Acer unveils world’s thinnest laptop

Posted on January 9, 2012 by admin

Taiwan-based computer titan will begin shipping Acer Aspire 5 in the second quarter of this year.

Acer unveiled the world s thinnest laptop computer as an array of “ultrabook” rivals prepared to debut this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The Taiwan-based computer titan will begin shipping Acer Aspire 5 models in the second quarter of this year, with prices to be disclosed in coming weeks.

“That S5 is quite significant,” analyst Tim Bajarin of Creative Strategies said after the Acer press event.

“It looks like the thinnest and lightest, and it sets the bar for the rest of the ultrabook vendors,” he continued.

The Aspire S5 has a 34-cm (13.3-inch) screen and is 15 mm at its thickest point. The ultrabook weighs slightly less than 1.35 kg (three pounds).

“We are committed to evolving this technology,” said Acer chief executive J.T. Wang. “By the second quarter of this year we will have four models of ultrabook and more to come.”

Ultrabooks powered by Windows 8 will be released by Acer after Microsoft releases the new version of its computer operating system later this year, according to Wang. He estimated that ultrabooks would make up at least 35 percent of the Acer product line by the end of this year.

Since Aspire S5 is Windows based it is not likely to be a direct challenge to MacBook Air laptops, which have been winning converts to the sleek machines powered by Apple software, according to Bajarin.

“The real battle is not with Apple, it is with all the other vendors coming out with Windows ultrabooks,” Bajarin said.

“Apple will still do great with MacBook Air, but in the Windows world it is great news that five years after Apple set the tone the industry is finally getting something equal,” he continued.

Acer also announced plans to launch a free service that will let users of its computers store video, photos, music, and documents in the Internet “cloud” and access files from any Windows 8 or Android software powered gadgets.

“We believe Microsoft will take care of Windows devices; Google will take care of Android devices, and Acer will take care of in between,” Wang said.

“We will make Windows work very well with Android and other platforms too.”

Bajarin described Aspire S5 as the first viable Windows equivalent of popular MacBook Air laptops built by California-based Apple.

Acer Cloud appeared to be a Windows version of the Apple s freshly-launched iCloud service that lets people access their content from iPads, iPhones, iPods, and Macintosh computers, according to the analyst.

China launches first 3D TV

Posted on January 2, 2012 by admin

To keep up with global technological trends, China launches the country’s first 3D television.

After a trial run, the 3D TV will be officially put into operation during Spring Festival later in January.

The first stations for the 3D trial are China Central Television, Beijing Television, Tianjing Broadcasting TV, Jiangsu TV and Shenzhen TV.

3D programs will be offered daily from 10:30 am to midnight.

The programs include animation, sports, documentaries, TV dramas, entertainment and live broadcasting of big events, such as CCTV New Year’s Gala and the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The stations will charge no viewing fees during the early phase of operation.

Samsung files new claims against Apple in Germany

Posted on December 19, 2011 by admin

S Korea’s Samsung Electronics said Monday it has filed new legal claims against Apple in Germany.

South Korea s Samsung Electronics said Monday it has filed new legal claims against US rival Apple in Germany, claiming that the iPhone maker infringed four of its patents.

Samsung said the claims, filed on December 16 with the Mannheim regional court, relate to alleged infringement of patents including those for Samsung s telecommunications standard technology and user interface.

The two technology giants are engaged in a legal battle involving dozens of cases worldwide as they struggle for leadership in the hugely lucrative smartphone and tablet computer market.

Apple began the process in April, accusing Samsung of “slavishly” copying its iPhone and iPad designs. Samsung has focused its own lawsuits on technology patents rather than design.

The South Korean giant has received two legal boosts this month.

On December 9 Australia s High Court cleared the way for Samsung to sell its Galaxy 10.1 tablet in the country in time for Christmas, dismissing Apple s bid to have a ban extended.

Earlier in the month a federal court judge in San Jose, California, denied Apple s request for a preliminary injunction that would have banned the sale of three Samsung smartphones and a tablet computer in the US.

