Techno-News Blog

By Don Reisinger, eWeek

Apple’s iPad Mini is all the rage in the tablet market, but should it be? It’s facing stiff competition, particularly from the popular and lower-priced Amazon Kindle Fire. Apple’s iPad Mini is hot. Some consumers are calling the device, which was offered up for preorder on Oct. 26, the best small tablet on the market. But it’s unclear whether that admiration comes from the quality of the product or the fact that it’s an Apple product. Read on to find out why customers should choose the Kindle Fire HD over the iPad Mini:

http://www.eweek.com/mobile/kindle-fire-vs-ipad-mini-10-reasons-to-choose-the-amazon-tablet/

BY GLORIA LLOYD – News Observer

At the start of this school year, Orange County Schools became one of the first school districts in North Carolina, and the first in the Triangle, to give a laptop to every middle and high school student. The transition has gone so smoothly the district plans to expand the program next year to include fourth- and fifth-graders. Some teachers say they can’t imagine going back to a no-laptop classroom. “It would be like trying to go back and teach math using an abacus,” said Michele Johnson, who teaches English at A.L. Stanback Middle School.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/10/28/2447160/learning-via-laptop-takes-off.html

by London Evening Standard

On a bright afternoon in a London kitchen, Isabel, eight, and Tess, six, are running me through the basics of computer code. They are playing with a piece of software called Scratch, which was developed at the celebrated Media Lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It allows you to create characters, or “sprites”, place them on a background and then program them to do cool stuff. Isabel and Tess have made a cartoon crab. “I can make him speak,” says Isabel, “so I need to go here…” She clicks on a small recording icon and makes a sort of crab noise into the microphone. “Now, when I press this button” — she clicks the up arrow — “he makes a noise!” Mr Crab duly makes a noise. The girls use the drag-and-drop menus to programme other functions — to make their sprites move left or right or rotate — and arrange them in a script. It may sound simple, but the principle — if you press X, then Y will happen — is the basis of computational thinking. With a bit of fooling around you can use Scratch to create simple games, such as Asteroids or Space Invaders, and then share them online.

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/techandgadgets/meet-the-baby-geeks-8230385.html

 By Carl Hooker, CIO Advisor

The cafeteria at Google has an almost biergarten style, with lots of long tables set up throughout. This set-up insists people from various groups sit together and hopefully strike up a conversation about a project that could revolutionize the industry, or just make life simple. They have several “micro-kitchens” set up throughout the complex to extend the old-school water-cooler conversation to something a little more modern. The micro-kitchens have all the amenities of home with an almost college dorm-like feel to them. Inside these you’ll find a large cappuccino machine, a cooler full of exotic waters and energy drinks, and even a ping pong and/or foosball table for a quick break. The basis of all of these Googly locations throughout the building is to force collaboration in a gentle way. I have to say, education could stand to learn a thing or two from their rationale too.

http://www.schoolcio.com/Default.aspx?tabid=136&EntryId=4972″>http://www.schoolcio.com/Default.aspx?tabid=136&EntryId=4972

by Dan Rowinski, ReadWrite Mobile

Apple’s iPhone might be in the driver’s seat when it comes to the top three U.S. cellular carriers, but when it comes to global volume of smartphone shipments, it is a Samsung world and everyone else is just living in it. According to Boston-based research firm Strategy Analytics, Samsung shipped 57 million smartphones in the third quarter of 2012. Samsung’s shipments equate to 35% of the 162 million smartphones shipped in Q3, by far the largest single manufacturer in the industry. Apple held its position as the second largest global smartphone manufacturer, shipping 26.9 million iPhones for a 17% market share.

http://readwrite.com/2012/10/29/its-a-samsung-smartphone-world-we-just-live-in-it

by Mark Hachman, ReadWrite Mobile

A survey of 2,000 Internet users say they’re impressed with Microsoft’s Windows 8 and Surface tablet – but they still like Windows 7 even more. In fact, according to a poll conducted by Toluna QuickSurveys for ReadWrite, users even prefer Windows XP over Windows 8. With that said, more users indicate that they’ll upgrade to Windows 8 than not, and the numbers of those saying they would buy new Windows 8 hardware outweighed those that said they were not likely to do.

http://readwrite.com/2012/10/29/readwrite-survey-consumers-like-windows-8-surface-but-prefer-windows-7

by Nidhi Subbaraman, Technology Review

To be clear, the Muse isn’t designed to read your thoughts. “You can think of it like a heart-rate monitor for your brain,” InteraXon cofounder Trevor Colemen explained during an Ask Me Anything session on Reddit recently. “With a heart rate monitor, you can tell how active someone is, but not what sport they’re playing. In the same way, we can detect levels of activity, but not what specifically you’re thinking.” The execs at InteraXon hope that the Muse will be used for more than just mental calisthenics, and that it will interface meaningfully with apps on your computer and phone. Which is kind of similar to the Mindwave Mobile Brainwave headset that lets you play hands-free games on your phone using only the headset and, well, your mind. When Wired’s Christina Bonnington reviewed that device she wrote: “Yes, the technology does work. It’s just not very fun.” Also: “You look like a dork.”

