The PC Informant » Consumer electronics

The amazing growth of mobile platforms

Vic Laurie — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:35:47 +0000

If you have doubts that mobile platforms will become the consumer’s way to use the Internet in much of the world, consider some predictions from the eMarketer about usage in the so-called BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China). Here are a few statistics:

Over 200 million mobile subscribers in both Brazil and Russia by 2014

853 million subscribers in India by 2014

1.3 billion (yes billion) subscribers and 957 million mobile Internet users in China by 2014

And the post notes:

Staggering as it may to conceptualize, there will be more mobile Internet users in China in 2010 than the entire population of the US.

Via TechCrunch

SDHC memory cards

Vic Laurie — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:37:32 +0000

If you have a digital camera, you are familiar with flash memory cards. These little cards are also a way to add memory to a PC. While thumb drives can also act as secondary memory in PCs, they stick out and can be awkward. Memory cards, of course, go into a slot and are barely visible.

Like thumb drives, memory cards vary widely in their speed and it is worthwhile to know exactly what you are getting. Tom’s Hardware has provided benchmarks for SDHC cards that will give you a better idea of what kind of performance to expect from a card before you buy it.

How to keep your battery going

Vic Laurie — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:53:49 +0000

Batteries and more batteries. We all have an assortment of gadgets that need batteries. At the New York Times, Eric A. Taub explains some ways to help keep your batteries going.

About some mobile devices

Vic Laurie — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:56:54 +0000

Are you curious about what some of the new smartphones look like? CNET has a gallery of photos of some of the latest offerings.

Also from CNET is a new FAQ about the Apple iPad, which is scheduled to appear in early April.

The PC is dying-here come the mobile platforms

Vic Laurie — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:49:57 +0000

The mismatch between ponderous Windows systems and consumer needs is finally catching up with the PC. Thanks to the example of the Apple iPhone and to the Asian OEMs who pushed the netbook, the technology industry has awakened to what consumers really want. Predictions are popping up all over that the PC will be replaced by mobile platforms in a few years. Here is a selection of what people are saying about mobile platforms:

PC World
“Gartner reported that mobile PCs accounted for 55 per cent of all shipments in 2009 and it predicted that by 2012 they will account for nearly 70 per cent of shipments.”
Matt Asay at CNET
“Microsoft’s desktop future may look like a phone.”
Wall Street Journal
“Quarter of Americans Get News on Cellphones.”
InformationWeek
“Social Network Use By Smartphones Jumps.”
InternetNews
“Over 150 Million Smartbooks by 2015.”
Siliconrepublic
“In three years desktops will be irrelevant – Google sales chief”
Technologizer
“How Long Do You Give the Desktop?”

From the files

Vic Laurie — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:12:49 +0000

Here are some stories that I thought were interesting but never had time to comment on.

Tech Support Hell: Ways to Avoid It
At Computerworld, Bill Snyder says, “Tech support is a broken system. Low-margin products leave little room for good customer service. But you can minimize the pain.”
How Apple is training you for the future
Mike Elgan writes, “It’s hard enough to invent a better way to do things. But the most difficult challenge is getting consumers to accept the change.”
Star Viewer Explores the Night Sky Google-Map-Style
Lifehacker says, “Star Viewer is a web-based tool for peeking at some of the most interesting and vivid sights in the night.”
10 handy tips for Google Chrome beginners
TechRadar tells you how to tweak Chrome to suit your own surfing habits.
The Top 5 Free Microsoft Products & Why They Are The Best
After observing, “Microsoft’s Internet Explorer may be the worst browser on the planet…”, MakeUseOf picks five free Microsoft apps that are the best.
Track Page Changes Using Google Reader
Google Operating System explains how to keep track of changes in your favorite Web sites.

Five billion cell phones globally

Vic Laurie — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 10:48:40 +0000

CNET reports another piece of evidence about the trend to mobile platforms:

On a planet with around 6.8 billion people, we’re likely to see 5 billion cell phone subscriptions this year.

Reaching 4.6 billion at the end of 2009, the number of cell phone subscriptions across the globe will hit 5 billion sometime in 2010, according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The explosion in cell phone use has been driven not only by developed countries, but by developing nations hungry for services like mobile banking and health care.

Princeton report card on Kindle in the classroom

Vic Laurie — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 10:06:56 +0000

Princeton University has been using Amazon’s Kindle in the classroom as an experiment. An assessment has been posted and the results are mixed:

Managers of Princeton University’s semester-long pilot of the Amazon KindleDX electronic reader are calling the project a success, with results showing that student participants reduced the amount of paper they used to print course readings by almost 50 percent. However, e-readers must be significantly improved to have the same value in a teaching environment as traditional paper texts, participants said.

Students and faculty surveyed this month at the conclusion of the pilot expressed appreciation for the e-reader’s portability — and the fact that it almost eliminated the printing and photocopying they did for their pilot courses — but they also said the ability to highlight directly on traditional text, to take notes and flip pages for ease in navigation suffers in the e-reader.

Smartphone happenings

Vic Laurie — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 09:20:57 +0000

Some are saying that the smartphone will be the consumer platform of the future. The smartphone may or may not replace the PC as the primary way for consumers to use the Internet but it certainly is a major and growing force. Here are some recent posts about smartphones:

What Makes a Smartphone Smart?
ExtremeTech explains what hardware components go into creating smartphone performance.
How smartphones are bogging down some wireless carriers
The phones may be smart but the wireless infrastructure can’t keep up. Ars Technica tells the story.
Smartphones to Change Our Travel Habits
PC World relates how all the information and augmented reality that a smartphone can provide while we are traveling will completely change our experience.
Users Are ‘Always On’ But At What Cost?
Internetnews reports, “New study by Osterman Research finds that ubiquitous mobile devices and access to e-mail and texting is putting users in awkward—and occasionally dangerous—situations.”
New Security Threat Against Smart Phone Users, Researchers Show
Science News reports on security risks for smartphones.

PDF files were major carrier of malware in 2009

Vic Laurie — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:29:00 +0000

The security problems of Adobe software are a frequent topic here. Unfortunately, Adobe too often lets security holes go unpatched long after they are discovered. Since Adobe software programs in the form of Flash and PDF readers are on most PCs, their poor security is a bonanza for cybercriminals. The PDF reader in particular has become a notorious problem. A recent report (amusingly, in PDF format) from Scansafe states:

Malicious PDF f!les comprised 56% of Web-encountered exploits in 1Q09, growing to 80% of all exploits by 4Q09…

Some discussion of the report by Dancho Danchev is at ZDNet.

Even when a security patch becomes available, the average PC user has either not known about it or didn’t know how to download it. Last August, Trusteer published some figures on the prevalence of unpatched Adobe software. The graphic below is from the report and shows that over 80% of systems did not have an updated version of Adobe Reader/Acrobat.

I have often suggested dumping Adobe Reader and using Foxit or Sumatra instead. Unfortunately, Foxit is getting more aggressive about trying to install other things and you should be careful when installing it. Perhaps Sumatra has become a better choice.