Entries by Bob Appleby (1525)

Friday
Feb182011

Looking for Production Scanner for your Medical Office?

Epson’s WorkForce Pro GT-S50 Duplex Scanner might just be the right product for you. Below are some Epson demo videos describing the Epson GT-S50 scanner product. Priced at $399.99 this is a great product for your individual desktop production work. This is a 25ppm scanner capable of 50 images per minute because of the single-pass duplexing. Its daily duty cycle fo up to 1200 sheets and a 75 page feeder it is ready to handle most any entry level scanning situation.

Epson WorkForce Pro GT-S50 Speed Shoot Out
Getting Organized with the Epson WorkForce Pro GT-S50
Great Image Quality with the Epson WorkForce Pro GT-S50
Productivity with the Epson WorkForce Pro GT-S50
Wednesday
Feb162011

How to set up Exchange Email on a Droid Phone

Our Scott Wiltshire submitted this quick checklist on how to setup your Exchange Email on a Droid Phone. Hopefully this will help you with your setup:image

  • Go to Email it will be either on the front screen or under ‘apps’
  • If no accounts have been set up it will ask you to Put in user name and pass word
  • Manual Setup
  • Pick Microsoft Exchange Active Sync
  • Domains user name
  • [DOMAIN]/[USERNAME]
  • (Please note this is my email just to show you how it has to be put in, please replace with your username and domain)
  • Password
  • ***
  • Exchange server
  • OWA.[DOMAIN]
  • Check ‘use secure connection’
  • Check ‘accept all SSL certificates’
  • Click ‘ok’ on the next activation Screen
  • Done
  • You should now be able to get in to the account
  • Setup options
  • Once in the account hit the menu button (very left button at the button of the droid)
  • Click the ‘more’ option
  • Click ‘Account settings’
  • From here it’s pretty easy to go through each option.
  • I would suggest you keep email size at 2kb this will save on data usage.
  • These are my settings for Sync Schedule, you may find you wish to change some of them, but for a work week this pretty much works perfectly.
  • Sync Schedule
  • Peak Schedule
  • Push
  • Off Peak Schedule
  • Push
  • Peak days
  • Mon,Tues,Weds,Thurs,Friday
  • Peak Start time
  • 08.00
  • Peak end time
  • 17.00
  • While Roaming (* very important you pick Manual otherwise when roaming you will be racking up data charges)
  • Manual
Wednesday
Feb162011

Apple's subscription plan: Time for an app work stoppage | ZDNet

imageThought that this was an interesting article about how Apple’s “greed” may get in the way of their keeping their current high market position in the smartphone/tablet world. If they have companies like Amazon, Netflix and Hulu pull their apps from iTunes then they will begin to miss a large part of the entertainment market when it comes to streaming media. This might not be as big a problem for the iPhone but the iPad may see some serious fallout to the android tablets that will soon be plentiful. The sooner that these new tablets are out and provide and alternative the the Apple monopoly the sooner they may see this happen. I would hate for my sake, since I own an iPad to lose these streaming services because I do use them on my tablet but it isn’t my only use of it. If I have to go back to my PC or grab a new device I will probably do it.

Apple's subscription plan: Time for an app work stoppage | ZDNet

Friday
Feb112011

Sharing Files between all of your devices

I would be interested how you share information between all of your devices. If you are like me you may use more than one device on a moment to moment basis and you may be generating information that you need to share or have access to no matter what device you current have at hand.image

I use primarily five devices on a weekly basis. I have desktops at home and at work, a netbook in a backpack to keep me mobile, an iPad and an iPhone. I also have a Kindle that I have used but it isn’t one of these primary devices that I use to share information for personal or company business. When I look at a service or application that I am thinking of using on any one of these devices the first thing I look at is how device independent is it and how available is the program/data that it works with to all of my devices. I have come up with a few that I have found indispensible and I would like to share them with you.

image

Note Taking – EVERNOTE is my application of choice for this that I use to share information between my iPhone. iPad and computers. I use OneNote a lot on my computer but until recently it was only available on my PC’s and that wasn’t quite flexible enough. Recently Microsoft released an iPhone version of OneNote that can access notebooks that are stored in the cloud (SkyDrive). While this is interesting it isn’t quite as useful as Evernote is for me. The iPhone OneNote application isn’t as functional as the PC version and leaves a lot to be desired. In a pinch it has some use though. If they come out with an iPad version with more of the PC version’s capabilities then I might consider jumping back to this program for more use.

