International Business Machines--that's IBM to you and me--reached an impressive milestone this week: The company turned 100 years old. That longevity is impressive, but many American companies have become institutions. Ford Motors is almost 110 years old, US Steel is also at the 110 year mark, and Sears, Roebuck and Co. is 125 years old this year!
Linux-based plug computers such as the Sheevaplug have been drawing fresh attention for some time already, but on Monday MimoMonitors launched the new MimoPlug, a tiny, cube-shaped contender that's designed as a desktop PC alternative for cloud computing applications.
Hardware maker Hercules this week gave Linux fans a nice boost by unveiling two new additions to its eCAFÉ netbook line that use ARM processors and run the open source operating system.
For now, the Apple iPad still stands alone in the tablet arena, but the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Tab is impending, and many are anxiously awaiting the Android tablet. Unfortunately, for all its formidable features and functions, the Galaxy Tab misses the mark on pricing -- and that will be the Achilles heel that prevents the tablet from reaching its potential.
Steve Ballmer is known for making big promises -- some bigger than the reality Microsoft can actually deliver. With the 2010 holiday shopping season rapidly approaching, Ballmer insists that we will see Windows tablets by Christmas. If Ballmer really wants to play Santa Claus, though, he would instead abandon the idea entirely and work with vendors to pursue tablets based on the Windows Phone 7 platform.
LG is once again shifting its tablet strategy -- announcing that it is pulling the plug on its Android 2.2 tablet plans to hold out for Android 3.0. Unlike current releases of the Android OS, the upcoming Android 3.0 is designed with tablets in mind. LG's decision suggests that rival tablets based on Android 2.2 may not live up to expectations.
When I'm on the road, there are few tools in my arsenal that I value more than video chat. But as much as I love it for boosting communication with colleagues during the day and saying goodnight to my kids at bedtime, managing the current mess of disparate and disconnected chat services is a massive pain.
Sharp plans an aggressive foray into the tablet market this December--well, sort of.
Reports are circulating that RIM will officially unveil its tablet device at the 2010 BlackBerry Developer Conference in San Francisco next week. The RIM tablet would be entering a market currently dominated by the iPad and about to get much more crowded, but RIM has an advantage that neither Apple, nor most other tablet competitors have: business credibility.
Dell showed off a prototype of a 7-inch Android tablet this week at the Oracle Open World conference in San Francisco. While being more tablet-sized than Dell's initial anemic attempt at joining the tablet fray, this new venture still faces some challenges in order to compete.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab is the first tablet to come along that offers a serious alternative, or poses any notable challenge to the Apple iPad. As formidable as the Samsung tablet seems, though, there are still a number of reasons to forego the Android-based device in favor of the Apple iPad.
Amazon is responsible for the mainstream acceptance of the e-reader thanks to the Kindle, and it has a virtually insurmountable dominance of the market. Yet, Amazon seems to have some sort of Napoleon complex about the Apple iPad, as evidenced by its new marketing campaign.
Intel's upcoming Sandy Bridge microprocessor design is generating a lot of buzz, primarily because it'll integrate the chipmaker's high-end graphics technology with its CPUs.
There are whispers that Apple could be breaking with tradition and expediting the new iPad for a holiday launch to head off competition from rival tablets.
ARM announced its next-generation processor, the Cortex A15. Just days after Samsung revealed plans for a dual-core Cortex A9, the 2.5Ghz quad-core A15 steals the thunder and ups the ante for mobile computing power.