Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Sep 30, 2011
solar home system
Sep 14, 2011
Nokia 5800 Xpress Music
Nokia 5800 Xpress Music arrived at last. The Nokia's tardy entry into the (modern) touch screen phone space, and we've gotten some quality face time with the device. Appropriately nicknamed the Tube, the device has a number of Nokia peculiarities that could appeal to certain sensibilities, but probably won't be taking a big bite out of existing touch phone market share -- at least in the S60-phobic United States. Let's dig in.
Hardware
Resistive touch screen, huh Nokia? But certainly wouldn't say impressed. Nokia claims the decision was made to appeal to the world market, particularly Asian countries that prefer handwriting recognition to keyboards. Hence the stylus input option. It doesn't ruin everything for those of us that would rather tap with our thumbs, but means pushing that much harder on the screen, and using the tips of your fingers when you type instead of the flat -- knocking off a good 5 wpm or so in the process -- we'll talk more about software keyboards in the next section. There's also a plectrum (guitar pick) included that can hang from a wrist strap if you don't want to smudge the screen and don't feel like sliding out the stylus.
The LCD itself is certainly impressive, at 640 x 360, but colors and brightness aren't complete knockouts. Purists will enjoy the dull screen surface, which certainly cuts down on glare, but casual users often prefer glossy screens for watching movies, something this aspect ratio is very well suited to.
There's a very, very loud speaker in the back. It's not the clearest thing in the world, but if you want to share a song or something with a friend, they'll certainly hear it.
The 3.2 mega pixel camera focuses well and takes great pictures in daylight -- indoors is likely a different story, as with most camera phones, but there's a rather powerful dual LED flash to help out with that.
All of this -- in addition to things like GPS, WiFi and a side-loading microSD slot (there's a free 8GB card included) -- are wrapped up into an elongated, chubby package, hence the Tube moniker. We'd hate to have something of its shape and thickness in a tight jeans front pocket on a regular basis, but we must admit that it's very comfortable to hold and use with a single hand, something that can't be said for all touch screen phones.
Software
It's S60, so if you were hoping for something else you'll be sorely disappointed. Nokia's done "just enough" to turn the traditional interface into a touchable one with version 5.0, sizing up icons, adding finger-friendly buttons in lieu of traditional menu items and so forth. What Nokia hasn't quite figured out is consistency, requiring double taps in some places, single taps in others. Scrolling through most lists requires dragging a scroll bar, pulling down as the list flies up, but the browser has touch and drag scrolling. Nothing's too frustrating or unreasonable, but this is no seamless experience.
What's new is a touch-sensitive button above the screen that drops down the Media Bar for access to music, movies, photos, the browser and sharing. Not life changing, but quite convenient. There's also a new home screen with a "Favorite Four" of sorts across the top and little else. Tap that friend, and you can get a quick look at recent calls, messages and even related RSS feeds. Luckily, the traditional S60 home screen is also available.
For text input you have four options: handwriting, mini QWERTY keyboard, full screen QWERTY and alphanumeric keypad. The first two are stylus-based (that mini QWERTY is truly mini), while the other two are only available in landscape and portrait modes, respectively. Like we said in the hardware end of things, the resistive touch means using the tips of your fingers instead of the pads, which we find a tad frustrating, but the keyboard in landscape mode is truly amazing. The handwriting recognition looks good enough, but we revert to a 2nd grade writing level whenever we pick up a pen, so that stylus is staying firmly in its holster.
Now coming to the touchable browser is a step up over existing WebKit implementations on Nokia's other handsets, since the tap to zoom function is slow and unreliable -- and no, you can't select text from web pages to copy and paste. Panning around the page is also jittery, perhaps a tad worse than the G1 -- nobody has managed to pull off iPhone smooth yet in this department. We were using a slightly early software build, so some of these problems might be fixed in the final version, but it wasn't encouraging. Still, there's no denying the advantages of viewing the web on a 640 x 360 LCD.
By testing accelerometer-based driving game, but it was overly sensitive and no-fun-at-all -- though they are trying but that wouldn't be a hard fix. The graphics looked pretty good, though. Movies are potentially this phone's killer app, but you'll have to do the conversion just right to get smooth playback at full resolution.
