Techno-News Blog

August 31, 2011

IBM Builds Biggest Data Drive Ever

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By Tom Simonite, Technology Review

A data repository almost 10 times bigger than any made before is being built by researchers at IBM’s Almaden, California, research lab. The 120 petabyte “drive”—that’s 120 million gigabytes—is made up of 200,000 conventional hard disk drives working together. The giant data container is expected to store around one trillion files and should provide the space needed to allow more powerful simulations of complex systems, like those used to model weather and climate. A 120 petabyte drive could hold 24 billion typical five-megabyte MP3 files or comfortably swallow 60 copies of the biggest backup of the Web, the 150 billion pages that make up the Internet Archive’s WayBack Machine.

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/38440/?p1=A3

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Google Voice Search Comes to Google Maps

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by eWeek GoogleWatch

Google Chrome is the most voice-enabled browser in the free world, as the company propelling it continues to weave voice throughout its core applications via Chrome. The search engine Aug. 25 switched on the ability to let users speak search queries into their computer microphone to look for places and get directions for Google Maps. The move comes two months after Google launched Google Voice Search for the desktop via Chrome, and works the same way as that tool. That’s because it leverages the exact same speech recognition and application model used for the Google Voice Search for Android smartphones and tablets. Users simply click the microphone icon in Google Maps, speak their location or direction queries and wait for the results.

http://googlewatch.eweek.com/content/google_vs_apple/google_voice_search_comes_to_google_maps.html

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Office 365 and Google Apps Vie to Control Messaging in the Cloud

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By Jason Brooks, eWeek

Chatter over an enterprise apps showdown between Google and Microsoft has gone on for years now, but it wasn’t until the general availability release of Microsoft’s Office 365 service, earlier this month, that the competition began in earnest. Despite the focus of many on Office-type productivity applications, at the heart of the Office 365-Google Apps rivalry is hosted messaging. With both services performing their core email and calendaring tasks well, the choice of which service that best fits your organization boils down to cost, cloud vs. on-premises deployment needs and client access options.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Cloud-Computing/Office-365-and-Google-Apps-Vie-to-Control-Messaging-in-the-Cloud-787888/

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August 30, 2011

Google+ Hangouts: How People Are Using Group Video Conferencing

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By Clint Boulton, eWeek

Google+ has been around for roughly two months now, and one of the social network’s popular features out of the gate has been Hangouts, the group video conferencing application that lets users host video chats with up to 10 users at the same time. Some of the roughly 30 million Google+ users have treated Hangouts as more than just a group meeting application for friends, enabled by Google’s voice and video plug-in and the Webcam on their laptops. Some users have chosen to use Hangouts as a more significant broadcast medium. These users have performed songs they wrote, hosted cooking shows, all in front of small, live Web audiences. This is more than just a showcase for Google+ and how its users are leveraging the social network that seeks to challenge Facebook’s throne. This is a lesson in how group Web meetings are becoming more of a rule than an exception online, creating a boon for messaging and collaboration. Moreover, this service could get more interesting now that Google has linked Hangouts to YouTube, enabling users to click to initiate Hangouts right from the video-sharing Website.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Cloud-Computing/Google-Hangouts-How-People-Are-Using-Group-Video-Conferencing-828041/

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Apple Should Delay the iPhone 5 Until 2012: 10 Reasons Why

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By Don Reisinger, eWeek

Rumors are swirling that Apple will launch its next iPhone, the iPhone 5, in September or October. So far, however, Apple hasn’t said when it will actually release the iPhone 5, making some wonder if the company will actually follow through with all the rumors and release the smartphone this fall or try to offer it up at another time. At this point, given the market factors that would determine such a decision, it would be best for Apple not to release the iPhone 5 this year. Sure, it would disappoint consumers, but at the end of the day, Apple needs to do what’s best for its business and its shareholders. And not releasing the iPhone 5 this year would undoubtedly play into the favor of those stakeholders. Unlike many other companies in the marketplace, Apple has the luxury of being able to release its devices at any time it chooses and not worrying about the fallout of those decisions. If Apple releases the iPhone 5 in the fall, it will succeed. If the company decides to wait until next year, the device will still sell well.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Apple-Should-Delay-the-iPhone-5-Until-2012-10-Reasons-Why-205960/

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Novels read monthly by ‘less than one in two children’

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By Hannah Richardson, BBC News

Boys preferred reading comics and newspaper. Fewer than 50% of UK children aged eight to 17 read a novel outside class every month, research suggests. The National Literacy Trust survey of about 18,000 school children suggests youngsters are more likely to read text messages and emails than fiction. Most children (28.9%) estimated they had between 11 and 50 books in their homes. But one in six said they rarely read outside the classroom.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-14621621

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August 29, 2011

Mobile phones could soon be ‘powered by walking’

