Posted on February 9, 2009 by Mark Urbin
Microsoft has been in the smartphone business for a while, but only as a software vendor with their WinCE OS (ok, so Microsoft calls it “Windows Mobile” now, but the WinCE name is so descriptive).
There are rumors circulating that Microsoft will be announcing their own smartphone hardware.
Microsoft already produces hardware, the Zune being the closest to what they need for a smartphone platform. How the current hardware vendors who sell phones with the Microsoft smart phone OS will react to Microsoft starting to compete with them in the hardware arena.
Filed under: cell phone tech, Microsoft, Smart Phone, tech rumors | Tagged: cell phone, Microsoft, Smart Phone | 3 Comments »
Posted on February 5, 2009 by Mark Urbin
One of the serious problems with Vista was the half dozen plus versions. That caused market confusion as well as code bloat, since every version had the same code with features locked out in the lower end versions.
It looks like nobody has explained exactly what is wrong with this to the marketing folks at Microsoft because they are about to repeat the same mistake with Windows7.
Filed under: Bad Customer Service, Microsoft, Operating Systems, Windows7 | Tagged: Microsoft, Operating System, OS, Windows7 | 3 Comments »
Posted on January 26, 2009 by Mark Urbin
The rumors are flying hot and heavy that Google will start offering online storage. Ya, you get space with Gmail and with their online photo storage service, but this would be generic storage space.
It will be interesting to see how much ‘free’ space Google offers and how much they will charge for additional space. Online storage sites have come and gone, so it will be interesting to see what Google’s business plan is.
Personally, I see this as useful for road warriors. Keep your data in the cloud access it when you need it from your netbook. For back up, it could be useful, but there are services that do this already and are optimized for backups.
This will become interesting when the GDrive integrates with Google docs and I’m accessing it on a netbook running Android.
Filed under: Google, Internet, tech rumors | Tagged: Cloud Computing, gdrive, Google, rumor | 1 Comment »
Posted on January 21, 2009 by Mark Urbin
For just shy of $45, including tax, I have Windows7 producing actual sound. Listening to unencrypted MP3s (the way music should be formated). All it took was a new sound card and a set of cheap speakers. (my Bose Companion 5 speakers are hooked up to my main system).
Getting my Samsung color laser printer running easier. I just plugged it in. Windows7 tracked down the correct drivers online and autoinstalled them.
OpenOffice installed cleanly, So I have basic Office software functionality, music, and printing on an old hardware platform that would have been unusable running Vista. This speaks well of the focused effort to cut unneeded code out of Windows7.
So far I’m just running a weather and system resources widget. Any suggestions for useful widgets?
Filed under: Microsoft, Operating Systems, Windows7 | Tagged: BETA, Microsoft, OpenOffice, Operating System, Windows7 | Leave a comment »
Posted on January 15, 2009 by Mark Urbin
I have the BETA version of Windows7 running on my old Dell desktop.
Not too shabby, and the response time is as good as it was running XP.
The one glitch so far is no Window7 driver for my old sound card. I’ve only installed Firefox so far. I’m using it now to post this and do some twittering. Open Office has to wait till tomorrow.
Filed under: Microsoft | Tagged: BETA, Operating System, Window7 | 5 Comments »
Posted on January 14, 2009 by Mark Urbin
Apple is now allowing third party browsers on the iPhone.
Don’t get too excited, these are all Safari based browsers.
When I can load Opera, Chrome or Firefox on my iPhone, that will be a real crack in Apple’s control over the device.
Filed under: Apple, Gadget, Internet, iPhone, Smart Phone | Tagged: Apple, broswer, cell phone, iPhone, Smart Phone | 1 Comment »
Posted on January 13, 2009 by Mark Urbin
Posted on January 12, 2009 by Mark Urbin
Palm has announced their new smartphone, the Pre. It’s not out yet, but it does look interesting. Big color screen, a slide out physical keyboard, WiFi, Bluetooth, 3G, calendar/email synch, accelerometer, 3 Megapixil camera, 8 Gig RAM, USB connector and support for additional add on memory.
It looks like Palm is stepping up the plate in challenging the iPhone and phones using Google’s Android OS. It will be interesting to see how the OS holds up under actual use and the application support. Palm has a very deep application pool to draw from. How compatible this OS is with the API for the old OS will effect how much of that application pool the Pre can draw from.
Filed under: cell phone tech, Gadget, Palm, PDA | Tagged: cell phone, Palm, PDA, Smart Phone | 3 Comments »
Posted on December 30, 2008 by Mark Urbin
Jeff Soyer, who sells Toyota cars BTW, points out that Toyota owns a 60% stake in Panasonic’s battery division. A smart move, since it is that Panasonic division that makes the batteries that Toyota uses in its hybrid electric cars.
Now Toyota is about to aquire Sanyo. Sanyo is the other major producer of batteries used in hybrid electric cars.
I wonder where Chevy is planning on getting the batteries for their Volt hybrid electric car from?
Update: Chevy announced that LG Chem will provide the lithium-ion cells for the battery packs in the Volt. GM has also signed a deal with the University of Michigan to open the largest battery lab in the country. Battery tech, and the cost of electricity, are the gating factors in widespread hybrid/electric vehicle acceptance.
Filed under: alternate fuel cars | Tagged: alternate fuel cars, battery, hybrid electric car | 6 Comments »
Posted on December 28, 2008 by Mark Urbin
I’ve posted before about my opinion of cell phone text messaging the prices the carriers charge for it. Here’s the short form, it’s a major profit center for the carriers. They are charging a lot for a very low cost feature.
It seems that the Senate antitrust subcommittee has figured this out and is demanding a look underneath the carrier’s collective kimono in order to find out just how much profit they are making over texting.
Filed under: cell phone tech | Tagged: cell phone, texting | Leave a comment »
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