Conclusion
If you haven't picked it up by now, Nokia isn't going after the power users here. The phone will be marketed under Nokia's "Live" banner, and really concentrates on the most basic communications -- calling and texting -- with a whole bunch of multimedia piled on top. Nokia's Comes with Music helps on that end of things, and the screen certainly helps with video, but this is no iPhone when it comes to solid media integration or full-featured media player applications. On the communication side, we're sad to see Nokia almost burying some of its S60 advantages. Everything's still there, but Nokia didn't put the grunt work in necessary to really take advantage a next-generation interface as it relates to keeping track of emails, social networking, IM and the correspondences of more than four people. For those tech-junkies who want the world in their pocket this is the phone to go for.
Hardware
Resistive touch screen, huh Nokia? But certainly wouldn't say impressed. Nokia claims the decision was made to appeal to the world market, particularly Asian countries that prefer handwriting recognition to keyboards. Hence the stylus input option. It doesn't ruin everything for those of us that would rather tap with our thumbs, but means pushing that much harder on the screen, and using the tips of your fingers when you type instead of the flat -- knocking off a good 5 wpm or so in the process -- we'll talk more about software keyboards in the next section. There's also a plectrum (guitar pick) included that can hang from a wrist strap if you don't want to smudge the screen and don't feel like sliding out the stylus.
The LCD itself is certainly impressive, at 640 x 360, but colors and brightness aren't complete knockouts. Purists will enjoy the dull screen surface, which certainly cuts down on glare, but casual users often prefer glossy screens for watching movies, something this aspect ratio is very well suited to.
There's a very, very loud speaker in the back. It's not the clearest thing in the world, but if you want to share a song or something with a friend, they'll certainly hear it.
All of this -- in addition to things like GPS, WiFi and a side-loading microSD slot (there's a free 8GB card included) -- are wrapped up into an elongated, chubby package, hence the Tube moniker. We'd hate to have something of its shape and thickness in a tight jeans front pocket on a regular basis, but we must admit that it's very comfortable to hold and use with a single hand, something that can't be said for all touch screen phones.
Software
It's S60, so if you were hoping for something else you'll be sorely disappointed. Nokia's done "just enough" to turn the traditional interface into a touchable one with version 5.0, sizing up icons, adding finger-friendly buttons in lieu of traditional menu items and so forth. What Nokia hasn't quite figured out is consistency, requiring double taps in some places, single taps in others. Scrolling through most lists requires dragging a scroll bar, pulling down as the list flies up, but the browser has touch and drag scrolling. Nothing's too frustrating or unreasonable, but this is no seamless experience.
What's new is a touch-sensitive button above the screen that drops down the Media Bar for access to music, movies, photos, the browser and sharing. Not life changing, but quite convenient. There's also a new home screen with a "Favorite Four" of sorts across the top and little else. Tap that friend, and you can get a quick look at recent calls, messages and even related RSS feeds. Luckily, the traditional S60 home screen is also available.
For text input you have four options: handwriting, mini QWERTY keyboard, full screen QWERTY and alphanumeric keypad. The first two are stylus-based (that mini QWERTY is truly mini), while the other two are only available in landscape and portrait modes, respectively. Like we said in the hardware end of things, the resistive touch means using the tips of your fingers instead of the pads, which we find a tad frustrating, but the keyboard in landscape mode is truly amazing. The handwriting recognition looks good enough, but we revert to a 2nd grade writing level whenever we pick up a pen, so that stylus is staying firmly in its holster.
Now coming to the touchable browser is a step up over existing WebKit implementations on Nokia's other handsets, since the tap to zoom function is slow and unreliable -- and no, you can't select text from web pages to copy and paste. Panning around the page is also jittery, perhaps a tad worse than the G1 -- nobody has managed to pull off iPhone smooth yet in this department. We were using a slightly early software build, so some of these problems might be fixed in the final version, but it wasn't encouraging. Still, there's no denying the advantages of viewing the web on a 640 x 360 LCD.
By testing accelerometer-based driving game, but it was overly sensitive and no-fun-at-all -- though they are trying but that wouldn't be a hard fix. The graphics looked pretty good, though. Movies are potentially this phone's killer app, but you'll have to do the conversion just right to get smooth playback at full resolution.
