http://gears.google.com/
After online domination, its time for semi-offline domination.. the company that needs this first: salesforce.com
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Monday, May 28, 2007
Sony Develops Thin Video Display
Sony released video of the new 2.5-inch display Friday. In it, a hand squeezes a display that is 0.3 millimeters, or 0.01 inch, thick. The display shows color images of a bicyclist stuntman and a picturesque lake.
Although flat-panel TVs are getting slimmer, a display that's so thin it bends in a human hand marks a breakthrough. Sony said it has yet to decide on commercial products using the technology.
"In the future, it could get wrapped around a lamppost or a person's wrist, even worn as clothing," said Sony spokesman Chisato Kitsukawa. "Perhaps it can be put up like wallpaper."
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QVGgrcvi554
Although flat-panel TVs are getting slimmer, a display that's so thin it bends in a human hand marks a breakthrough. Sony said it has yet to decide on commercial products using the technology.
"In the future, it could get wrapped around a lamppost or a person's wrist, even worn as clothing," said Sony spokesman Chisato Kitsukawa. "Perhaps it can be put up like wallpaper."
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QVGgrcvi554
Monday, May 21, 2007
IBM to Launch Power6
Analysts said the chip, which operates at 4.7 gigahertz and cycles at a speed 25 million times as fast as the flap of hummingbird wings, will allow businesses to consolidate servers and handle substantially larger workloads. By comparison, Intel Corp.'s Itanium 2 server processor tops out at 1.66 gigahertz.
In addition to raw power, the new IBM chip also has massive bandwidth -- 300 gigabytes per second, which the company says can process the download of the entire iTunes music catalog, currently more than five million songs, in about a minute. To feed data quickly to the processor, IBM has quadrupled the amount of on-chip memory, or cache, to eight megabytes. The chip is designed for higher-end servers running the Unix operating system and is accompanied by the launch of a new server designed around it.
In addition to raw power, the new IBM chip also has massive bandwidth -- 300 gigabytes per second, which the company says can process the download of the entire iTunes music catalog, currently more than five million songs, in about a minute. To feed data quickly to the processor, IBM has quadrupled the amount of on-chip memory, or cache, to eight megabytes. The chip is designed for higher-end servers running the Unix operating system and is accompanied by the launch of a new server designed around it.
Friday, May 18, 2007
interesting stuff..
Technology Review - Published by MIT
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Audio Menus for iPods
Researchers are testing ways to let people listen to gadget menu options instead of looking at them.
By Kate Greene
Clicking through the menu on your iPod demands a significant amount of visual attention, which can be a hassle (while jogging) and even dangerous (while driving). But engineers at the University of Toronto and Microsoft Research are working on software that could make it possible to navigate the menus of gadgets that use circular touch pads, like the iPod, without looking at them--only audio cues would be used.
The researchers have designed an auditory menu technique--called earPod--that provides audio feedback when a person drags his or her finger around the touch pad. Although it's not ready to replace the expansive menus on real iPods, the results are encouraging, says Patrick Baudisch, a research scientist at Microsoft Research, in Seattle, who worked on the project. Within 30 minutes of beginning to use the technology, people can navigate two levels of earPod menus faster than traditional visual menus, and just as accurately.
"Requiring constant visual attention while using a PC is reasonable," says Baudisch, "but if you're using an iPod on the road, [constant visual attention] is unreasonable." In addition to giving people back their eyes, he says, audio menus could help gadgets save battery life by not wasting energy on a screen, and they could add functions to the screen-free devices such as the iPod shuffle.
The idea of using audio menus isn't new. Auditory interfaces can, after all, be found in touch-tone phone menus and in various assisted technologies for seeing-impaired users. But historically, handheld consumer gadgets haven't widely used audio menus. There are a few reasons for this, says Bruce Walker, professor in the school of psychology and college of computing at Georgia Institute of Technology. One reason, he says, is that audio hardware and software have been resource intensive, requiring significant amounts of computation and energy. In addition, audio software has been difficult to program.
But computing power is becoming cheaper, and there is an increasing need to find different ways to interact with handheld devices, says Walker. Within the past 10 years, he says, the ubiquity of mobile devices with small displays "has made us all visually impaired." Currently there are only a handful of researchers who are systematically looking at ways to make better audio interfaces for various devices, but Walker expects the ranks to grow in the coming years.
This first earPod prototype has a two-level menu hierarchy with 8 items per category, for a total of 64 items. To test how well people use the system, the researchers assigned to the first menu level a random assortment of categories: "clothing," "fish," "instrument," "color," and four others. The next level contained eight examples of these items. The iPod analogy would be found in the opening menu, which includes "music," "extras," "settings," and then lower menus that include "playlists," "artists," and "albums," for instance. The earPod approach could be extended to read off a limited number of names of artists and songs as well.