Intel joins hands with a top Taiwan research institute

Posted on December 7, 2011 by admin

The $15-million project will focus on “super-fast, but extremely energy-efficient memory.

US chip giant Intel has joined hands with a top Taiwan research institute to develop a new generation of memory chips for use in lighter, energy-saving smartphones and tablets, officials said Wednesday.

“Intel Labs will collaborate with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) on research programmes expected to shape the future of information technology,” Intel said in a statement.

The $15-million project will focus on “super-fast, but extremely energy-efficient memory technologies” for lightweight laptops, tablets and smartphones, it said.

Intel, ITRI and Taiwan s economic ministry each will spend $5 million on the five-year project.

Google quits plans to make cheap renewable energy

Posted on November 23, 2011 by admin

Google Inc has abandoned an ambitious project to make renewable energy cheaper than coal, the latest target of Chief Executive Larry Page’s moves to focus the Internet giant on fewer efforts.

Google said on Tuesday that it was pulling the plug on seven projects, including Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal as well as a Wikipedia-like online encyclopedia service known as Knol.

The plans, which Google announced on its corporate blog, represent the third so-called “spring cleaning” announcement that Google has made since Google co-founder Page took the reins in April.

The changes come as Google is facing stiff competition in mobile computing and social networking from Apple Inc and Facebook, and as some investors have groused about rising spending at the world’s No.1 Internet search company.

“To recap, we’re in the process of shutting down a number of products which haven’t had the impact we’d hoped for, integrating others as features into our broader product efforts, and ending several which have shown us a different path forward,” wrote Google Senior Vice President of Operations Urs Holzle in the blog post.

Google said that it believed other institutions were better positioned to take its renewable energy efforts “to the next level.”

Google began making investments and doing research into technology to drive down the price of renewable energy in 2007, with a particular focus on solar power technology.

Last ditch effort save Russian spacecraft

Posted on November 10, 2011 by admin

Russia made desperate efforts to give a boost to a pioneering Mars probe.

It now hangs in a low Earth orbit and could potentially crash back down in a matter of days.

The unmanned Phobos-Grunt spacecraft failed to find the right course to the Red Planet and its moon Phobos after taking off from a space centre Russia leases in Kazakhstan early Wednesday.

The setback extended Russia s year-long streak of space mishaps and dimmed the once-vaunted programme s hopes of sending a manned mission to Mars some time in the next 25 years.

A source in the Russian space agency said Roscosmos had twice tried to establish contact with the wayward craft but had failed on both occasions.”The scariest thing in this field is when you get no signal back from the craft,” the unnamed source told RIA Novosti after the second failed attempt.

Russian officials said they will make two more attempts by Thursday evening while the European Space Agency vowed to join long-distance efforts to rescue the dying craft.Roscosmos said the main priority rested in quickly raising the bulky system into a higher orbit from which it could receive more detailed commands that could set it on its proper course.

“On this orbit, we can only maintain one-way communications — we can only receive telemetry data from Phobos-Grunt,” the official told Interfax.”If the (upper-stage) thrusters fail to fire, Phobos-Grunt will soon turn into space junk,” another Russian space official told the news agency.Roscosmos did not explain how exactly it hoped to revive the craft and one Russian space official had earlier said that success “would be a miracle”.

“Based on my experience, you cannot make the upper-stage work on a second attempt,” the armed forces former chief space adviser Vladimir Uvarov told Interfax on Thursday.

Russia s main concern now is that the 13.5-tonne structure — also carrying the Chinese Yinghuo-1 satellite it was supposed to place in orbit around Mars — and its highly toxic fuel could crash back to Earth.The space agency said it had a window of two weeks to reprogramme the craft while it clings on to its current orbit. But the agency s chief Vladimir Popovkin said the system s batteries could only last three days.

The five-billion-ruble ($165 million) probe was set to reach Mars next year before deploying its landing craft for the mysterious Mars moon Phobos in 2013. The original plan was to have it return to Earth with soil samples in August 2014.
The mishap caps an inglorious list for Russia s space programme on the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin s first flight into space.

