May 25, 2011
Enterprise, Start Your Engines
TouchPad is coming...soon. And it comes with free Citrix Receiver. And WebOS multitasks.
HP Communities - Enterprise, Start Your Engines - HP Communities
As you’ve no doubt heard – and have perhaps even left a comment about on previous blog posts – the HP TouchPad is coming…soon. The TouchPad sports features that will appeal to consumers and business customers alike – built-in Beats Audio, touch-to-share, compatibility with Adobe Flash, and of course all the multitasking-Synergy-Just Type goodness that comes with the webOS territory.
We’ll have more to say about some of the consumer goodies you can look forward to…soon. (And for a peak ahead at how TouchPad could someday be the hub of your home electronics wonderland, here’s HP’s Phil McKinney offering one vision of the not-too-distant future.) Today, though, here’s a preview of just one of the ways TouchPad is going to help you get more done at work, faster and easier.
For starters, how does ready access to over 500,000 enterprise apps out of the gate sound? (It sounds something like this: “Whoaaaaaa!”) Thanks to the free Citrix Receiver– which should be available for TouchPad at launch – you’ll have free, secure, and easy access to a vast library of apps from your company’s IT data center.
Citrix Receiver and webOS are an ideal fit. For example, thanks to webOS’s multitasking capabilities, you can run multiple sessions simultaneously and work the same way on your mobile device that you are used to on a laptop with plenty of apps and documents open in multiple windows. Citrix Receiver also embraces touch-enabled applications. And Citrix’s “zero-touch” approach to managing scheduled downloads and updates is a perfect match for the automatic over-the-air updates offered by webOS. Developers who are familiar with the open philosophy of webOS that makes it easy to create apps for other platforms (and to bring apps to webOS from other platforms) will also appreciate the multi-platform, multi-device approach found with Citrix Receiver.
HP is the featured sponsor of the “BYO Pavilion” at Citrix’s Synergy event that kicks off today. If you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area, you can check it out here. And if you’re not in the Bay Area, you can check it out here. And of course, if you want more info on that TouchPad you’ll be running Citrix Receiver on, you can check that out here.
HP Communities - Enterprise, Start Your Engines - HP Communities
Posted by Staff at 01:30 PM | Comments (0)
May 16, 2011
Why Google’s Chromebooks are born to lose?
Rob Enderle writes why Chromebooks will fail. One comment wonders if Facebook paid for the article. We were surprised at how highly he rates ipad for enterprise and low Android tablets. We work enterprise and it seems reversed to us?
Why Google’s Chromebooks are born to lose
oogle’s Chromebooks risk repeating the same mistakes made by many failed predecessors, which could leave the door hanging open for Windows 8 to swoop in and dominate the cloud.
It is funny how often it generally takes for a new idea to stick in the market. We first started messing around with tablets in the early 90s. Now, nearly 20 years later, only one vendor has made a successful one: the Apple iPad.
Google’s new Chromebooks are essentially thin clients — lightweight computers dependent on servers (the cloud in this case) which have terminals as their distant ancestors. Sun and Oracle tried to bring the thin client concept to market 20 years ago and failed miserably. Their efforts continued on as products from Wyse and HP, but never became the PC alternatives Scott McNealy and Larry Ellison’s envisioned them as.
Still, as with tablets, the second time could be a charm. Google is hell bent on proving that ChromeOS can be what Larry and Scott hoped: a true replacement for the PC. In their favor, a lot of the negatives that nearly killed the initiative last time have disappeared. Working against them, Windows 7 is vastly superior, and the iPad already serves as a better PC alternative than ChromeOS can ever be. What we know of Windows 8 suggests it blends ChromeOS and iPad concepts into Windows. If Google misses its shot, Microsoft likely benefits. Let’s explore this.
Sun Ray oneThe birth and near death of thin clients
There was a lot of hope in the Windows wannabe camp back in 1993, when Larry Ellison first talked about thin clients, and Sun later embraced the ideal to create the Sun Ray one. A few years later, I hosted a bunch of CIOs in Europe at a desktop conference, and their reaction kind of summed up the problem. In the meeting there were (and this was unusual) a group of Sun executives who were listening in. They were supposed to act like well-behaved kids — seen and not heard. Unfortunately, they evidently missed that memo and started dumping on Windows. At the time, Windows NT was in its infancy, and folks weren’t that happy with how Windows 95 had turned out.
To my surprise, the CIOs and IT folks in the room tore into the Sun execs, explaining in great detail why the Sun Ray 1 thin client was brain dead stupid. It was a lock-in product that forced them to buy from Sun for all future upgrades (they preferred pitting vendors against each other). It was horribly expensive to implement. It had severe problems running current PC code. The migration costs were massive. Basically, they told Sun to take a hike because they weren’t about to trade some annoying problems for some catastrophic ones. The Sun execs looked like they had been hit by a bus.
Larry got that thin clients had to be cheap, and understood that they would likely play best in places like schools, where the security features inherent in them (it was really hard to mess them up compared to PCs) would be valued. However, he picked what appeared to be a girlfriend to run the independent company. Showcasing why executives shouldn’t think with their little heads, the effort failed.