When I am sitting down with a client I am using a program called FastEver XL that allows me to quickly and easily type in text that can be saved to my Evernote account. I then save it and it becomes available no matter which device that I am currently using. So when I am out on the road collecting information at a client’s site that I will need at my desk later on, I am typing that info into FastEver XL and before I get back to the Office it is already waiting for me at my desk.

I have also been playing with an application called aNote (Awesome Note) that also integrates with  Evernote. It synchronizes with the Evernote folders so that you can use it’s capabilities It is meant to be used as a To-Do List manager with hooks to both Google and Evernote.

image

Document Access – I store many of the documents that I need to have access to using either Microsoft’s Skydrive or Dropbox. Skydrive gives you 25GB’s storage for free and this is where I put data like my OneNote Notebooks so that they are synchronized between all of my systems. However, Dropbox is the storage are that I primarily use because it is compatible with many iPad/iPhone applications for document storage. A Dropbox account comes with 2GB’s of storage for free and you can purchase upgrades to the service as you necessary. I have increased my storage to 50GB’s at a cost of $99/year and you can increase that to 100GB’s for $199/year. I also have storage over with mobileme and Google docs so there is plenty of places I can drop a file and have it available. I opened up my subscription to mobileme only because I decided to play with Pages and Keynote which are Apple applications that I am using on the iPad. I am not a big Google docs user but I know that it is there if I need it.

So what kind of information do I store in Dropbox. Most of it is temporary but some of it includes documents that I am constantly sharing with my clients. Things like product brochures can easily be shared through email on the fly when I am at a client’s site. I also create and store reports that I use when I am at a client’s site. This gives me instant information wherever I am. I will also store an office document here if I need to continue working on it from home. That way I can pick up right where I left off without having to save it off to a flash drive. I seem to be constantly losing those anyway. I have also stored program files here so that when I go to a customer’s site I can download those onto their machine quickly and easily. There is no concern of malware contamination because I’m not using hardware to transfer between systems.

image

Research – I use Instapaper quite a bit as I am going through my RSS feeds and from my internet browser. If you haven’t used this internet service before you will really love it once you do. One of the biggest benefits is that it will strip out most of the unwanted material from the website that it is pulling the article from and makes it much easier to read. I can access this information from my iPhone, iPad or any of my computers. It is easy to organize and I do this mainly from my computers. The browser based controls are much easier to use to organize my captured documents and once I have them there they are very easy to share with others as well. One of the ways that I am using this is to allow me to collect information from different photography blog sites that I am putting together as a self-help guide in MS Word. I have set it up with a table of contents and then saved it as a PDF file. I then send it up to my iPad and store it in the iBooks application. The articles in the document are then accessible using the table of contents to jump to the page that it is located on in the document. This makes it very easy to move around in the document using either the TOC or using the search feature to find keywords about something that I am searching for.

Photo’s -  If you have been following me at all on any of my blogs, you know that I love to take photos. The one thing that a photographer loves better than the taking of a photograph is the ability to share it with someone. I do this in a number of ways but the two primary ones are using my iPad as a presentation device and a website called SmugMug as my online gallery. SmugMug is accessible from most any device that has internet access and allow you a pretty large number of choices to separate you pictures and to be able to document them. It’s a great way to backup your pictures from your local storage and it allows you setup several layers deep of gallery settings. But the ability for me to point friends and family to this site easily and for them to self navigate makes for a great experience for them or for me when I am showing them using my devices as well.

I hope this article has given you some ideas of how you can set yourself up to be as productive and satisfied with all the programs and data that you want at your fingertips when you want it.