Three navigation satellites plunged into the sea after a failed launch in December and Russia has since lost new military and telecommunications satellites upon launch.The last big space crash occurred in August when a cargo ship bound for the International Space Station failed to reach orbit — a frightening failure that some newspapers said could now be repeated again.

“The Mars mission s failure could mean that we lose space as a field of scientific research,” the Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily added.

Samsung, Google unveil ‘Ice Cream Sandwich’ phone

Posted on October 20, 2011 by admin

South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Wednesday unveiled its new smartphone that runs on Google’s latest Android operating system, the latest weapon in its battle to topple Apple’s iPhone.

The launch of the “Galaxy Nexus”, which comes days a after the new iPhone 4S went on sale, was initially scheduled for October 11 but was delayed following the death of Apple chief Steve Jobs as a gesture of respect.

Samsung — the world’s number two mobile phone maker — and Apple are also engaged in a series of patent lawsuits over the technology and design of smartphones and tablet computers.

“We are very proud of this milestone,” Samsung’s Mobile Communications Business president JK Shin said as the new phone was unveiled in Hong Kong.

The Galaxy Nexus is the first device to use the new Android “Ice Cream Sandwich” — a title that continues Google’s tradition of naming its operating systems after desserts in alphabetical order.

The firms said the new handset offers easier and quicker Internet browsing, an improved camera and enhanced security using face recognition technology.

It also features “Android Beam”, a function that allows content to be shared between two devices by simply touching them together.

The smartphone will be available in the United States, Europe and Asia from November, before being gradually rolled out to other markets. Its price was not announced.

The launch of the Galaxy Nexus come as Apple’s iPhone 4S has already notched up sales of more than four million units since launching in seven countries on Friday.

The Apple handset will be available in 22 other countries, including much of Europe, by the end of October, and more than 70 countries by the end of 2011.

However, Samsung is seeking a ban of sales of the new iPhone in Japan, Australia, France and Italy, citing what it called patent infringements regarding mobile technology, part of an escalating legal saga between the two.

India introduces battery powered cycle rickshaws

Posted on October 17, 2011 by admin

The Kolkata authorities introduce battery-powered rickshaws with an aim to reduce human effort.

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) recently introduced battery -powered rickshaws in Kolkata city of India s eastern West Bengal state with an aim to reduce human labour.

It is for the first time that zero carbon-emitting vehicles have been introduced in the city. These battery-powered rickshaws provided with pedal mode use electrical form of energy at the initial stage giving the rickshaw a maximum speed of 18km/hour.

Rickshaw puller Sanjiv Das says Solekshaws are easier to ride as the battery can be charged. “They ride these battery rickshaws. The new rickshaw that has come out has a battery system. There is less pressure on the rider,” says Das.
Debabrata Majumdar, councillor of ward no. 97 and mayor-in-council of KMC has said rickshaws have been the mode of transport in Kolkata for many years.

The rickshaw pullers suffer from fatigue after they ride the rickshaws for 8-10 hours a day. The Solekshaw is an ideal solution, as the human effort would be reduced. “Most of our primary transport system is of primitive age that is still pulled by the human beings. To substitute that, this types of solar rickshaws have been developed. One feature is that human efforts will be reduced. It will be replaced by the energy. Secondly this energy is eco-friendly,” said Majumdar.

Each battery-operated rickshaw costs around rupees 30,000. The rickshaws have been handed over to rickshaw pullers free of cost but they have to pay the maintenance charges. Though the battery is charged by conventional electricity at present, in the future it could be recharged using solar energy.

Apple store draws big iPhone crowd

Posted on October 15, 2011 by admin

Hundreds of fans including one who had camped out for 10 days whooped for joy as the new iPhone 4S went on sale Friday at the Apple store in London, the US firm’s largest outlet on the planet.

Britain is known for its love for queues and staff handed out tickets and refreshments to a line of around 300 people that snaked around the block from the shop in the central Covent Garden theatre district.

“I’m a huge Apple fan,” said Rob Shoesmith, 30, from Coventry in central England, who camped outside the store for 10 days to get his hands on one of the new phones.