Since then, we have seen some innovative alternatives from companies like Clear Cube, which did remote PCs, and full on thin clients from Wyse and HP, but these mostly went places where data entry was king, serving as replacements for terminals. PCs running Windows are so inexpensive and entrenched that thin clients just don’t seem to have any traction. But, then again, no one has really made a major push in this space for years either. And while mobile is huge in the PC space, it is more of an afterthought in thin clients. At least until now.
Posted by Staff at 11:05 AM | Comments (0)
May 12, 2011
Google begins tablet version of Chrome OS
 Google acknowledged the tablet version of Chrome OS but wouldn't discuss details such as when the project's first version will be done. |
Details in Google's source code reveal that company programmers have begun building a tablet version of Chrome OS, its browser-based operating system.
The work isn't a surprise, given that Google created mock-ups of a Chrome OS tablet more than a year ago. But it does indicate that a tablet incarnation of Google's Web-app operating system is a near-term priority, not just an idea.
Google acknowledged the tablet version of Chrome OS but wouldn't discuss details such as when the project's first version will be done. "We are engaging in early open-source work for the tablet form factor, but we have nothing new to announce at this time," the company said in a statement.
Chrome OS tablets, though, are not first on the list, the company said: "Chrome OS was designed from the beginning to work across a variety of form factors. We expect to see different partners build different kinds of devices based on Chrome OS, but for this initial release we are targeting the notebook form factor."
Chrome OS has been evolving since Google announced it in 2009. Initially it was aimed at Netbooks, the small, low-end laptops. But the first incarnation of Chrome OS--a pilot release intended for developers and testers rather than ordinary customers--arrived in a more polished laptop package called the Cr-48.
A tablet version of Chrome OS, though, raises a big question about Google's strategy, because the company's tablet version of the Android operating system, Honeycomb, is just now arriving on the market with Motorola's Xoom and other products designed to compete with the leader of the tablet market, Apple's iPad.
For use in a tablet version of Chrome OS, Google's browser is getting virtual keys, including this design for a return key, for a screen keyboard.
(Credit: screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)
Signs of Chrome OS for tablets
A number of changes in Chrome and Chrome OS source code that arrived in March and April reveal the tablet work. Among them:
• The "user-agent string" text that browsers supply so Web servers can deliver the appropriate version of a Web site--for touch user interfaces. The string includes the term "CrOS Touch," not just CrOS as before.
"This lets Web sites that are already customizing for tablet experiences easily adapt to support tablet ChromeOS devices," the programming change log notes.
• A "virtual keyboard" with a number of keys--tab, delete, microphone, return, and shift, for example--drawn in SVG so they can be shown by a browser. Screen keyboards are, of course, a necessity with tablets.
• A variety of moves to make the browser more touch-friendly, for example by increasing the space around items to make it easier to select them with a touch interface.
• A revamped new-tab page (which people see when they open a new, blank tab) that's "optimized for touch." The current page shows an array of Web applications downloaded from the Chrome Web Store, but the modified version adds multiple screens of icons in the style of iOS devices.
The orientation of the new-tab page, but not its size, will change when the device is rotated, according to the new-tab page's coding annotations. "Note that this means apps will be reflowed when rotated (like iPad)," the annotation said.
The CSS code for the new-tab page also indicates that programmers would like to be able to move icons around the page, preferably with animation.
Pick a tablet, any tablet
So with Android and Chrome OS tablet software under development, what's Google's top tablet priority?
Clearly, the answer today is Android. It's at the forefront of Google's mobile strategy and is a commercial success, at least in phones. Tens of thousands of Android applications are available today, and even Google rivals such as Yahoo and Microsoft are offering software.
Chrome OS, by comparison, is immature and conceptually a greater leap from prevailing software development patterns. That's because Chrome OS solely runs apps on the browser, not on its underlying Linux operating system embedded under the covers.
Related links
• Google shows off Chrome OS tablet ideas
• Rumor: Chrome OS tablet coming in November
• Google plans Chrome-based Web operating system
• Google Cr-48 Chrome hardware pilot program: 'Not for the faint of heart'
There are abundant Web sites and Web apps that Chrome OS users can use today, of course, and some, like Google's Gmail site optimized for Apple's iPad, are designed with a touch user interface already. But the tools for building advanced, interactive, high-performance Web apps today just don't match what's possible with apps that run natively on a mobile device or computer, and most people today aren't ready to live solely in the cloud.
Timing also isn't on Chrome OS's side. The project had been set to launch in 2010, but has been delayed to midway through this year, though the Chrome Web Store used to bookmark and purchase Web apps is live.
Google can let both tablet projects duke it out internally and in the market. Or, if Google co-founder Sergey Brin is to believed, Android and Chrome OS might merge into a single project.
It's not a simple matter of some internal Darwinian process within Google to let the be best product survive, though. That's because there are external parties involved: hardware partners, developers, retailers, and customers.
Each of these groups must be won over, persuaded that the new ecosystem is worth their investment of time and money.
Google's modus operandi--release early and iterate often--is a lot harder to pull off when others are involved. Web applications and native Android applications are by no means mutually exclusive, but developers with finite resources can't be blamed for trying to figure out where to place their bets.
Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20051228-264.html#ixzz1M9xPEKK2
Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20051228-264.html#ixzz1M9xJ2Kez
Posted by Staff at 06:14 PM | Comments (0)
February 24, 2011
Motorola's Xoom Starts Tablet Wars With iPad
Mossberg/WSJ declares Xoom tablet to be nearest new alternative to iPad thanks to Honeycomb
Motorola's Xoom Is iPad's First Real Rival - WSJ.com
fter months of speculation, the tablet wars begin in earnest this week. Motorola is releasing its Xoom tablet on Feb. 24, and I consider it the first truly comparable competitor to Apple's hit iPad. That is partly because it is the first iPad challenger to run Honeycomb, an elegant new version of Google's Android operating system designed especially for tablets.
A review of the first full-screen competitor to the iPad, the 10" Motorola Xoom tablet, which is also the first of many coming tablets to run the special tablet version of Google's Android platform, Honeycomb.
Both Motorola's hardware and Google's new software are impressive and, after testing it for about a week, I believe the Xoom beats the first-generation iPad in certain respects, though it lags in others. Like the iPad, the Xoom has a roomy 10-inch screen, and it's about the same thickness and weight as the iPad, albeit narrower and longer. And, like the iPad's operating system, Honeycomb gives software the ability to make good use of that screen real estate, with apps that are more computer-like than those on a smartphone.
The Xoom has a more potent processor than the current iPad; front and rear cameras versus none for the iPad; better speakers; and higher screen resolution. It also can be upgraded free later this year to support Verizon's faster 4G cellular data network (though monthly fees may rise.)
Motorola is taking aim at the iPad just as Apple is expected to announce, next week, a second-generation of its tablet. Little is known about this second iPad, but it's widely expected to take away at least one of the Xoom's advantages over the original iPad—cameras—and is rumored to be thinner and lighter, since weight was one of the most common complaints about the generally praised first iPad.
Posted by Staff at 02:11 PM | Comments (0)
December 07, 2010
Google Must Make Tablets "Honeycomb Ready"
Google new Honeycomb for tablets needs to get off phone-oriented Froyo and onto on API.
Google Must Make Tablets "Honeycomb Ready" | News & Opinion | PCMag.com
By: Sascha Segan
12.07.2010
Last night Google's Andy Rubin finally unveiled the tablet-friendly version of the Android OS last night. Rubin showed off Android 3.0, aka "Honeycomb," on a prototype Motorola tablet—and promptly threw the nascent Android tablet market into further confusion.
Honeycomb is coming out next year. Yeah, sure, it rewrites core apps to make them more tablet-licious, but the most important aspect is the APIs. It looks like Honeycomb will let third-party programmers write apps designed for a wide range of Android tablets, rather than blown-up phone apps or app versions targeted to one specific manufacturer or device.
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Google has always had a weird relationship with their Android manufacturer partners. Sometimes they work tightly together, as with Motorola's Droid. Sometimes they seem to have absolutely nothing to do with each other, such as with Archos's bizarre, mutant-Android devices. Google likes to disclaim responsibility by saying Android is an "open" project, but it's the simple truth that Google guides the main branch of Android. Most importantly, Google blesses and controls the Android Market, which is the way most third-party apps get sold for Android gadgets.
Recently the lack of communication seems to have been particularly intense. OEMs want to make tablets, and Google hasn't been offering tablet-friendly software on the schedule OEMs want. Google's current OS, 2.2 "Froyo," is designed for phones. Manufacturers have to jump through hoops to make it work on a tablet, and there's no good way to search for tablet-friendly software in the Android Market. The brand-new Gingerbread release doesn't look much better.
Samsung's Galaxy Tab has done a decent job making lemonade here, and the Tab's success so far shows how much consumers want a good, non-Apple-made tablet. But Samsung hasn't yet been able to convince many third-party software developers to come along and create tablet-centric apps before Google has a tablet-centric OS.
This situation is going to get much worse at CES, because I've heard that at the January trade show we're going to see a ton of Android tablets. If too many of those run Froyo, it could stall the Android tablet ecosystem. Devices need apps, apps need APIs and stores, and Google doesn't seem interested in providing the real tablet APIs and the tablet software store until Honeycomb.
Upgrades Are Key
There's a clear way out of this mess. Google needs to run a "Honeycomb Ready" certification program. Obviously, the company knows what it'll take to run Honeycomb. It's running on prototype devices. Honeycomb is the tablet experience users want. If we can't buy Honeycomb tablets, let's at least buy them "Honeycomb Ready"— with a guaranteed latest upgrade date for the new software.
This means Google and its OEM partners need to have some hard discussions about the Android upgrade problem. Currently, the upgrade situation is a mess. Google puts out new versions of Android and then various devices get them promptly, eventually, or never.
Rubin seems to have faith that the market will shake out the laggards here, but I'm not convinced. People don't buy a phone based on whether, six months from now, the manufacturer will deliver an upgrade they don't know is coming yet. They buy the phone based on things like price, carrier, speed, call quality, screen quality, and color—things they can touch and see at purchase. The stuttering pace of upgrades for Samsung's Galaxy S phones doesn't seem to have slowed their sale. There's just not a huge incentive for manufacturers to offer upgrades promptly.
