiple social-networking and e-mail accounts into the phone’s contact list. The camera will now come with built-in flash, digital zoom, scene mode, white balance, color effect, and macro focus.Also, a hugely important feature for the business world has been introduced–Android 2.0 will now support Microsoft Exchange.
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
The US Department of Defense is making a serious effort to improve open-source adoption. It will be issuing new guidelines to make it easier for the department to use open-source software. The department has stated that open-source meets the purchasing requirements set forth by the department and will help them better identify and eliminate threats and become more agile to changing requirements.
CNET noted the irony of such efforts since Linux was one identified by the US Department of Defense as one of such threats in the past. (Source of remarks: CNET: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-10384067-16.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20).
The Defense Department stated that open-source software will also bring some clear advantages that proprietary software may not be able to offer. Such benefits of open-source software include:
– suitable for rapid prototyping and experimentation
– a cost advantage
– unrestricted ability to modify software source code
– reduction of proprietary restrictions
– identification and elimination of defects through peer-review system
Saturday, October 17th, 2009
California regulators may place a ban on big, power hungry TVs. Similar regulations were set with refrigerators, air conditioners and other products. Commissioner Julia Levin stated that such regulations will not hurt the economy. TVs and related devices consume 10% of California’s power supply.
Such regulations will not eliminate 50 inch TV sets. The goal is to make them far more efficient and encourage the development of clean products and a clean industry.
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
Microsoft’s Genuine Windows team has decided on a new approach to stop the distribution and use of counterfeit Windows copies. Microsoft will now block users of counterfeit Windows copies from receiving security-oriented downloads like patches or defensive software. This decision did not come easy to the Microsoft team, as one possible outcome of this decision may aid the spread of viruses and malware.
Thursday, September 24th, 2009
Intel is working on an optical interconnect, called Light Peak, that could use light waves to connect devices such as monitors and storage up to 100 meters away. This technology would also allow connection speeds of up to 10Gbits/sec. For instance, you would be able to transfer a full Blue-ray film in under 30 seconds. In addition, the technology would empower mobile devices to perform more tasks and work with more connections because Light Peak allows it to run multiple protocols simultaneously.
Friday, September 18th, 2009
When you conduct a search on Google, there is a link just above the search query results that says “Show Options.” Clicking on that link will display a left sidebar to provide filters for the search results before you. The filtering options include: images, videos, dates, etc.
Google has been committing serious investment in its Books program–from legal defense to the purchase of companies that own potential enhancement technologies.
The latest update for Google’s Book program is the introduction of the filter “Books” under “View options” filtering tools.
