Inside the iPad: Apple's new 'A4' chip

Called the A4, ("A" presumably for Apple), the most obvious difference with the chip in the iPhone 3GS is speed. The iPad's chip runs at 1GHz, compared to the estimated 600MHz (0.6GHz) of the iPhone 3GS. On Wednesday, at the event in San Francisco, the A4 was billed as "the most advanced chip" Apple has done yet. While fast, it's also frugal with power. "The A4 chip is so power efficient that it helps iPad get up to 10 hours of battery life," according to Apple's iPad Web page.  (Source: Brooke Crothers, CNet)
Posted Wednesday, January 27, 2010 by ChrisD
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For Media Industry, a Mixed Bag in iPad

Apple Inc.'s iPad tablet device, shrounded in secrecy until Wednesday, has been hyped as a coming revolution for all corners of the media business. But while the gadget, in its debut, promised to upend how people read and pay for books, it offered few signs that a new model for distributing TV shows, movies or magazines.

Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs announced a new online bookstore—iBooks—and a deal with big book publishers, setting the stage for a battle with e-book front-runner Amazon.com Inc. Publishers will get to set the retail price for each of their titles, unlike with Amazon.  (Source: Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg and Shira OvideVIDE, Wall Street Journal)

Microsoft and H.P. To Reveal Slate PC Ahead of Apple

My sources, however, say that Mr. Ballmer will show the as yet unnamed H.P. device. The product will be touted as a multi-media whiz with e-reader and multi-touch functions.  (Source: ASHLEE VANCE, New York Times)
Posted Tuesday, January 5, 2010 by ChrisD
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10 Reasons Why Microsoft Products Will Outshine Apple iSlate, Nexus One in 2010

Nowadays, all the talk in the tech space is about Apple's possible release of the iSlate and Google's Android-based Nexus One smartphone. Many observers contend that the iSlate will be the most important product release of 2010. Others are saying the Nexus One could be the "iPhone killer" we've all been waiting for. But maybe it's time to shift that focus to Microsoft and why it could dominate the industry in 2010.

The last year was a tough one for Microsoft. Its Windows Mobile platform sank to around 9 percent market share. Google was the first to build hype on Web-based operating systems. And Windows Vista still kept consumers and the enterprise from fully believing in the value Windows 7 offers.

But 2010 is quickly shaping up to be a much different year. With Bing offering a service that can actually stand up to Google Search, Windows 7 carrying the Microsoft banner forward and the possibility of an improved Windows Mobile, 2010 might just be the year when Microsoft regains its spot as the dominant force in the tech industry.   (Source: Don Reisinger, eWeek)

Bsquare Renews OEM Distribution Agreement With Microsoft

BELLEVUE, WA--(Marketwire - January 4, 2010) - Bsquare Corporation (NASDAQ: BSQR), the leading software solutions provider to the global embedded device community, has renewed its OEM distribution agreement with Microsoft Corporation under which Bsquare sells Microsoft's complete line of software products for embedded systems to OEMs in North America. The new agreement is effective for a six-month period Jan. 1, 2010 to June 30, 2010 -- at which time Microsoft anticipates introducing updated agreements for its distributors.

Under the agreement, Bsquare enables OEMs to quickly adopt Microsoft software products including Microsoft's innovative, new Windows 7-based technologies. Windows 7 for Embedded Systems and Windows Embedded Standard 2011 both enable touch and gesture input improving the end user experience for Bsquare customers building point-of-service, medical and industrial devices.

"The renewal of Bsquare's existing OEM agreement, along with our recently announced Windows Mobile distribution agreement, allow us to offer unparalleled support to OEMs building both mobile and embedded devices," said Scott Caldwell, Bsquare's director of licensing sales. "Bsquare's consultative approach to licensing sales ensures OEMs get the right product and pricing. We work closely with OEMs throughout their development cycle offering world-class engineering services, products and technical support to accelerate time to market."

As the only North American distributor that is nearly 100 percent focused on Windows Embedded products, Bsquare offers personalized account management and highly responsive technical support. Additionally, Bsquare offers products, engineering services and training to enable device OEMs to move from prototyping and development to testing and production faster with higher quality devices. (Source: Press Release)

HTC To Launch Apple iSlate Competitor

Smartphones, tablets and netbooks are set to be high on the agenda at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show as traditional PC vendors look to compete with the new Apple iSlate which is due to be released on the 26th January in the USA. Among those set to take on Apple is HTC (Source: David Richards, SmartHouse)
Posted Thursday, December 31, 2009 by ChrisD
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Packard Bell Debuts Easynote Butterfly Tablet PC

Packard Bell, which is now owned by Acer, has showcased a new netbook which can convert into a tablet PC within seconds and carries the name of Easynote Butterfly Touch edition.

It is based around Intel's CULV platfom running a 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SU9400 CPU coupled with an Intel GMA 4500MHD integrated chipset.

The rest of the feature set is pretty impressive as well. PB says that the laptop can take up to 4GB RAM and up to a 640GB hard disk drive. (Source: Desire Athow, ITPortal.com)

OLPC unveils slimline tablet PC

The XO-3, as it is known, is a slim-line touchscreen tablet PC.

One Laptop per Child (OLPC) said it would be "available in 2012" and would cost "well below $100".

The new design replaces the proposed XO-2, a foldable e-book that was first shown off in 2008 but has since been scrapped by the organisation.   (Source: Jonathan Fildes, BBC News)

The Apple Tablet will not make the same mistakes as other tablet PCs

Tablets have historically just been laptops with digitizers, and ran operating systems that were only modestly tweaked to encapsulate the functionality the tablet-form factor implies. Apple is not going to make that same mistake: the one thing Apple does better than any other company on the market is releasing new, fully actualized products, with operating systems designed around the possibilities of their device’s form and function. They aren’t going to release a laptop without a keyboard. They are going to release a targeted product that is much more likely to be meant for mobile browsing, reading, gaming and multimedia than writing reports or presentations.

I’m a bit skeptical of the Apple Tablet too, but it would be total stupidity to write off Apple’s device simply because of the mistakes companies like Microsoft and HP have made in the past. Apple will have learned from them, and their Tablet isn’t going to be like anything on the market before. It will fail or succeed, not as a tablet, but as a new class of product. (Source: John Brownlee, Cult of Mac)