EarPod was designed specifically for gadgets with circular touch pads, says Baudisch. The circular touch pad is evenly divided into eight sectors: it's cut like pieces of a pie, with each menu item associated with each piece. When a person touches the dial of an earPod-equipped gadget, the audio menu responds with a prerecorded human voice. If a person puts his or her finger at 12 o'clock on the touch pad, the voice might say "Color," indicating that the finger is on the color sector. When the finger crosses one of these invisible sector lines, the user hears a clicking sound. As a finger moves, a new menu item is announced. To select an item and go to the next menu level, the user lifts his or her finger and hears a "camera-shutter" sound, which indicates that an item has been chosen.
Because the touch pad is divided into portions, says Baudisch, people can easily learn where menu items are and quickly jump to certain items without having to scroll through a list, as with an iPod. Another feature of earPod, he says, is that a user doesn't need to wait until a menu item is read before moving on to another. When a finger moves to a new sector, the audio is interrupted and the new item is announced.
In the earPod usability study, conducted by Shengdong Zhao, a doctoral student at the University of Toronto, and project lead, the researchers found that people who had no experience using either an iPod or an earPod-equipped device used the devices with equal accuracy. EarPod was 92.1 percent accurate, while the visual system was 93.9 percent accurate, but the difference was not statistically significant. It took people longer to grow accustomed to earPod, but with experience, users' performance on the audio menu became faster. After 30 minutes of training on both devices, subjects could navigate two levels of menu with earPod in 2.1 seconds as opposed to 2.5 seconds with the visual menu.
Georgia Tech's Walker is impressed with the earPod approach and results. "My overall impression is that this is great ... It was inevitable: trying to look at how to take an interface that is purely visual on the iPod and turn it into an interface that's purely auditory, because, after all, the iPod's an auditory device. Why should a person have to pull their player out while they're jogging to look at it?"
Currently, however, earPod could not be a complete replacement for an iPod menu, Walker notes. One reason is that earPod doesn't lend itself to menu flexibility. Once a person learns the position of the menu items, he or she might become frustrated if those positions need to change due to a software update or added playlist. In particular, the approach would not work well for menus such as mobile-phone address books, Walker says.
In addition, adds Baudisch, because the circular track pad is divided into sectors, there are a limited number of menu items that a person can access. If there are 8 sectors, each with 8 menu items, then there are only 64 total items accessible on the device, and this wouldn't be good enough for iPods that hold hundreds of playlists and thousands of songs. However, Baudisch suspects that future prototypes will provide ways to get around the problem. He and his team are exploring how people respond to faster audio output (speeding up the recorded voice) and how people use audio and visual cues simultaneously. Developing an all-encompassing interface for eyes-free operations on auditory devices is still a future project, he says.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Audio Menus for iPods
Researchers are testing ways to let people listen to gadget menu options instead of looking at them.
By Kate Greene
Clicking through the menu on your iPod demands a significant amount of visual attention, which can be a hassle (while jogging) and even dangerous (while driving). But engineers at the University of Toronto and Microsoft Research are working on software that could make it possible to navigate the menus of gadgets that use circular touch pads, like the iPod, without looking at them--only audio cues would be used.
The researchers have designed an auditory menu technique--called earPod--that provides audio feedback when a person drags his or her finger around the touch pad. Although it's not ready to replace the expansive menus on real iPods, the results are encouraging, says Patrick Baudisch, a research scientist at Microsoft Research, in Seattle, who worked on the project. Within 30 minutes of beginning to use the technology, people can navigate two levels of earPod menus faster than traditional visual menus, and just as accurately.
"Requiring constant visual attention while using a PC is reasonable," says Baudisch, "but if you're using an iPod on the road, [constant visual attention] is unreasonable." In addition to giving people back their eyes, he says, audio menus could help gadgets save battery life by not wasting energy on a screen, and they could add functions to the screen-free devices such as the iPod shuffle.
The idea of using audio menus isn't new. Auditory interfaces can, after all, be found in touch-tone phone menus and in various assisted technologies for seeing-impaired users. But historically, handheld consumer gadgets haven't widely used audio menus. There are a few reasons for this, says Bruce Walker, professor in the school of psychology and college of computing at Georgia Institute of Technology. One reason, he says, is that audio hardware and software have been resource intensive, requiring significant amounts of computation and energy. In addition, audio software has been difficult to program.
But computing power is becoming cheaper, and there is an increasing need to find different ways to interact with handheld devices, says Walker. Within the past 10 years, he says, the ubiquity of mobile devices with small displays "has made us all visually impaired." Currently there are only a handful of researchers who are systematically looking at ways to make better audio interfaces for various devices, but Walker expects the ranks to grow in the coming years.