For Android to continue its success and for Android tablets to match the iPad, Google and its OEMs need to get into a room and hash out the upgrade situation—not just for tablets, for phones, too. Mobile devices are no longer fixed-feature, black boxes. They're handheld computers with software platforms that grow. Apple understands this; Microsoft seems to as well.
Froyo tablets may not take over the world. But "Honeycomb Ready" tablets might. Can Google and manufacturers make that leap together?
Google Must Make Tablets "Honeycomb Ready" | News & Opinion | PCMag.com
Posted by Staff at 06:42 PM | Comments (0)
December 04, 2010
Google Chrome: Meet the Contender
 Woody Leonard/Infoworld commentary on upcoming Google Chrome OS and what it means. And what it means to Microsoft. |
Google Chrome: Meet the Contender - PCWorld
By Woody Leonhard, Infoworld Dec 4, 2010 7:35 am
It's been a tumultuous year for IT shops, with paradigms shifting like tectonic plates in San Andreas. You might think the IT world would begin to stabilize a bit, at least conceptually, as we launch into the year-end consumer feeding frenzy.
Alas, it's not to be.
Depending on whom you follow, Google's long-anticipated Chrome OS could make its debut in the next couple of weeks, or the next couple of months. In mid-November, at the Web 2.0 Summit, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said Chrome OS would hit "in the next few months." A week later, Chrome OS head honcho Sundar Pichai was quoted in the New York Times, saying Google would launch a lightweight netbook with Chrome OS by the end of the year.
Although few heads will turn at the sight of a Chrome OS netbook -- we're not talking iPad 2 here -- the technology involved represents a radical departure from anything IT shops have seen in many years.
If you were around the computer industry 10 or 15 years ago, you may recall Larry Ellison's infatuation with the concept of a thin client: a minimalist chunk of hardware that sits on a desk, inextricably tethered to a server. The server provides all of the brains and most of the storage; the thin client only exists to interact with the server.
I tend to think of Chrome OS as implementing a gaunt client -- thin to the point of cadaverous -- tethered to the Web. No desktop applications. No backup programs. No UI tweaks. No tuning. No utilities. Just the Web, the browser, and the Web, and the browser.
More than a year ago, Google posted a YouTube video that explains Chrome OS's charm: Your netbook runs the browser, and that's it -- simple, fast, no layers of overhead, no dark corners for malware, just the browser on metal. More than that, Chrome OS doesn't store any of your data or settings on the computer -- it's all in the cloud. You can flit from one netbook to another and absolutely everything travels with you. If your netbook breaks down, pick up another one. Somebody steals it, who cares? If you're interrupted in the middle of doing something, you can pick right up where you left off by using any other Chrome OS device.
Google's given a lot of thought to the interface, as well. More than a year ago, Sundar Pichai posted another YouTube video with all sorts of details -- application tabs, dockable pop-up panels -- which may or may not end up in the product we'll see in a few weeks.
At the same time, Google released Chrome OS's source code, called the Chromium OS Project. Developers have been hacking away at it for a year. Chrome OS is from Google, and it's focused on hardware specifically built to Google's specifications. Chromium OS may run on many different boxes.
That was a year ago. Since then, we've heard very little from the Chrome OS team -- remarkable because it appears as if Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer, Asus, Toshiba, and other hardware manufacturers are actively bulding machines using Chrome OS. Since then the world's changed, leading to much speculation about how Chrome OS may (or may not!) have adapted to the meteoric rise of the iPad and Google's own Android. By many accounts, netbook sales are hurting, with the iPad rushing in where Windows-based PCs feared to tread.
So how, you may ask, is Chrome OS different from Android? They were developed by two entirely different teams, working from diametrically opposed starting points. As Eric Schmidt said during his Web 2.0 presentation, Android is designed for touch devices and Chrome OS is designed for keyboard devices. Of course, that immediately begs the question of which operating system is intended for use on phones with keypads or slates with touchscreens -- a distinction that will certainly fade in the next year or two.
I wonder if Schmidt ever dreamed he would face a situation where two of his open source products will fight each other for market share. It seems inevitable, at this point.
Posted by Staff at 04:48 PM | Comments (0)
December 02, 2010
Gartner - Media Tablets Eat into PC Sales
Gartner, Inc. announced that it expects media tablets (iPad, PlayBook, Galaxy Tab, etc.) to eat steadily into PC sales over the next few years
Media Tablets Eat into PC Sales � Hugh's News
Gartner Says Worldwide PC Shipments to Grow 14 Percent in 2010
Five Disruptive Forces Challenging PC Industry
STAMFORD, Conn., November 29, 2010 — Worldwide PC shipments are on pace to total 352.4 million units in 2010, a 14.3 percent increase from 2009, according to the latest preliminary forecast by Gartner, Inc. These projections are down from Gartner’s previous PC shipment forecast in September of 17.9 percent growth.
2011 worldwide PC shipments are forecast to reach 409 million units, a 15.9 percent increase from 2010. This is down from Gartner’s earlier estimate of 18.1 percent growth for 2011.