Friday
Feb112011

Microsoft disables AutoRun on Windows XP/Vista to prevent malware infections | ZDNet

If you are still using Windows XP/Vista you may notice that the AutoRun function will stop working on removable media like flash drives. It will still work with CD’s and DVD’s but in an effort to help cut down on malware infections caused by 2011-02-11_1222the AutoRun attacks.

According to Microsoft, Win32/AutoRun remains the most popular method used by malware families of software. Microsoft suggests that XP user are more likely to be infected as compared to Windows 7 users.

A similarity all of these worms share is a common propagation method. They all abuse the autoplay feature of Autorun, many by creating or manipulating Autorun.inf files on network drives and removable media, so that when a user connects, the malware is automatically executed on their system. On average in 2010, about 9% of Windows 7 Security Essentials users reported seeing one of these families at least once per month in comparison to 13% of Windows XP users. In other words, a Windows XP user was 43% more likely to report one of these Autorun detections in any given month in comparison to a Windows 7 user..

Here is a good article on how Autorun.inf works and what it is used for.

Microsoft disables AutoRun on Windows XP/Vista to prevent malware infections | ZDNet

Thursday
Feb102011

Good Reason for putting up Video Surveillance Cameras

Chicago Surveillance expert catches neighbor stealing his shovel and takes revenge on her.

States that he would have gladly loaned her his shovel but she didn’t ask and walked away with it after using it to dig out her car. I’m not sure that I would have posted it to YouTube but it does satisfy some dastardly inner feeling to get even when someone does steals from you.

Thursday
Feb102011

InFocus also makes LCD Thin Industrial Grade Panels

If you are putting together a meeting room and are deciding to for go the typical projector/projector screen setup, you may want to consider InFocus’s line of industrial grade panels. Business Class LCD Screens provide you with a  product that is designed from the ground up to support the type of use you will need in a heavily used product.

2011-02-10_0852

These screens are built thin to take up less depth in your room, with metal frame construction to help protect the unit. Even the connectors are made of metal instead of plastic to withstand constant plugging and unplugging that occurs with daily use. These screens contain 5 times more PC and video modes than most consumer TVs, so you can be assured that it will recognize your device’s output and fill the screen automatically.

InFocus thin display advantages

  • Automatically syncs to your device’s resolution and fills the screen
  • 70+ data and video modes – up to 5X more than consumer flat panel TVs
  • Saves valuable meeting time

Consumer TV disadvantages

  • Not really designed for computer input
  • 3-10 modes -- mostly for video, not data
  • Wastes time to manually adjust your computer settings to fit the TV

Durable For Shared Use - A consumer TV's weak warranty, plastic parts, and cheap components can't stand up to the multiple users, long hours, and frequent connecting that occur in meeting rooms every day. InFocus thin displays are built for business

InFocus thin display advantages

  • Metal construction stands up to multiple users in a shared meeting room
  • Commercial-grade components handles frequent connecting and disconnecting
  • 3-year limited factory warranty and extended warranty options
  • Industrial strength power supply

Consumer TV disadvantages

  • Plastic construction not designed for use in shared spaces
  • Lower-quality components designed to be hooked up once and left alone
  • 1-year warranty that may be voided if TV is used in a business setting
  • Low-grade power supply, which is often the first component to fail

With InFocus’s accessories and these displays you are sure to have a great result!

Download Brochure…

Thursday
Feb102011

Meeting Room Size Constraints–InFocus has a Solution!

InFocus  has long been known for being a leader in projector technology. 2011-02-10_0825February 7th they announced a new product the IN146 short throw projector that will allow you to display a 60-inch image from as little as 2.5 feet away. This projector has native WXGA (1280 x 800) resolution and  2,700 lumens brightness. With the projector placed close to the wall, shadows caused by tabletop objects or presenters are virtually eliminated. Priced at about $825 this is an affordable portable projector that will meet many situations.