http://www.technologyreview.com/view/506421/a-brainwave-reading-headband-that-tracks-your-mood/

By Richard Lawler, Engadget

Microsoft is busy officially revealing all the bits and pieces that make up Windows Phone 8, and one of them is its new lock screen. Powered by Live Apps designed for Windows Phone 8 like Facebook, it lets apps directly update your lock screen with new photos and information.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/29/microsoft-unveils-new-lock-screen-for-windows-phone-8-powered-by/

by Kevin Bullis, Technology Review

Worldwide, one and a half billion people lack electricity, most of them rural dwellers. (In India, for example, 268 million people are without electricity in rural areas, but only 21 million in cities.) The International Energy Agency says the type of power plant installed at Batu Laut, known as a hybrid microgrid, will be essential to bringing power to many of them. That’s because connecting a remote community to the conventional power grid, with its large, centralized plants, is expensive and can take more than a decade. In some cases, geography and economics may never permit access to the grid. Hybrid microgrids can provide dependable electricity by intelligently combining power from multiple local sources, and building them is far cheaper and faster than extending the grid to the areas where most of the people without electricity live.

http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/429529/how-solar-based-microgrids-could-bring-power-to-millions/

By David Talbot, Technology Review

Around a 100 million first-grade-aged children lack access to schools. A foundation is testing whether poor children who are given computers and learning software can teach themselves. Tablet test: Nicholas Negroponte, founder of One Laptop Per Child, describes experiments involving children in Ethiopia at MIT Technology Review’s EmTech conference. With 100 million first-grade-aged children worldwide having no access to schooling, the One Laptop Per Child organization is trying something new in two remote Ethiopian villages—simply dropping off tablet computers with preloaded programs and seeing what happens. The goal: to see if illiterate kids with no previous exposure to written words can learn how to read all by themselves, by experimenting with the tablet and its preloaded alphabet-training games, e-books, movies, cartoons, paintings, and other programs. Early observations are encouraging, said Nicholas Negroponte, OLPC’s founder, at MIT Technology Review’s EmTech conference.

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/506466/given-tablets-but-no-teachers-ethiopian-children-teach-themselves/

by Jon Mitchell, ReadWrite Mobile

This is an interesting walk through the history of the smartphone from HTC’s perspective. It points out key products, moments and announcements from the companies that pioneered the mobile computer. As the timeline enters the age of ubiquitous mobility, it brings in key stats about mobile usage in terms of data, time, and people. There are also some kind-of-funny jokes.

http://readwrite.com/2012/10/26/the-evolution-of-the-smartphone-infographic

By KEVIN J. O’BRIEN, NY Times

Angry Birds, the top-selling paid mobile app for the iPhone in the United States and Europe, has been downloaded more than a billion times by devoted game players around the world, who often spend hours slinging squawking fowl at groups of egg-stealing pigs. While regular players are familiar with the particular destructive qualities of certain of these birds, many are unaware of one facet: The game possesses a ravenous ability to collect personal information on its users. When Jason Hong, an associate professor at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, surveyed 40 users, all but two were unaware that the game was storing their locations so that they could later be the targets of ads.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/29/technology/mobile-apps-have-a-ravenous-ability-to-collect-personal-data.html

by Chris Velazco, Tech Crunch

Competition in the low-cost tablet space has been heating up for a while now thanks to strong new hardware from the likes of Asus, Google, and Barnes & Noble, but it seems the time has come for the Kindle Fire hucksters at Amazon to go on the offensive against a very prominent rival: Apple’s iPad mini. The company has recently given its homepage a facelift with a very prominent comparison between the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD and the iPad mini sitting right at the top. Most of it is pretty tame and points out the disparity in features between the two tablets (ex. the Fire HD sports a higher resolution display and smarter speaker layout than the mini), but the kicker here is the quote Amazon used to drive its point home. It’s a brief snippet culled from a Gizmodo post by Brent Rose on Apple’s perceived hypocrisy when it came to crafting a smaller tablet:

“…your [Apple’s] 7.9-inch tablet has far fewer pixels than the competing 7-inch tablets! You’re cramming a worse screen in there, charging more, and accusing others of compromise? Ballsy.”

http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/28/amazon-gets-feisty-updates-homepage-to-talk-smack-on-the-ipad-mini/

by the BBC

Microsoft’s chief boss has confirmed he plans to release more devices. Steve Ballmer told the BBC: “Is it fair to say we’re going to do more hardware? Obviously we are… Where we see important opportunities to set a new standard, yeah we’ll dive in.” The chief executive’s comments came ahead of a Windows 8 launch event in New York, following which Microsoft’s Surface tablet will go on sale. News other devices are likely to follow may worry other PC manufacturers. Mr Ballmer caused a stir when he revealed in June that his company was making its own family of tablet computers – one offering extended battery-life powered by an Arm-based chip, the other using Intel’s technology to offer a deeper Windows experience.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20072497#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

By Blackboard Inc.