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By Katia Moskvitch, BBC News

Taking a stroll may soon be enough to re-charge your mobile phone, after US researchers developed a way to generate electricity from human motion. Placed in a shoe, the device captures the energy of moving micro droplets and converts it into electrical current. Kinetic charging is already used in some low power devices such as watches and sensors. The University of Wisconsin team published its study in the journal Nature Communications. “Humans, generally speaking, are very powerful energy-producing machines,” said Professor Tom Krupenkin from the university’s mechanical engineering department.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14647639

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Should Microsoft Buy Nokia? Pros and Cons

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By Shane O’Neill

Is it wise for Microsoft go Google and buy a handset-maker like Nokia, even though its existing partnership with Finnish company provides many benefits without any of the headaches and risks of ownership? Here’s a look at both sides of the argument.

http://www.cio.com/article/688614/Should_Microsoft_Buy_Nokia_Pros_and_Cons?taxonomyId=3061

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Smartphones of the Future: How They Will Look, What They Will Do

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By Ginny Mies, PCWorld

Flexible designs, augmented reality, quad-core processors, and even some artificial intelligence are just a few of the features you can expect smartphones to have in the next five to ten years. As you’re reading this article, developers, engineers, and product designers are working on the next great mobile technology. The mobile world is rapidly changing: Smartphones have gone from portable messaging and email devices to streaming-video machines that surf the Web at blazing speed and have cameras that rival point-and-shoots (and they also happen to make calls). What will smartphones look like in five years? Or ten? What sort of amazing things will they be able to do? Of course, we have no way to predict exactly how cell phones will evolve (unless some sort of magical crystal ball comes along), but looking at today’s trends and tracking what the geniuses at MIT and other academic institutions are up to can give us a pretty good idea of what’s to come.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/237610/smartphones_of_the_future_how_they_will_look_what_they_will_do.html

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August 28, 2011

Helping Social Networkers Connect Even More

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By Erica Naone, Technology Review

New apps let social media users connect through many different channels. Facebook’s new Messenger app for Android phones and iPhones is designed to let groups of people communicate with one another in real time no matter where they are. It’s the first instance in which Facebook has split a core part of its social network from the main product—a move that reflects a shift in how people are using social-media tools. Messenger lets groups of Facebook users communicate with one another in the moment even if they’re using different communication technologies—for example, with one person using instant messaging, another text, and a third e-mail. Messenger taps into Facebook’s vast supply of data about contacts and connections, including users’ e-mail addresses, instant-message handles, and phone numbers.

http://www.technologyreview.com/communications/38365/?p1=MstRcnt&a=f

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The New Big Data

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By Erica Naone, Technology Review

Today’s big data is forcing researchers to find new techniques for knowledge discovery and data mining. Top scientists from companies such as Google and Yahoo are gathered alongside leading academics at the 17th Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDD) in San Diego this week. They will present the latest techniques for wresting insights from the deluge of data produced nowadays, and for making sense of information that comes in a wider variety of forms than ever before.

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/38397/?p1=MstRcnt

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Speeding Up Materials Design

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By Katherine Bourzac, Technology Review

A new computer program accurately predicts the behavior of proposed materials, which means faster development of new electronics and solar cells. A chemical compound designed with the aid of a Harvard-created computer program has turned out to be one of the best organic electronic materials to date. This new material, an organic semiconductor, could be used to make new electronics such as colorful displays that roll up. It’s an important proof of principle for using computers to aid materials design.

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/38405/?p1=A1

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August 27, 2011

Seeing the Future of the Office Internet

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BY TOM SIMONITE, Technology Review

Inside the headquarters of networking giant Cisco in San Jose, California, lies a technology showcase where executives can test out advanced technologies like high-definition videoconferencing, a digital avatar named Halie who researches spoken questions, and even a concept dashboard for a car whose mechanical and entertainment systems are fully Internet-connected. It’s called the “executive technology experience room,” and the man behind it is David Evans, the company’s chief futurist and chief technology officer of its Internet business solutions group. Evans, who built many of the demonstration systems on display and now advises clients on how new technologies could help their businesses, spoke with Technology Review about how these advances could boost worker productivity.

http://www.technologyreview.com/business/38185/?p1=BI

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Do We Really Need a 250 GB Tablet?

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by DAVID ZAX, Technology Reveiw

Archos is putting out a new tablet in September. Dubbed the Archos G9, it will run the Android “Honeycomb” operating system, will pack a 1.5GHz Texas Instruments OMAP 4460 dual-core processor, and will come in both 8-inch and 10-inch models (priced at $370 and $470, respectively). But those specs aren’t what’s most interesting about the Archos G9. The tablet, CNET notes, has a massive hard disk drive–250 GB.

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/helloworld/27071/?p1=blogs

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Is a 4G LTE iPhone on the Way?