InFocus Press Release

Tuesday
Feb082011

Trojan horse called “Trojan Horse Agent_r.XT

2011-02-08_1400Our Service Department has come across a Trojan horse called “Trojan Horse Agent_r.XT” and AVG and MalWareBytes will not get it.

The fix is coming for Kaspersky Labs and can be found here: http://support.kaspersky.com/viruses/solutions?qid=208280684

The utility TDSSKiller.exe supports 32-bit and 64-bit operation systems.

Disinfection of an infected system

  • Download the file TDSSKiller.zip and extract it (use archiver, for example, WInZip) into a folder on the infected (or potentially infected) PC.
  • Execute the file TDSSKiller.exe.
  • Wait for the scan and disinfection process to be over. It is necessary to reboot the PC after the disinfection is over.

Good Luck!

Monday
Feb072011

QNAP adds iOS streaming via WiFI and 3G

2011-02-07_1927While this is the headline streaming through the technology blogs, QNAP (Quality Network Appliance Provider) has a great inventory of products to choose from for your network storage needs. While this announcement highlights some of the neat features in their latest home designed appliances that provide digital media streaming to more of your devices in your home, they are much, much more than a home media streaming company.

The QNAP TS-x12 Turbo NAS Product line provides an All-in-one NAS Server with iSCSI for SOHO and Home Users. The TS-412 appliance supports a 3-bay hot swappable  system with RAID 0/1/56/5+Hot Spare and JBOD. It also supports both 2.5” and 3.5” drives as well.

2011-02-07_1941If you are looking for a repository for all of your Home Entertainment needs to share Photos, Music Movies and Videos, you can do worse than this device. With support for PS3, Xbox 360 or other network media players you will be able to stream full HD 1080p movies to your TV or Projector. You can even provide access to your digital media over the Internet by web browsers or iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad or Android mobile devices.

Of course you will have file share and backup of all your network devices as with most NAS compatible devices. With DLNA and iTunes Server support.The NAS features high-speed data transfer of exceeding 70MB/s, fast enough to support multiple 1080p HD streams. The whisper-quiet design brings you the best cinema-grade home theater experience right in your living room.

QMobile is an application dedicated to iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, and Android users. You can view and play Terabytes of photos, music, and video files on the NAS by QMobile from anywhere regardless of the actual storage size of your mobile devices. You can also upload photos to QNAP NAS straightway from your iPhone for instant sharing.

2011-02-07_1937If you are using a Surveillance system at home you can easily use this NAS device as a central storage area for your IP cameras. The Surveillance Station of QNAP NAS enables you to connect to multiple IP-based security cameras for real-time monitoring, recording, and playback. It supports leading network camera brands such as AXIS, D-Link, IPUX, LevelOne, Linksys, Panasonic, and VIVOTEK. By using particular models, you can use two-way video and audio monitoring and recording, and smart PTZ control to control the monitoring direction of the IP cameras by a web browser.

Versatility seems to be the watch word with these new devices by QNAP.

Thursday
Feb032011

Art Project, powered by Google

I saw this information from several different sources today and decided to take a quick gander at the Google Art Project site. Currently Google has 17 museums from around the world available to view using the same basic techniques used in Google’s Street View. You can use the controls to walk around the Museum of your choice to give you a feel of how things are laid out, and where the various pieces of art are located in the Museum. You can then look at individual paintings in high resolution and a lot of detailed history about the painting or the artist. You can easily jump from museum to museum easily or from room to room within any one museum. You can even create your own personalized list of pieces that you are interested in.

Here is the Visitor Guide on how to use the site:

Art Project–Visitor Guide

I have had a great deal of fun looking over this site but I am sorry to say that it requires a flash player to work properly and will not work on your IOS devices. Darn Apple! But it works well on my desktop and that is at least something.

