Future technology
Web-connected printer
The idea that many devices and even household appliances will be directly connected to the Internet without going through a computer is growing. Although the rather outré notion of a Web-connected refrigerator never did pan out, the Web-connected printer is definitely here. The New York Times reviews an HP offering:
HP made a splash last year [...]
Web browsing to be mostly on phones by 2013?
The research group Gartner likes to make predictions about trends in technology and has published a list of some things that it sees coming in the next few years. Among the predictions:
By 2013, mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most common Web access device worldwide. According to Gartner’s PC installed base forecast, the total [...]
Web 3.0?
If you were never quite sure what Web 2.0 meant, add the term “Web 3.0″ to the confusion. According to the presentation from a Dutch think tank called ECP-EPN that is shown below, Web 3.0 is the interaction of intelligent agents with all kinds of devices as well as users. The video clip may make [...]
USB 3.0 starting to appear
The next generation of USB, USB 3.0, is an order of magnitude faster than USB 2.0. Its eagerly awaited arrival was thought to have been delayed by Intel stating last fall that its chip sets would not be ready for the new technology until possibly 2011. However, USB 3.0 is beginning to trickle out. [...]
Everything connected
There are a growing number of devices that can be directly connected to the Internet without having to use a PC. The recent Consumer Electronics Show featured quite a few of these. Om Malik reports at his blog:
The recently concluded Consumer Electronics Show brought home one simple fact: We will soon be hard-pressed to find [...]
Will UEFI replace the BIOS?
Most PC users have little contact with the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) but it can be useful to know a little about the subject. I have posted a number of times on various aspects of the BIOS (for example, here and also here). The basic structure of the BIOS has been around a very long [...]
Is “MinWin” the future of Windows?
If you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that I keep harping on the idea that consumers need simpler operating systems than Windows with its cumbersome one-size-fits-all approach. Periodically, rumors circulate that Microsoft is in fact working on a slimmer version of Windows. The talk revolves around “MinWin”, a [...]
Advances in nano-computing
The march to computing on a nano-scale continues. Recent announcements have been made of using single atoms and individual molecules as transistors. R&D mag reports on a single atom transistor:
Researchers from Helsinki University of Technology (Finland), University of New South Wales (Australia), and University of Melbourne (Australia) have succeeded in building a working transistor, whose [...]
Comparing apples and oranges- netbooks and notebooks
A recurrent theme on the Internet consists of articles and blogs comparing netbooks to larger notebooks and pushing the thesis that netbooks are inadequate systems. These complaints about netbooks are from groups who have an ax to grind or have special applications and ignore the fact that netbooks satisfy a real consumer need.
For example, a [...]
Goggles
No, the title isn’t a typo. It’s a new Android smartphone feature from Google. Instead of typing in a search query, you snap a picture of an object and Google does a search. The service is still experimental but the Sunday New York Times business section thought the development worth an article:
THE world, like the [...]
Is the smartphone the new general purpose platform?
There is an ongoing discussion about whether the conventional consumer PC may be be supplanted by smartphones. For many, the smartphone provides all the functions that they need and its mobility is an essential advantage. In less-developed countries, the lower cost is also a key factor. To what extent devices like the iPhone will become [...]