Conclusion
If you haven't picked it up by now, Nokia isn't going after the power users here. The phone will be marketed under Nokia's "Live" banner, and really concentrates on the most basic communications -- calling and texting -- with a whole bunch of multimedia piled on top. Nokia's Comes with Music helps on that end of things, and the screen certainly helps with video, but this is no iPhone when it comes to solid media integration or full-featured media player applications. On the communication side, we're sad to see Nokia almost burying some of its S60 advantages. Everything's still there, but Nokia didn't put the grunt work in necessary to really take advantage a next-generation interface as it relates to keeping track of emails, social networking, IM and the correspondences of more than four people. For those tech-junkies who want the world in their pocket this is the phone to go for.
Sep 13, 2011
HTML5 - An evolutionary technology
More than two decades after HTML was introduced, we’re still asking questions about what the web is, and what it might become. What kinds of features and applications would we, as users, find fun, useful or even indispensable? What tools do developers need in order to create these great sites and apps? And finally, how can all this goodness be delivered inside a web browser?
These questions led to the evolution of the latest version of HTML known as HTML5, a set of capabilities that gives web designers and developers the ability to create the next generation of great online applications. An example of this can be the introduction of the video tag. Before the video tag, for displaying any kind of video on a HTML page needed separate APIs or Plug-ins. All the goodness of flash and silverlight and many other softwares is combined into HTML5.
All the web browsers are now upgrading to HTML5, CSS3 and Javascript as these have become the new standards of the modern web.
Intel, ARM Set for Next Stage of Laptop Battle
Intel and challenger ARM are set for a PC showdown this week as competition heats up to redefine the laptop and reverse the sagging fortunes of the PC market.
Intel this week at its Intel Developer Forum developer show will provide further details on the rollout of ultrabooks, which have been described as thin and light PCs with tablet-like features. The chip maker is also expected to talk up Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 OS at the show, which will be held in San Francisco Tuesday through Thursday.
Meanwhile, Nvidia and Texas Instruments will be present at Microsoft's BUILD conference -- held in Anaheim, California, Tuesday through Friday -- to drum up support for Windows 8 on their chips, which carry ARM processors. Nvidia and TI have said they would put the ARM-based chips in laptops in an attempt to take PC market share away from Intel.
Intel is pushing ultrabooks to rejuvenate interest in PCs, whose shipments have slowed due in part to growing interest in tablets. ARM-based chip makers believe the power-efficient processors can be extended to laptops running Windows 8. Microsoft has extended Windows 8 support beyond x86 to ARM processors, and an Nvidia spokesman said that the upcoming OS will work on tablets and PCs with its upcoming quad-core Kal El chip, which is due to reach devices later this year.
"ARM in PCs faces a similar challenge to x86 in handsets. It's technically feasible but it will be a long and challenging road," said Jim McGregor, chief technology strategist at In-Stat.
Intel has faster chips and a long history with PCs that give it an early edge, but ARM chips, allowing longer battery life, could pose a challenge in Windows 8, analysts said. ARM, which licenses chip designs, has been hesitant to enter the PC market, with its thin margins and lack of returns, but Nvidia, TI and Qualcomm are chasing the market nonetheless.
However, while ARM may rule in tablets, it faces many challenges in PCs.
ARM is worrisome to the x86 camp, but not life-threatening, said Roger Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies Associates. The battle could rage in the low-end laptop space, but ARM falls short in higher-end laptops that offer greater performance and larger screen size.
"[ARM] is fine for doing iOS-style versions of applications, but not the bread and butter of the PC market, large screen real estate, lots of apps at once, video games in high resolution with good game play, monster spreadsheets, not to mention servers and high-performance computing," Kay said.
ARM processors also currently lack 64-bit support and could have trouble supporting legacy hardware such as printers or cameras, said Nathan Brookwood, principal analyst at Insight 64. There are stable x86 Windows drivers for old hardware, and device makers may not write new ARM drivers for older products.
"I'm still skeptical on Windows 8 on ARM in desktop and clamshell products," Brookwood said.
Despite hurting PC shipments, ARM processors and tablets are not effective in creating content. With its revamped user interface, Windows 8 could make both PCs and tablets into creation and consumption devices, which could hurt ARM.
If future designs hold true to Intel's vision, ultrabooks could provide a happy medium between PCs and tablets, said Dean McCarron, principal analyst at Mercury Research. PCs have been consistently redefined over the past few decades with desktops and then laptops, and ultrabooks could be the next iteration.