Art Project, powered by Google

Tuesday
Feb012011

Lenovo Redefines the IdeaCentre All-In-One PCs

2011-02-01_1915January 4th Lenovo unveiled four new IdeaCentre and Lenovo all-in-one (AIO) desktops at the 2011 CES. We have had a couple of the earlier C200 systems in this month and we are very favorably impressed with the capabilities of the unit for the money.  Priced below $500 you get a futuristically designed system that has all the components that you need in most simple home environments. It all starts with a 18.5 inch screen

KEY SPECIFICATIONS

  • Intel® AtomTM D510 Dual Core processor
  • Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64 bit
  • Large 18.5 inch high-definition 16:9 widescreen display
  • Integrated stereo speakers
  • Integrated Intel GMA 3150 graphics
  • DVD reader/writer
  • 6-in-1 card reader and USB2.0 connectors
  • Integrated Wi-Fi
  • An integrated Lenovo High-Sense Web camera built into the top of the screen provides clearer video chats.

BREAKTHROUGH STYLE

  • Space-saving, stylish design fits anywhere in the home
  • Easily adjustable stand (-5° to +25° viewing angle)

REST EASY

  • Designed as a basic family home computer, with affordability and reliability in mind
  • OneKey Rescue System for quick and easy data recovery

I was surprised at its speed for the atom processor and it’s convenient design. If all you need is a simple Internet access machine this might just be the ticket!

Tuesday
Feb012011

FastMac U-Socket now shipping

For those of you that have energy hungry devices that charge using a USB port, here is a great product that might make this more convenient. I saw this initially this summer 2011-02-01_1848and have been hardly holding my breath waiting for it to finally come to market. I originally saw this in an engadget post and now engadget is telling us that it has seen emails that the first orders for these wonderful devices are finally shipping.

The U-Socket is a duplex AC receptacle with built-in USB ports that can power any device that is capable of being charged via a 5V power adapter, but without the power adapter! It is compatible with the iPod, iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Nintendo, PSP, Bluetooth Headsets, Digital Cameras, GPS & more!

When a U-Socket replaces a traditional 3-prong AC wall socket, you can eliminate the clutter of AC Adapters that stick out & take up space in your home or office. Everything stays neat & organized. In addition, U-Socket's energy efficient design only outputs power through the USB port if something is connected to it. This can save you up to $25 per year in reduced energy costs. Good for you, good for the environment and with our great prices, good for your wallet too!

Born in the USA

A quality product made right here in the USA ensures that your U-Socket is constructed with care and precision. Our workers test each and every U-Socket to the highest standards before they are shipped out.

Their site still states that you need to pre-order but says it is shipping in January. I would contact them direct to see if you can place your order now. I don’t have an exact price but the posts I am seeing says that it is under $20.

Tuesday
Feb012011

I never did like AOL!

I was never one for the amount of control that AOL’s interface held you to but I could see the benefit for some people. If you were one of the people that signed up early 2011-02-01_1827for AOL and their phone dial up service got used to this type of thing. When broadband became available many of these people kept their accounts with AOL even though the signed on through their new broadband connection. What they didn’t realize was that they didn’t have to keep paying for that AOL account!

Nicolason Carlson from Business Insider found out that the majority of AOL’s business comes from selling the dialup internet access to people who already have internet access:

In his big New Yorker profile on AOL this week, Ken Auletta explained that 80% of the company’s profits STILL come from AOL’s subscription business.

What’s troubling about AOL’s subscription business is who the subscribers are and why they may be sticking around – in Auletta’s words, “older people who have cable or DSL service but don’t realize that they need not pay an additional $25 a month to get online and check their email.”

A former AOL exec explains that this is AOL’s “dirty little secret” – “that 75% of the people who subscribe to AOL’s dial-up service don’t need it.”

This is the sort of practice by companies that just infuriates me. I hate seeing people being taken advantage of just because they haven’t the knowledge to know what they are paying or need to be paying for. So hopefully this article will open your eyes and make you aware that you don’t need to pay for something that you don’t receive any benefit from. I remember how hard it was to cancel my account and over the years how hard it has been for our customers to do so as well. Good luck!

You want more information visit the Audio recording here or download the recording by clicking here, with Ken Auletta and his full article is available in The New Yorker January 24, 2011 edition p. 32.