This first earPod prototype has a two-level menu hierarchy with 8 items per category, for a total of 64 items. To test how well people use the system, the researchers assigned to the first menu level a random assortment of categories: "clothing," "fish," "instrument," "color," and four others. The next level contained eight examples of these items. The iPod analogy would be found in the opening menu, which includes "music," "extras," "settings," and then lower menus that include "playlists," "artists," and "albums," for instance. The earPod approach could be extended to read off a limited number of names of artists and songs as well.
EarPod was designed specifically for gadgets with circular touch pads, says Baudisch. The circular touch pad is evenly divided into eight sectors: it's cut like pieces of a pie, with each menu item associated with each piece. When a person touches the dial of an earPod-equipped gadget, the audio menu responds with a prerecorded human voice. If a person puts his or her finger at 12 o'clock on the touch pad, the voice might say "Color," indicating that the finger is on the color sector. When the finger crosses one of these invisible sector lines, the user hears a clicking sound. As a finger moves, a new menu item is announced. To select an item and go to the next menu level, the user lifts his or her finger and hears a "camera-shutter" sound, which indicates that an item has been chosen.
Because the touch pad is divided into portions, says Baudisch, people can easily learn where menu items are and quickly jump to certain items without having to scroll through a list, as with an iPod. Another feature of earPod, he says, is that a user doesn't need to wait until a menu item is read before moving on to another. When a finger moves to a new sector, the audio is interrupted and the new item is announced.
In the earPod usability study, conducted by Shengdong Zhao, a doctoral student at the University of Toronto, and project lead, the researchers found that people who had no experience using either an iPod or an earPod-equipped device used the devices with equal accuracy. EarPod was 92.1 percent accurate, while the visual system was 93.9 percent accurate, but the difference was not statistically significant. It took people longer to grow accustomed to earPod, but with experience, users' performance on the audio menu became faster. After 30 minutes of training on both devices, subjects could navigate two levels of menu with earPod in 2.1 seconds as opposed to 2.5 seconds with the visual menu.
Georgia Tech's Walker is impressed with the earPod approach and results. "My overall impression is that this is great ... It was inevitable: trying to look at how to take an interface that is purely visual on the iPod and turn it into an interface that's purely auditory, because, after all, the iPod's an auditory device. Why should a person have to pull their player out while they're jogging to look at it?"
Currently, however, earPod could not be a complete replacement for an iPod menu, Walker notes. One reason is that earPod doesn't lend itself to menu flexibility. Once a person learns the position of the menu items, he or she might become frustrated if those positions need to change due to a software update or added playlist. In particular, the approach would not work well for menus such as mobile-phone address books, Walker says.
In addition, adds Baudisch, because the circular track pad is divided into sectors, there are a limited number of menu items that a person can access. If there are 8 sectors, each with 8 menu items, then there are only 64 total items accessible on the device, and this wouldn't be good enough for iPods that hold hundreds of playlists and thousands of songs. However, Baudisch suspects that future prototypes will provide ways to get around the problem. He and his team are exploring how people respond to faster audio output (speeding up the recorded voice) and how people use audio and visual cues simultaneously. Developing an all-encompassing interface for eyes-free operations on auditory devices is still a future project, he says.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Alltel buyout
""
At least three groups of private-equity buyers have formed to pursue a potential purchase of wireless carrier Alltel Corp., according to people familiar with the matter.
The groups of suitors each have begun a series of meetings with Alltel's management, which has indicated to investors that it is pursuing strategic alternatives.
The phone company, which has a market capitalization of $22.4 billion, is trying to figure out ways to take better advantage of its balance sheet. The company carries about $2.7 billion of long-term debt, a low figure for a company that produces roughly the same amount in cash flow each year. By comparison, rival Sprint Nextel Corp. carries debt of nearly twice its annual cash flow.
But given how Alltel's stock has soared on speculation of a buyout, Verizon has been put off by the high price of a deal, people familiar with the company say. Verizon may not need to make an acquisition anytime soon, since it has been able to expand its wireless business at a faster clip than competitors in recent months.
""
At least three groups of private-equity buyers have formed to pursue a potential purchase of wireless carrier Alltel Corp., according to people familiar with the matter.
The groups of suitors each have begun a series of meetings with Alltel's management, which has indicated to investors that it is pursuing strategic alternatives.
The phone company, which has a market capitalization of $22.4 billion, is trying to figure out ways to take better advantage of its balance sheet. The company carries about $2.7 billion of long-term debt, a low figure for a company that produces roughly the same amount in cash flow each year. By comparison, rival Sprint Nextel Corp. carries debt of nearly twice its annual cash flow.