He said he had surviving by trading Apple items in exchange for food and water and making appeals for supplies by Twitter.

“I used to work as a bin man, then I submitted an app that achieved success in 2009. Without Apple as a company I would still be emptying dustbins,” he told AFP.

Duncan Hoare, 42, a forex trader from London, who had been waiting since Tuesday, mourned the passing of Jobs, who died from cancer last week aged 56.

“It (Jobs’ death) did actually make me want the iPhone more,” Hoare said.

“I was devastated, I didn’t actually believe it. My mother told me. He was Apple, the creativity he gave to Apple products is what made them.”

There were harsh words in London for smartphone rival BlackBerry, which has suffered an embarrassing technical glitch in recent days that has left millions of angry users without email.

Kat Golub, 22, who works for a record label, said she was queueing so she could switch from BlackBerry to the iPhone.

“I’ve been wanting to change for a few weeks. The screen is bigger, with the touchpad on BlackBerry I can’t do anything for 30 seconds — it freezes! And I’ve had the problems with it this week,” she said.

Alon Shalev, 22, a student from Saint Petersburg in Russia who had been waiting line at the Apple store for two days, said: “BlackBerrys don’t work, they are slow.”

Of Jobs, he said: “I wanted the iPhone anyway but it is a big tragedy that he died, I was very sad to hear the news. But he made this company so he is a hero of our time, of the 21st century.”‑

Apple to showcase new iPhone after 15-month hiatus

Posted on October 10, 2011 by admin

Apple Inc looks set to unveil a new iPhone on Tuesday after a 15-month hiatus, hoping to fend off hard-charging rivals running Google Inc’s Android and safeguard its lead with the fifth incarnation of the iconic device.

Newly appointed CEO Tim Cook will do the honors this time from Apple’s headquarters, running the first major product launch in years without impresario Steve Jobs as he tries to take Apple to still-loftier heights.

The iPhone 5 expected to be faster, thinner and larger-screened would arrive just in time for the crucial holiday shopping season.

It should sustain Apple’s smartphone momentum and help ward off a challenge from close runner-up Samsung Electronics.

Apple launches are some of the hottest events on the tech calendar, scrutinized by fans, investors, the media and industry insiders alike.

Tuesday’s “Let’s talk iPhone” show, starting at 1 pm Eastern time, will mark Cook’s unofficial debut since taking over from co-founder Jobs in August.

Some shareholders and analysts expect a cameo appearance by Jobs, now chairman, though a no-show would not be a major disappointment.

With the launch of the new phone, Apple faces the challenge of surpassing the popularity of its current iPhone 4, a 15-month-old model and bona fide hit with more than 20 million sold in the third quarter ended June 25.

Some on Wall Street also expect the company to unveil a cheaper model tailor-made for the fast-growing Asian market, one of the few arenas where Apple can accelerate its growth.

“We expect improved processing power and camera capabilities, with a potential bump in RAM, though that may not be needed with iCloud,” said William Power, analyst with Baird Equity Research.

“Various sources have suggested that Apple will debut more robust voice control functionality,” he added.

The new iPhone is also expected to come loaded with the updated iOS5 software that Apple unveiled in June. Some of the new features include improved notification functions and better Twitter integration.

The iPhone still the gold standard in the smartphone market has been a huge success since it debuted in 2007, transforming it into one of the world’s leading consumer electronics powerhouses.

But it faces stiff competition from phones based on Google’s Android operating system, which led the US market with a 43 per cent share, Nielsen data show. The iPhone was No. 2 with 28 per cent.

Globally, according to IHS iSuppli, iPhone shipments climbed 9.1 per cent in the second quarter while Nokia’s plummeted more than 30 per cent, handing the top spot to Apple with a market share of 18.4 per cent.

Samsung, whose shipments grew even faster, is coming on strong with a global market share of 17.8 per cent.

The iPhone 4 pricing starts at $199 and is available on the networks of AT&T Inc and Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications Inc and Vodafone Group Plc.

Many analysts expect Sprint will become the third US operator to sell the iPhone when the next version is launched.

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