“These results reflect marked reductions in expected near-term unit growth based on expectations of weaker consumer demand, due in no small part to growing user interest in media tablets such as the iPad,” said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner. “Over the longer term, media tablets are expected to displace around 10 percent of PC units by 2014.”
While Gartner does not regard the current dynamics in the PC market quite yet as an inflexion point, analysts do see many disruptive forces coming together that will weaken the market moving forward.
“PC market growth will be impacted by devices that enable better on-the-go content consumption such as media tablets and next-generation smartphones,” said Raphael Vasquez, research analyst at Gartner. “These devices will be increasing embraced as complements if not substitutes for PCs where voice and light data consumption are desired. It is likely that desk-based PCs will be adversely impacted over the long-term by the adoption of hosted virtual desktops, which can readily use other devices like thin clients.”
“PCs are still seen as necessities, but the PC industry’s inability to significantly innovate and its overreliance on a business model predicated on driving volume through price declines are finally impacting the industry’s ability to induce new replacement cycles,” said George Shiffler, research director at Gartner. “As the PC market slows, vendors that differentiate themselves through services and technology innovation rather than unit volume and price will dictate the future. Even then, leading vendors will be challenged to keep PCs from losing the device ‘limelight’ to more innovative products that offer better dedicated compute capabilities.”
In the near term, many consumers and businesses will continue to refrain from buying PCs, as they collectively rebuild their finances in the face of slower income growth, weaker employment gains and a cloudy economic outlook. Over the longer-term, users are likely to slow PC replacements and extend PC lifetimes as they turn to other devices as their primary computing platform.
Gartner analysts said there are five dynamics that are challenging the PC industry:
Emerging Markets Continue to Drive Growth
While we expect a continued upside in our emerging market forecast, leading to emerging markets gaining more than 50 percent of the total worldwide PC market by the end of 2011, mature markets will face mounting challenges. Furthermore, in emerging markets, there is good chance that consumers will simply leap frog PCs and move directly to alternative devices in the coming years rather than following the traditional pattern of purchasing a PC as their first computing device.
Consumer Wallet Continues to Shrink
Home mobile PCs have suffered the steepest downgrade with shipments in mature markets expected to be significantly weaker. Consumers in the U.S. and Western Europe continue to postpone purchases in the face of financial and economic uncertainty. However, Gartner said that the bigger issue for PCs in the home market is consumers temporarily, if not permanently, forgoing PC purchases in favor of media tablets.
Challenge of Emerging Devices
Media tablet capabilities are expected to become more PC-like in the coming years, luring consumers away from PCs and displacing a significant volume of PC shipments, especially mini-notebooks. Media tablets are rapidly finding favor with PC buyers who are attracted to their more-dedicated entertainment-driven features and their instant-on capability.
Extended Life Cycle Impact
The ascent of emerging devices will have an important indirect impact on PCs – the extension of average PC lifecycles. The effect of this ascent will be to spread traditional PC functionality over a variety of complementary devices. As this happens, analysts foresee users extending the lifetimes of PCs because there will be less need to replace them as often.
Uptake of Thin Clients
Hosted virtual desktops (HVDs) are not expected to earnestly impact mature professional markets until 2012, at the earliest. Longer term, users that adopt HVDs to access their compute capabilities will do so predominantly by using refurbished PCs and thin clients. These alternative devices will displace new PC units, thereby reducing expected future desk-based shipment growth.
More information is available in the report “Forecast Alert: Worldwide PC Forecast Downgraded as PC Market Hit by Disruptive Forces”, which can be found on Gartner’s website athttp://www.gartner.com/resId=1476414.
Gartner analysts will provide a more detailed examination of the PC industry during the webinar “Gartner Preliminary PC Forecast and Market Scenarios, 4Q10” at 11:30 EST on November 30. To register for the client webinar, please visit http://my.gartner.com/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=202&mode=2&PageID=5553&resId=1461334&ref=Webinar-Calendar.
About Gartner:
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company. Gartner deliver the technology-related insight necessary for its clients to make the right decisions, every day. From CIOs and senior IT leaders in corporations and government agencies, to business leaders in high-tech and telecom enterprises and professional services firms, to technology investors, Gartner is the indispensable partner to approximately 60,000 clients in 10,000 distinct organizations. Through the resources of Gartner Research, Gartner Executive Programs, Gartner Consulting and Gartner Events, Gartner works with every client to research, analyze and interpret the business of IT within the context of their individual role. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A., and has approximately 4,300 associates, including approximately 1,200 research analysts and consultants serving clients in 80 countries. For more information, visit www.gartner.com.
Media Tablets Eat into PC Sales � Hugh's News
Posted by Staff at 02:18 PM | Comments (0)
November 23, 2010
Acer Jumps Into Tablet Fray
As the rise of tablets threatens its low-cost laptop business, computer maker Acer Inc. unveiled plans to begin selling tablets that run either Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. software
Acer Jumps Into Tablet Fray - WSJ.com
The Taiwan company said Tuesday it will release three touchscreen tablets next year. The first, based on Microsoft's Windows platform, will have a 10.1 inch screen and be released in February.
The company will also release two tablets using Google's Android platform in April, one with a 7-inch screen and one with a 10.1-inch screen.