But given how Alltel's stock has soared on speculation of a buyout, Verizon has been put off by the high price of a deal, people familiar with the company say. Verizon may not need to make an acquisition anytime soon, since it has been able to expand its wireless business at a faster clip than competitors in recent months.
""
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Java OS by Sun/Savaje
D's comments: Sun will try to sell OS based on Java. Sun bought Savage earlier this year and JavaFX is believed to be based on that platform. At this point i would suggest limited success to a Java based OS as Java OS has not been able to succeed on any other platform. Would vote for linux on the cell phone (already successful in Japan)
"...
But Sun only gets a small royalty from that software, which works with operating systems from other companies. Now the company is using its JavaOne conference in San Francisco to announce JavaFX, a family of products that will include an operating system and related software and services for cellphones.
Sun says that JavaFX Mobile software can be used to design sophisticated handsets akin to the iPhone, which Apple Inc. plans to begin selling in June.
Sun, of Santa Clara, Calif., isn't disclosing its exact pricing of JavaFX Mobile. But Jonathan Schwartz, Sun's chief executive officer, suggested it will receive greater fees per handset than Sun now gets. "We haven't been in a position to monetize Java," he said in an interview. "This puts us in a position to do exactly that."
"...
But Sun only gets a small royalty from that software, which works with operating systems from other companies. Now the company is using its JavaOne conference in San Francisco to announce JavaFX, a family of products that will include an operating system and related software and services for cellphones.
Sun says that JavaFX Mobile software can be used to design sophisticated handsets akin to the iPhone, which Apple Inc. plans to begin selling in June.
Sun, of Santa Clara, Calif., isn't disclosing its exact pricing of JavaFX Mobile. But Jonathan Schwartz, Sun's chief executive officer, suggested it will receive greater fees per handset than Sun now gets. "We haven't been in a position to monetize Java," he said in an interview. "This puts us in a position to do exactly that."
Monday, May 7, 2007
Sarkozy Elected
Selective reading:
Mr. Sarkozy's success or failure will have big implications for the European Union and beyond. France's reluctance to embrace an increasingly global economy has helped block major EU initiatives, such as adopting a constitution. It has also been an obstacle in the pursuit of a world trade deal.
The 52-year-old son of a Hungarian immigrant, Mr. Sarkozy is one of a new generation of leaders sweeping to power across Europe who weren't embroiled in the bruising debate between the U.S. and its allies over the invasion of Iraq.
Mr. Sarkozy's success or failure will have big implications for the European Union and beyond. France's reluctance to embrace an increasingly global economy has helped block major EU initiatives, such as adopting a constitution. It has also been an obstacle in the pursuit of a world trade deal.
The 52-year-old son of a Hungarian immigrant, Mr. Sarkozy is one of a new generation of leaders sweeping to power across Europe who weren't embroiled in the bruising debate between the U.S. and its allies over the invasion of Iraq.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Patent ruling
On today's paper: (read below). D's comments: It has been harder to get patents granted outside of US (specially EU) which is one of the reasons why innovation outside of US has suffered too. Typical venture backed companies (both technology and biotech) are one trick ponies before they hit it big, and the trick is mostly protected by a set of patents. With patents becoming harder to get and harder to defend, power shifts to larger corporations that have time and resources and can afford a few mis-steps (e.g. MSFT).
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court made it harder to get new patents and to defend existing ones, giving new force to the law that denies patents to inventions deemed "obvious."
In a unanimous decision, the justices yesterday sided with critics who argue that lower-court rulings have given patent holders more power than Congress intended, potentially stifling innovation.
The ruling, the latest to roll back patent holders' clout, comes amid a sharp debate over how to maintain the nation's competitive edge while protecting those who labor to design cutting-edge inventions. Many of the developments that drive the economy are governed by patent law, an arcane field that has become a battleground in the larger debate about U.S. industrial strength.
The opinion could have especially big implications for technology companies, whose software programs typically are built through small improvements in prior designs. Also affected will be the growing and much-disputed field of "business method" patents, which are granted for abstract processes rather than specific devices.
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court made it harder to get new patents and to defend existing ones, giving new force to the law that denies patents to inventions deemed "obvious."
In a unanimous decision, the justices yesterday sided with critics who argue that lower-court rulings have given patent holders more power than Congress intended, potentially stifling innovation.
The ruling, the latest to roll back patent holders' clout, comes amid a sharp debate over how to maintain the nation's competitive edge while protecting those who labor to design cutting-edge inventions. Many of the developments that drive the economy are governed by patent law, an arcane field that has become a battleground in the larger debate about U.S. industrial strength.
The opinion could have especially big implications for technology companies, whose software programs typically are built through small improvements in prior designs. Also affected will be the growing and much-disputed field of "business method" patents, which are granted for abstract processes rather than specific devices.
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