Future technology
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 [...]
The next version of HTML
Hypertext markup language (HTML) provides the framework for constructing and displaying Web pages. The current version is HTML 4 but HTML 5 is on the horizon with promise of much added power for the browser. For example, it may greatly lessen the need for proprietary technologies like Adobe Flash or Microsoft Silverlight. For a look [...]
Beyond search- how far can Google go?
Google has come a long way in just a few years. Its market cap is now over two-thirds that of Microsoft, greater than IBM or Intel, and the same as Apple. Google dominates search but can it conquer other computing worlds? It certainly seems to be trying, with new software and services appearing regularly. InfoWorld [...]
A roll-up PC
Organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) are a technology that promises to really change displays someday. The technology is currently very expensive so only very small screens have been seen on any actual products. The advantages of OLED are its energy efficiency, flexibility and unmatched brightness and contrast. Recently, Samsung showed a 7” netbook prototype but production [...]
A new chip I think I’ll skip
We’re always interested in doing things faster, and speedier interfacing with the computer sounds good. Controlling a PC with thought has a nice futuristic appeal until you hear that it requires planting a chip in your brain. Intel is actually researching this possibility as reported at PC World:
By the year 2020, you won’t need a [...]
A computer smarter than a cat?
Ars Technica has a post entitled “IBM makes supercomputer significantly smarter than cat”. However, this is one of those misleading titles designed to catch readers. There isn’t really any evidence that this computer could outwit any half-way intelligent cat. What the computer does is run a brain simulation that is described:
IBM has announced a software [...]
Programmable quantum computer
In Monday’s link collection was a ScienceDaily post about an advance in quantum computing made at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). This is an important development and a number of posts about this advance have been appearing on the Internet. I think the NIST work is significant enough to say something more [...]
The Chrome operating system is no Windows rival- yet
Ever since Google announced that it was creating a new operating system called Chrome, there has been speculation that this would be a problem for Windows. Very little was actually known about the potential OS until yesterday, when Google revealed some details. The OS will not be available for another year and seems to be [...]
Future Windows
Microsoft just held its annual Professional Developers Conference. As usual some hints about future developments in Windows were given.
You may not yet be using Windows 7 but there is already talk about Windows 8. As I mentioned last month, there is even a site about Windows 8. (It’s not an official Microsoft site, however.) [...]