Acer didn't provide details about pricing or carrier distribution during its product event. Executives said pricing hasn't yet been determined, and the tablets haven't yet officially been named.
Acer is the latest personal-computer maker to join the tablet bandwagon after Apple Inc.'s iPad, released in April, attracted strong consumer demand. Samsung Electronics Co. has begun selling a Google-based tablet with a 7-inch screen. Other companies, including BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. and Hewlett-Packard Co., have announced plans to introduce tablets to compete with Apple's product.
At the launch event in New York, Chief Executive Gianfranco Lanci said people are moving from creating content to consuming content, and they need a variety of devices for the different needs.
Full Article -- Acer Jumps Into Tablet Fray - WSJ.com
As expected, Acer announced not one, but three tablets today. However, even the company's CEO, Gianfranco Lanci, admitted that the 5-incher it also unveiled is primarily a phone. All these devices were in scarce supply at Acer's downtown Manhattan product unveiling, but we managed to grab a few moments with the still-unnamed 10-inch Android tablet.
Roughly a half-inch thick and somewhat long longer (or narrower—it has a 16:9 aspect ratio) and heavier than the Apple iPad, the Acer tablet runs Android, though it wasn't clear which version. Acer execs said its release schedule for these Android tablets is dependent on when the tablet version of Android (code-named Honeycomb) is ready.
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The device offers no front button, but does have power and screen lock on one side, an SD slot on another, and a docking port for the optional, full-sized keyboard dock. There are two cameras, one on the back and another on the front. Acer didn't announce the resolution, though we know the camera on the 5-inch smartphone is 8 megapixels, so it might not be a stretch to assume the same about this device's primary image capture hardware. The company also left out details on the exact screen resolution, though we can report that it's bright, sharp, and highly reflective. There's also a mini HDMI port for playing back content on your HDTV. The gray, brushed metal device is easy to hold and, unlike the Samsung Galaxy Tab, didn't feel as if it might slide out of your hands.
Powered by an Nvidia Tegra 2 CPU, the tablet has some serious graphics chops. We saw it play a 3D game during the on-stage demo and then watched as it effortlessly handled 1080p HD video streaming from a nearby Acer laptop. Both devices feature DLNA-enabled Clear.fi, Acer's new WiFi-based content streaming and sharing technology. Acer execs said Clear.Fi. will help users create a "personal cloud."
I touched the screen to pause the movie and realized that there was no obvious way to return to the very Android-like home-screen. Acer representatives explained that there will be a software-based home button when the product ships next year.
The few gestures we were allowed to try on the tablet worked well, but the Acer representative watching over us as we held the device seemed particularly anxious. Before we knew it, he had snatched it back and our time with the Acer 10.1-Inch Android Tablet was over.
Pictures/video included
Posted by Staff at 07:45 PM | Comments (0)
October 05, 2010
HP Windows 7 Tablet Is A Trainwreck In The Making
If a new demo video on YouTube is anything to go by, HP should abandon it's Windows 7 tablet plans now, says Nicholas Kolakowski. He roughs the prototype quite a bit.
HP Windows 7 Tablet Is A Trainwreck In The Making | eWEEK Europe UK
Hewlett-Packard’s tablet aspirations might be in very, very big trouble - and along with it, Microsoft’s hopes for making a dent in the tablet market.
Take a look at the following YouTube video, which comes courtesy of the curiously named “x313xkillax.
If that’s really a prototype of the upcoming HP Slate running Windows 7, and if it’s anything close to the finished product, then they might as well stamp “R.M.S. Titanic” on the side. Why include a “CTRL-ALT-DEL” button on the device’s chassis unless you expect the software to crash on a regular basis? What’s with having a mechanical button to activate a virtual onscreen keyboard?
And yes, the device seems to web-surf pretty quickly, but an unmodified version of Windows 7 on a small touch screen translates into icons roughly the size of theoretical particles: You better have a stylus or small fingers.
We’re not even going to talk about how it takes 25 seconds to boot.
Dead in the water?
During July’s Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference, HP’s Todd Bradley was quoted as saying, “Our focus is working with our still largest software partner, Microsoft, to create a tablet for the enterprise business.” This was relatively soon after HP acquired Palm, whose WebOS is widely expected to appear on the company’s consumer-oriented tablets.
If this video actually shows a near-final HP Slate in action, then I can only assume that HP is pouring resources into the WebOS version of the tablet, and neglecting the development of the Windows 7 counterpart - leaving it to die, in other words, while they leverage their Palm acquisition to its fullest extent. Either that, or else HP assumes that businesses will simply buy anything, provided there’s enough sales muscle behind it.
Although Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has said repeatedly that his company intends to triumph in the tablet arena, it’s been an open question whether Windows will be modified to run on the form factor. Some might argue that Windows 7 came with touchscreen capabilities baked into the code, and that all Microsoft needs to do is find a manufacturing partner willing to design a truly kick-ass piece of hardware.
Abort mission
But Google Android and Apple’s iOS4 have both demonstrated the better utility of a smartphone-like OS on a tablet; if I were Microsoft, I’d give serious thought to importing Windows Phone 7’s user interface onto the form factor, and discarding entirely this albatross of an idea that Windows 7 can run perfectly on
anything with a processor and a screen.