Tuesday
Feb012011

Intel recalls Sandy Bridge chipsets

Intel Identifies Chipset Design Error, Implementing Solution

2011-02-01_1801SANTA CLARA, Calif., Jan. 31, 2011 - As part of ongoing quality assurance, Intel Corporation has discovered a design issue in a recently released support chip, the Intel® 6 Series, code-named Cougar Point, and has implemented a silicon fix. In some cases, the Serial-ATA (SATA) ports within the chipsets may degrade over time, potentially impacting the performance or functionality of SATA-linked devices such as hard disk drives and DVD-drives. The chipset is utilized in PCs with Intel's latest Second Generation Intel Core processors, code-named Sandy Bridge. Intel has stopped shipment of the affected support chip from its factories. Intel has corrected the design issue, and has begun manufacturing a new version of the support chip which will resolve the issue. The Sandy Bridge microprocessor is unaffected and no other products are affected by this issue.

The company expects to begin delivering the updated version of the chipset to customers in late February and expects full volume recovery in April. Intel stands behind its products and is committed to product quality. For computer makers and other Intel customers that have bought potentially affected chipsets or systems, Intel will work with its OEM partners to accept the return of the affected chipsets, and plans to support modifications or replacements needed on motherboards or systems. The systems with the affected support chips have only been shipping since January 9th and the company believes that relatively few consumers are impacted by this issue. The only systems sold to an end customer potentially impacted are Second Generation Core i5 and Core i7 quad core based systems. Intel believes that consumers can continue to use their systems with confidence, while working with their computer manufacturer for a permanent solution. For further information consumers should contact Intel at www.intel.com on the support page or contact their OEM manufacturer.

Intel is suggesting that the problem is restricted to a performance issue and cannot cause data loss. If you have either of the P67 or H67 “Cougar Point” chipsets you should contact your computer manufacturer to obtain a fixed system.

The chipsets that are in question are no longer being shipped by Intel and the company has already started manufacturing the updated versions. These should reach customers by the end of February. Intel estimates that this issue will cost them around $700 million where $300 million of that was incurred during the first quarter production interruption.

Tuesday
Feb012011

Goodbye, IPv4 | ZDNet

What a way to start the month!

2011-02-01_1412NetworkWorld reports the last two IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4) addresses for the Internet have just been assigned, and, in line with predictions, we’ve run out of addresses. All new Internet addresses now employ IPv6 address spacing.

Why do we care? well as we adopt IPv6 addressing some of the older equipment that is in place may not be able to handle the new addressing scheme. Most people won’t notice because both protocols will be running in parallel for awhile but eventually you are going to run into some problems. This issue has been a point of concern since the 1990s and most systems are already designed with this change over in mind. As issues begin to come up you will want to keep in mind that this could be a problem for you.

Vint Cerf on IPv4 depletion: 'Who the hell knew how much address space we needed?'

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/26/vint-cerf-on-ipv4-depletion-who-the-hell-knew-how-much-address/

Goodbye, IPv4 | ZDNet

Wednesday
Jan262011

Same Old Story

 I was really hoping that there was going to be something really exciting coming out of CES this year but it seems that most of what I have seen so far has been just more of the same. It seems that the Tablet market is still on the precipice of becoming a reality with the exception of the iPad. While we are waiting, the iPad is still the only real product with a magnitude of software support available for it. I don't believe totally that tablet market has totally killed the need for a notebook  in everyone, I have found that I have stopped carrying my Netbook into meetings and instead bring my trusty iPad with me.

I am using my iPad for both data collection as well as for my entertainment. I don't do a lot of document creation on it because the on screen keyboard slows me down and so far I am too cheap and lazy to add a bluetooth keyboard case to my gadget list.

Another reason I am not big on creating my content using this device is that it lacks screen Realestate. While it is slightly better than my Netbook's, I wasn't using it as a content creation device either for the same reason.That being said, guess what I am typing on right now? My iPad of course! Why, you might ask. Well, there are some situations, I don't want to get off of my living room couch for instance, that cause me to use what I have at hand. I am much closer to the coffee pot here you see.