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by DAVID ZAX, Technology Review

Mobile carriers are testing an iPhone with LTE capability, reports Boy Genius Report, the recent king of Apple-related leaks. It even has action shots of code that it says are a smoking gun. Why should we care about 4G LTE? First, a quick refresher one why this is exciting (at least, to geeks who get excited about such things). LTE, which stands for Long Term Evolution, is an extension of the GSM technology currently used around most of the world. A few Android phones already use it. Essentially, it’s the next major communications standard, and it’s going to make everything faster. In theory, at least, it could offer 100 Mbps download, which MacLife points out “runs circles around current mobile speeds and even eclipses most home broadband.” (In reality, in the near-term, LTE speeds won’t move at such a clip; Verizon promises 5-12 Mbps.)

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/helloworld/27089/?p1=A3

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August 26, 2011

Google TV May Benefit From Google-Motorola Merger

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By: Clint Boulton, eWeek

Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility will give it set-top boxes it could parlay into better products for Google TV. That’s assuming Google keeps those hardware assets. Google’s $12.5 billion purchase offer for Motorola Mobility (NYSE:MMI) is regarded by most industry watchers as a bid to secure patent protection, but one of the ancillary benefits is an opportunity to fortify the search engine’s Web television service. Unlike the new Google+ social network the company appears to have poured its heart and soul into, Google TV is struggling to gain significant traction. The service uses Android software and the Chrome Web browser to let users surf TV channels

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Google-TV-May-Benefit-from-GoogleMotorola-Merger-106406/?kc=rss

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Google+ Rolls Out Verified Badges for Celebrities, Power

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By: Clint Boulton, eWeek

Google+ now has verified badges for celebrities, network power users who have loads of followers and other public figures. Do you have a verified badge yet? The use, or lack thereof, of common names on Google+ isn’t the only identity crisis the social network faces. There’s also the issue of verifying whether Google+ profiles have really been created by celebrities or are simply forgeries from people hoping for a laugh. To solve this issue, Google has started rolling out verification badges for profiles so that users are certain they’re adding the right +Dolly Parton, +Ashton Kutcher or some other celebrity to their Google+ Circles.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Messaging-and-Collaboration/Google-Rolls-Out-Verified-Badges-for-Celebrities-Power-Users-525276/?kc=rss

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HP Strategy Faces Immense Challenges, Oracle, IBM

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By: Nicholas Kolakowski, eWeek

Hewlett-Packard’s shocking one-two punch—that it would discontinue making its webOS mobile devices, and look to shed its PC business—is the sort of thing that business schools will be analyzing for years to come. Certainly HP’s decision to embrace software and services, and abandon a sizable but relatively low-margin PC business, is indicative of where companies are finding their money these days. IBM did something similar in 2005 when it sold its PC division to Lenovo in favor of enterprise IT. Oracle and SAP are major competitors in the services area, and Microsoft clearly wants a bigger piece of that pie with its business-centric “all in” cloud strategy.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Desktops-and-Notebooks/HP-Strategy-Faces-Immense-Challenges-Oracle-IBM-145526/?kc=rss

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August 25, 2011

Apple’s iPad 3 Aiming for Early 2012 Launch: Report

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By: Nicholas Kolakowski, eWeek

Apple will release the iPad 3 in early 2012, according to the Wall Street Journal’s unnamed sources. Rumors suggest the tablet will feature a high-res display. Apple will apparently manufacture its first iPad 3 units in October, with an eye toward a launch early next year. That report comes from the Wall Street Journal, itself quoting unnamed sources supposedly familiar with the matter. If verified, that would mean Apple is sticking with the release schedule it established with previous iPad generations. The original iPad launched in April 2010 (having been unveiled that January), while the iPad 2 made its debut in March 2011.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Apples-iPad-3-Aiming-for-Early-2012-Launch-Report-208186/?kc=rss

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‘Retweet’ and ‘woot’ make Oxford dictionary debut

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by the BBC

The Concise Oxford Dictionary studies new words as they spread into common usage. Woot! Technology-inspired words are among the 400 added to the newest Concise Oxford English Dictionary. They include retweet – to pass on a message on Twitter, and textspeak – a language that typically young people use to talk lyk dis. Other words such as cyberbullying and sexting also make their debut. “These additions are just carrying on the tradition of a dictionary that has always sought to be progressive,” said OED editor Angus Stevenson.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14588727

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Analysis: Hewlett Packard’s big strategic U-turn

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By Tim Weber, BBC

The world’s largest computer maker, Hewlett Packard, plans to sell its personal computers business, ditch its line of smartphones, and buy UK software company Autonomy for $11.7bn (£7.1bn) – but how does it all fit together? For Hewlett Packard, it is a dramatic strategic turnaround.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14587426

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