It can’t.
And if this supposed HP prototype is the shape of things to come, everybody’s going to learn that the hard way.
Posted by Staff at 07:53 PM | Comments (0)
October 28, 2006
Thin-client tablet from IGEL
IGEL Technology, a thin client vendor, has expanded its product range with three new series: the IGEL ProScribe thin client tablet for mobile applications, the IGEL Elegance thin client with integrated 17" TFT display and the IGEL PanaVeo quad-display thin client. The expanded IGEL product range allows organizations, with almost any application and in any market, to provide manageable and secure digital access to their infrastructure.
In order to provide the greatest operational flexibility and security, all three new series come available with Windows XPe, with the PanaVeo and Elegance models also supporting IGEL's embedded Flash Linux.
The new models all come with the broadest set of digital services provided by the IGEL firmware including access using terminal emulation, Citrix ICA, RDP and Multimedia Streaming. A VoIP client is also provided as standard in the Linux version of the IGEL firmware. The new models also provide security services such as smartcard and remote access using various VPN protocols. All devices allow easy central administration and configuration using IGEL Remote Manager.
The new IGEL ProScribe ultra mobile thin client series combines all the characteristics of stationary thin clients into a secure, agile and high performance mobile tablet device. The ProScribe is powered by a fast VIA Eden 800 MHz CPU processor and includes integrated Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) as well as a high resolution 12.1" XGA display with 1024 x 768 pixels resolution. The device can be fitted with an optional, internal smartcard reader. The IGEL ProScribe weighs 1.85 kg (4.08 lbs), and has a Lithium Ion battery with a life of three hours.
The IGEL ProScribe 8600 XP is available with Microsoft Windows XP Embedded. Typical application scenarios for the IGEL ProScribe series include mobile workers in logistics, retail, manufacturing and healthcare. The IGEL ProScribe starts at $1649 plus tax and is available immediately.
The new IGEL PanaVeo multi-display thin client series combines the highly efficient Intel Celeron M platform with the high-end video capabilities of the Matrox EpicA graphics card series. The latter was developed especially for thin clients and consumes less than 11 watts of power with the simultaneous use of multiple digital or analog displays. The IGEL PanaVeo models IGEL-7302 LX and IGEL-7602 XP integrate a Matrox EpicA TC2 for use with up to two displays and the IGEL-7304 LX and IGEL-7604 XP use the Matrox EpicA TC4 with output for up to four displays. In addition, special formats, such as 16:9 widescreen or 2048 x 1536 pixels (TC2, analog) high resolution are supported. Despite this remarkable graphical performance, the radical PanaVeo design remains totally fan-less.
The PanaVeo series is suited to environments where large amounts of information are required in a limited space, such as financial trading floors, command centers and industrial control rooms. The IGEL PanaVeo starts at $979 plus tax and is available immediately.
The IGEL Elegance integrated thin client series is designed for customers requiring an attractive, space saving solution that combines a 17" TFT display with the latest IGEL Clever Client. The Elegance models, IGEL-9317 LX and IGEL-9617 XP are based upon a 1 GHz VIA Eden CPU with 256 MB of RAM and come standard with an internal smartcard reader and Wi-Fi connectivity (802.11b/g). An optional touch screen enables interactive and intuitively designed solutions.
Typical uses for the IGEL Elegance Series could be found in airports, retail banks, receptions, hospitals, retail stores and public authorities. The IGEL Elegance starts at $959 plus tax and is available immediately.
"IGEL Technology now has the broadest range of thin clients, supported by one management tool, from a major world manufacturer. This allows almost every corner of any organization to harvest the substantial benefits of thin clients and server based computing. This achievement is a testament to our strength, stability and German engineering excellence," said Stephen Yeo, Worldwide Strategic Marketing Director for IGEL Technology.
IGEL has also announced a fast, user-switching thin client solution with integrated Gemalto smartcard reader and single sign-on provided by Citrix Password Manager to solve the authentication and continual sign-on challenges of busy roaming workers. Powered by Citrix Password Manager's Hot Desktop, authentication, secure desktop and application access can be provided in less than 10 seconds.
"With this technology integration, busy roaming workers will be able to open applications using the secure Gemalto smartcard with IGEL supporting the applications running locally on a IGEL device such as a Web browser or terminal emulator. This is in addition to applications running on Citrix Presentation Server. In the future, roaming workers such as hospital workers will be able to access almost every application securely and in under 10 seconds," said Yeo.
"With log-in times reduced by up to 90%, we estimate doctors could save up to an hour a week, improving opportunities for patient care while saving time and money," added Yeo.
Users simply remove the smartcard from the thin client and their current profile is stored. When the card is inserted into a new device, the user is asked for their security pin and the desktop is replicated onto the new device without the need for a lengthy, traditional log-on. IGEL support for Citrix Password Manager's Hot Desktop is available immediately with Hot Desktop licenses available through Citrix resellers.
Posted by staff at 07:38 PM
June 20, 2005
Mobile Tablet PC Thin Client
Motion Computing Launches LE1600TC Tablet Client. The unit is priced at $1899 and runs Embedded XP.