According to a mobile learning report released today from Blackboard Inc. and Project Tomorrow®, nearly 50 percent of high schoolers and 40 percent of middle schoolers now own or have access to a smartphone or tablet, marking a 400 percent increase since 2007. The report, which compares key opportunities and challenges in mobile device usage among K-12 students, finds that with this widespread adoption, more schools and school districts are considering the incorporation of mobile devices into instruction. While school and district administrators historically have been reluctant to allow students to use mobile devices at school, the report found that 27 percent of administrators are now exploring the idea

http://www.heraldonline.com/2012/10/22/4355467/half-of-high-schoolers-own-a-smartphone.html

By Leon Lin, MIT the Tech

MIT Professor and edX President Anant Agarwal is fond of saying that he sees edX as a “rising tide that will lift all boats,” that is, both for students attending an “X University” and those who aren’t. He envisions that those who are will benefit from “blended model” of education combining traditional classroom interaction with online content. Of the classes at MIT currently using edX software, the Experimental Studies Group and Concourse versions of 8.01 do so most extensively. Students access reading material, example exercises, videos, animations, and problem sets all on the edX platform. New concepts are introduced to students as they go through the online sequence. Students must demonstrate that they understand the new material by answering online “reading questions,” which are due before class. Then, during class, teachers can spend less time on theory and more time showing students how to untangle more involved problems.

http://tech.mit.edu/V132/N48/801edx.html

By Darryl K. Taft, eWeek

CyberCoders has a bead on the 10 hottest tech skills for the coming year. CyberCoders is a worldwide recruiting firm that uses technology and experienced recruiters in its passionate pursuit to match great people with great companies. This eWEEK presentation lists the hottest technical skills for 2013, based on CyberCoders data. Highly skilled technical professionals are some of the most coveted candidates in today’s workforce. With salaries that often begin at six figures, highly skilled technical positions for developers, software engineers and software architects remain in constant demand. As technology continues to evolve, CyberCoders identifies those skills that will be in the highest demand for 2013. These skills are ranked according to two primary factors: The number of open jobs requiring the skill and the number of jobs filled requiring the skill

http://www.eweek.com/developer/slideshows/json-html5-ios-10-hot-technical-skills-for-2013/

By David Meyer, ZD Net

Android now accounts for 41 percent of tablet shipments around the world, according to Strategy Analytics. Global tablet shipments reached 25 million units in the third quarter of 2012, the analyst firm said on Thursday. Of those devices, 57 percent were running iOS, down from 64 percent a year before. By contrast, 41 percent were using Android, compared with 29 percent the previous year. That adds up to a rise of 12 percentage points, or 41 percent more than in 2011.

http://www.zdnet.com/androids-tablet-share-jumps-to-41-percent-in-one-year-7000006441/?s_cid=e539

by John Morris, ZDNet

The Windows 8 launch seemed designed to put to rest any rumors that Microsoft is running away from the PC. Instead a parade of executives made the case that Windows 8 is the foundation for the “best PCs ever made”–ones designed to work as both laptops and tablets, and for both work and play. The purpose of the event was really to launch several products. New Windows 8 devices and software upgrades go on sale at 12:01 am local time tomorrow. The Windows Store–the app store, not the Microsoft retail stores–is also officially open for business. And Microsoft and its hardware partners will also begin selling Windows RT devices at the same time.

http://www.zdnet.com/windows-8-launch-microsoft-makes-the-case-for-the-pc-7000006406/?s_cid=e539

By Susan Young, Technology Review

A fast, cheap way to identify neuron-to-neuron connections could shed light on disorders including autism and schizophrenia. Many brain disorders, such as autism and schizophrenia, are likely caused by abnormal connections in the brain. Better understanding of these abnormalities could provide clues to ways to treat these problems. Neuroscientists plan to use a virus that carries DNA from neuron to neuron, combined with DNA sequencing technology, to understand how the brain of the mouse is wired, cell by cell. The project proposed by Anthony Zador and others at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, however, offers a cheaper and faster way to map neuron-to-neuron conversations happening in the brain and could shed light on disorders including autism or schizophrenia.

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/506127/connectome/

by David Zax, Technology Review

It’s striking how all the reviews appeal to landscape metaphors to describe what they feel about Microsoft’s disappointing app store. There was Pogue’s Somalia quip, while CNET calls it “an app desert,” and Gizmodo chimes notes that it, “feels more like tundra.” With the more beefed-up version of the Surface due in January–it will run a full version of Windows 8, and have stronger specs–the question is, will Microsoft’s and its Surface find their way out of the mobile wilderness?

http://www.technologyreview.com/view/506301/microsoft-surface-the-reviews-are-in/