So, while it is much easier to create content with a dual screen system with a real keyboard and a mouse to control cursor placement, you can always find other ways to accomplish what you want to do with the tools at hand. Having such a portable device that has so many functions makes it very convenient to do the things that I want to do, where and when I want to do them. 
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Tuesday
Jan252011

Logitech Couch Mouse M515

2011-01-25_1312New mobile mouse from Logitech that is specifically designed for use on your couch, bed or carpet. The easy gliding bottom surface was designed to make it much easier to control your mouse movements when the mouse is being used in a non-desk environment, a situation that I find myself most of the time when using a laptop. It has a new hand detection system so that your mouse is only active when you are gripping it. So, when you shift on the couch or in bed and your mouse moves, the cursor doesn’t until you grab it again. This also helps with battery life as well.

Your couch is a place for relaxing. And sometimes, you just want to stretch out a little—especially when you’re surfing the Web on your laptop with your Logitech® Couch Mouse M515. That’s why we’ve designed this mouse so it’s only active when you want it to be—and not when you don’t.

The Couch Mouse M515 is special. Unlike most computer mice, the M515 only moves the cursor or scrolls a Web page when you grip it. (And your mouse automatically turns off—and conserves battery power—when it’s not on.) So while another mouse might turn every little slip, slide and bump into a runaway cursor or accidental click, tricky soft surfaces can’t push you and your cursor around with the Logitech Couch Mouse M515 with hand detection.

Battery life is important as well and with the use of it’s 2.4GHz wireless connection and the low profile USB connector you should expect up to two years of battery life. You don’t have to worry constantly whether you have enough charge or if you are going to run out of juice while on the road. Here are some of the features Logitech is touting as well:

2011-01-25_1319

Wednesday
Jan122011

Now Google is drawing a line in the sand!



Apple was the first on the video playback fight by denying video playback of flash based graphics. Now our friends at Google Have decided to pull support of H.264 encoded videos from their Chrome browser.

H.264 is used on Blue-ray discs and in many consumer based video products but has some issues that must be considered. Many Web standards advocates oppose using it because it is based on a patented video compression format that licenser's have to pay a royalty fee in able to use it. This closes the open format discussion that Apple is using as one of its arguments against Adobe Flash content.

Google is trying to push its own WebM Format to replace H.264. The technology behind the WebM project originated with On2 a company that Google purchased in August 2009. The VP8 codec doesn't have the patent and royalty issues and still provides comparable video quality in respect with H.264.

As this battle continues to heat up to be the winner of the codec war, the loser in reality is us!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Sunday
Jan092011

CES 2011-Another Focus is on Intel and AMD

The new focus is now on creating an integrated CPU/GPU chip to help speed up on board graphics and decrease energy usage. This will benefit Video consumption, and game play on machines that don't have add-on video cards. You can plan on seeing a decrease in pricing and better responsiveness in your applications as programmers take advantage of these products.

Intel is using this year's CES event to introduce their Sandybridge processor line. The first CPUs will ship very early in 2011 for both desktops and notebooks. The architecture discussion we have here today applies to both. The CPUs won’t be called Sandy Bridge but instead will be called Intel’s 2nd generation Core i3/i5/i7 microprocessors.
If you are interested in the detail of how this processor family works, take a look at this review from http://www.anandtech.com/print/3922.


AMD announced its new Fusion APU's (Accelerated Processor Units), and talks about the system integrators that will be putting systems and software to take full advantage of the APU's capabilities. Take a look at the AMD's site for more information. http://www.amd.com/us/press-releases/Pages/software-hardware-ecosystem-fusion-2011jan04.aspx.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Addendum: How could I forget NVidia in this group as well. With everyone focusing on the Tegra 2 processor that is earmarked for many of the Android/Honeycomb Tablets that are supposed to come out in the first and second quarter of this year. It is really going to be interesting to see how this progresses.