Motion Computing Launches LE1600TC Tablet Client
Motion Computing(R), a leader in ultramobile computing and wireless communications, today unveiled the mobile thin client version of its LE1600 tablet.
The LE1600TC includes the popular security features from Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Service Pack 2, such as improved wireless networking and an embedded firewall. Combined with the LE1600's advanced security capabilities, organizations can help ensure user, network and enterprise data are protected.
The LE1600TC includes a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) for hardware-protected encryption, as well as secure digital certificate storage for authentication and secure e-mail applications. Its built-in fingerprint reader uses biometric data to prevent unauthorized access to system resources and encrypted data.
Priced from $1,899 and shipping now, the Motion LE1600TC runs the Windows(R) XP Embedded operating system. It comes loaded with Microsoft(R) Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), Citrix(R) ICA(R) Client and Microsoft(R) Internet Explorer with the Sun Microsystems(TM) Java(TM) Runtime Environment, and EverNote(TM) Corp.'s ritePen(R) 2.5 handwriting recognition software with improved editing tools. Because thin client computers do not store data locally like traditional PCs, these applications connect the device to software managed and data stored on an organization's network.
The Motion LE1600TC uses the recently announced Motion LE1600 slate tablet PC chassis and has many of the same features, including its award-winning wide-viewing angle display and advanced battery management capabilities. The tablet's traditional hard drive is replaced with 512MB solid-state flash storage, allowing storage only of the operating system and essential applications.
"Our tablet client customers need the reliability, durability and rich feature set we've brought to market on the LE1600," said Peter Hunt, Motion's vice president of value-added peripherals. "This thin, light computer delivers high data security, networked data access, centrally managed administration and high system reliability -- as well as a full line of peripherals important to our customers."
About Motion Computing
Motion Computing produces slate tablet PCs for mobile professionals in vertical industries including healthcare, field sales and service, government and education. Motion is a mobile computing and wireless communications leader, combining world-class innovation and industry experience so individuals can use computing technology in new ways and places. Marketed through an experienced international reseller network and directly through its Web site, each Motion product is built to customer specifications. The company's enhanced line of tablet PCs and accessories are designed to increase productivity for on-the-go users while providing security, power and versatility. For more information, visit www.motioncomputing.com.
All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners.
Source: Business Wire
Posted by editor at 04:39 PM
January 28, 2005
Tablet PCs as Thin Client
Motion Computing has converted its M1400 Tablet PC into a thin client device
Jan. 26, 2005
Motion Computing has converted its M1400 Tablet PC into a thin client device, substituting Windows XP Embedded for Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. Dubbed the "M1400TC," the device is useful for equipping mobile workers with tablet-style computing resources, while keeping sensitive information on secure network servers, the company says.
(Click here for larger image)
Like the company's standard M1400 Tablet PC, the M1400TC is offered with a choice of a 900 MHz Celeron M, or a 1.1 GHz Pentium M, processor. Instead of the standard model's hard drive, the M1400TC provides a 512 MB flash storage device which only contains the Windows XP Embedded OS and a limited number of essential applications. The device comes with Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), Citrix ICA Client, and Microsoft Internet Explorer with the Sun Microsystems Java Runtime Environment.
The unit includes a 12.1-inch wide-viewing-angle XGA TFT LCD, and is packed with interfaces and expansion ports, including: built-in 802.11 b/g and Bluetooth wireless, a 10/100 Ethernet port, a Firewire (IEEE 1394) port, USB, a V.92 soft modem, and a PC Card slot for additional expansion.
According to Motion Computing, the M1400TC thin client tablet was the result of "close collaboration" with its healthcare, retail, and manufacturing customers. Users wanted to walk and compute with a lightweight slate tablet with pen input, but required the high data security, networked data access, centrally managed administration, and high system reliability associated with thin client computing, the company says.
Motion lists the following key hardware features and specifications, which apply to both the M1400 Tablet PC and M1400TC thin client:
Processor -- Celeron M at 900 MHz or Pentium M at 1.1 GHz
Memory -- 256 or 512 MB of DDR RAM
Display:
12.1-inch XGA TFT LCD, with viewing angles greater than 160 degrees
Intel Display Power Saving Technology
Ambient Light Sensor (ALS)
Intel 855 GME Extreme Graphics controller
Active digitizer pen (no battery required)
Mouse click button
Internal storage:
M1400 Tablet PC -- 20, 40, or 60 GB 2.5-inch hard drive
M1400TC -- 512 MB flash storage device
Communications:
Integrated 802.11 b/g
Integrated Bluetooth
10/100 Ethernet (RJ-45)
V.92 soft modem with RJ-11 connector; 56.6Kbps/14.4Kbps transceiver fax
Other I/O:
Two configurable audio jacks
Microphone in
Headphone out
Two USB 2.0 ports
External VGA display connector
IEEE 1394 Firewire
Expansion -- Type II PC Card slot
Docking connector
Security -- Integrated fingerprint reader with software based password management
Dimensions -- 11.65 x 9.45 x 0.87 inches
Weight -- Approx. 3 lbs.
The M1400TC is priced from $1,649 and is available now
Posted by editor at 04:10 PM