Techno-News Blog

by Nicholas Kolakowski, eWeek

Microsoft announced its decision to eliminate its long-rumored “Courier” tablet PC project, touted by some as a possible iPad competitor despite never leaving a development lab. Video and photo leaks on tech blogs, supposedly of prototypes, suggested a device with two touch screens that folded on a central hinge, like a book. While other tablet PCs running a Microsoft operating system are supposedly in development, new rumors suggest that the most prominent of these, a “slate” from Hewlett-Packard, may also be killed.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Desktops-and-Notebooks/Microsoft-Kills-Courier-A-Possible-iPad-Competitor-241324/?kc=rss

by Jacob Goldstein, Wall Street Journal

How hospitals can make sure digital records live up to their promise. Because so far, they haven’t. They’ll improve patient care, in part by eliminating many errors. They’ll stem the soaring growth in costs. They’ll make health care more efficient. Those are the promises, anyway. The question is, how can we make sure the technology actually delivers? How can we make sure the digitization of medical records does everything its advocates believe is possible?

http://bit.ly/dlgwJz 

By Nicholas Kolakowski, eWeek

Opera announces the acquisition of FastMail.fm, a cloud-based e-mail provider, which it will use to extend its messaging portfolio to devices such as phones, televisions and gaming consoles. Opera has been expanding into the phone space, with its Opera Mini for the iPhone mobile browser being downloaded onto more than 1 million Apple devices within two days. According to analytics company StatCounter, Opera Mini is the most-used smartphone browser, with 24.6 percent of the market, followed by Apple’s Safari browser for the iPhone with 22.3 percent.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Opera-Acquires-FastMailfm-EMail-Service-Provider-440189/?kc=rss

By YUKARI IWATANI KANE And BEN WORTHEN, WSJ

Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs escalated his fight with Adobe Systems Inc. over the software known as Flash, a battle that could shape the evolution of video and gaming on mobile devices. Mr. Jobs—after months of criticism from Adobe and software developers for his company’s decision to ban Flash from iPhones, iPods and iPads— Thursday took the unusual step of posting a lengthy essay on Apple’s Web site criticizing Adobe’s software as a flawed throwback to a time before smartphones caught the fancy of consumers.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704302304575214114101014460.html?mod=rss_com_mostcommentart

by Newsnight, BBC

Paul Mason considers how a technological revolution is changing social life and social attitudes, and examines how a cocktail of social media, widespread access to gadgets and cynicism will affect the outcome of the election.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/8646333.stm

By Jonathan Fildes, BBC News

Various trials of the machines are running across Africa The group behind the “$100 laptop” has formed a partnership which it hopes will deliver computers to every primary school child in East Africa. The partnership between One Laptop per Child (OLPC) and the East African Community (EAC) aims to deliver 30 million laptops in the region by 2015.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/10091177.stm

by BBC

Steve Jobs has used an open letter to defend Apple’s decision not to allow Flash on many of the firm’s products. Neither the iPod, iPhone nor iPad can run the software despite the widespread use of Flash technology on websites for video and animations. Mr Jobs said Flash was made for an era of “PCs and mice” and performed poorly when translated to run on touchscreen smartphones and handheld devices.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/10092298.stm

by Silicon Republic

The Google Docs productivity suite has received a significant overhaul with the document editor getting real-time editing collaborating over the web, as well as sidebar chat. Instead of the previous version of Google Docs, where collaborative contributions had a slight delay before they appeared in full on the other person’s screen, there is now the ability to see character-by-character changes in real-time, much like the Google Wave experience.

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/article/15851/digital-life/docs-incorporates-wave

by William Maher, PC Authority

Two new phone platforms are coming in 2010 that promise something we haven’t seen before. We examine Microsoft and Google’s attempts to beat Apple at its own game.  The iPhone won’t be the only game in town in 2010, though with its major advantage still being design and apps, it will continue to draw crowds unless someone comes up with a compelling reason to switch. In 2010 that could be the arrival of new phones from Google and Microsoft with much tighter hard/software integration, and some very interesting features.

http://www.pcauthority.com.au/News/172894,smartphones-the-next-wave-should-you-wait-for-google-nexus-one-or-windows-phone-7.aspx

by Techwhack

Google Wave might not be making much news these days (Facebook and Twitter hogs the headlines) but the developers are hard on work to make it an enterprise ready service. The latest feature added by the developers is the ability to remove a user to a wave. Google Wave users can also remove themselves from a wave now. Google developers spoke in a blog post on why it took them so long to add this ‘expected’ functionality… They speak about some possible scenarios and then explain what happens when a person is removed from the wave.

http://stuff.techwhack.com/8694-google-wave-4