Intel plans to make ultrabooks a prominent theme at IDF and will present a three-stage rollout plan for the laptops. Intel has set ultrabooks to run on Core processors, be under 20 millimeters (0.8 inches) thick and use solid-state drive storage. Over the next two years, Intel aims to roll out more advanced ultrabook designs with features such as touchscreens that can flip and slide, all-day batteries and instant boot capabilities. Intel has invested US$300 million in companies that develop new technologies for ultrabooks.
Some vendors like Lenovo, Asus and Toshiba have already announced ultrabooks with the thin, sleek look of Apple's MacBook Air. Beyond ultrabooks, Intel is also pushing specialized x86 tablet chips in an attempt to dismantle ARM's tablet dominance, and at IDF will talk about its upcoming Medfield chip for tablets, though it was originally envisioned as a smartphone chip
Similar Articles:
Meanwhile, Nvidia and Texas Instruments will be present at Microsoft's BUILD conference -- held in Anaheim, California, Tuesday through Friday -- to drum up support for Windows 8 on their chips, which carry ARM processors. Nvidia and TI have said they would put the ARM-based chips in laptops in an attempt to take PC market share away from Intel.
Intel is pushing ultrabooks to rejuvenate interest in PCs, whose shipments have slowed due in part to growing interest in tablets. ARM-based chip makers believe the power-efficient processors can be extended to laptops running Windows 8. Microsoft has extended Windows 8 support beyond x86 to ARM processors, and an Nvidia spokesman said that the upcoming OS will work on tablets and PCs with its upcoming quad-core Kal El chip, which is due to reach devices later this year.
"ARM in PCs faces a similar challenge to x86 in handsets. It's technically feasible but it will be a long and challenging road," said Jim McGregor, chief technology strategist at In-Stat.
Intel has faster chips and a long history with PCs that give it an early edge, but ARM chips, allowing longer battery life, could pose a challenge in Windows 8, analysts said. ARM, which licenses chip designs, has been hesitant to enter the PC market, with its thin margins and lack of returns, but Nvidia, TI and Qualcomm are chasing the market nonetheless.
However, while ARM may rule in tablets, it faces many challenges in PCs.
ARM is worrisome to the x86 camp, but not life-threatening, said Roger Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies Associates. The battle could rage in the low-end laptop space, but ARM falls short in higher-end laptops that offer greater performance and larger screen size.
"[ARM] is fine for doing iOS-style versions of applications, but not the bread and butter of the PC market, large screen real estate, lots of apps at once, video games in high resolution with good game play, monster spreadsheets, not to mention servers and high-performance computing," Kay said.
ARM processors also currently lack 64-bit support and could have trouble supporting legacy hardware such as printers or cameras, said Nathan Brookwood, principal analyst at Insight 64. There are stable x86 Windows drivers for old hardware, and device makers may not write new ARM drivers for older products.
"I'm still skeptical on Windows 8 on ARM in desktop and clamshell products," Brookwood said.
Despite hurting PC shipments, ARM processors and tablets are not effective in creating content. With its revamped user interface, Windows 8 could make both PCs and tablets into creation and consumption devices, which could hurt ARM.
If future designs hold true to Intel's vision, ultrabooks could provide a happy medium between PCs and tablets, said Dean McCarron, principal analyst at Mercury Research. PCs have been consistently redefined over the past few decades with desktops and then laptops, and ultrabooks could be the next iteration.
Intel plans to make ultrabooks a prominent theme at IDF and will present a three-stage rollout plan for the laptops. Intel has set ultrabooks to run on Core processors, be under 20 millimeters (0.8 inches) thick and use solid-state drive storage. Over the next two years, Intel aims to roll out more advanced ultrabook designs with features such as touchscreens that can flip and slide, all-day batteries and instant boot capabilities. Intel has invested US$300 million in companies that develop new technologies for ultrabooks.
Some vendors like Lenovo, Asus and Toshiba have already announced ultrabooks with the thin, sleek look of Apple's MacBook Air. Beyond ultrabooks, Intel is also pushing specialized x86 tablet chips in an attempt to dismantle ARM's tablet dominance, and at IDF will talk about its upcoming Medfield chip for tablets, though it was originally envisioned as a smartphone chip
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)