All the top stars on the block seem to be heading with single-minded determination towards the same goal. Blackberry, Sony Ericsson, Nokia, and Google is not to be left behind too. It is extremely impressive to watch the unfolding of the “touchscreen” era.

This was exclusively the domain of the enterprise phone segment just a little while earlier. But things have changed so fast that there perhaps may not be a cell phone manufacturer that does not wish to proudly lay claim to this distinction.

We will have to give credit to the keypad. Even with the possibility and threat of being ousted looming large, it still manages to hold its head high, with the hope that the competition does not invade its territory. As of now there are more phones that come with only a keypad when compared to touchscreen phones. In fact many of the touchscreen phones also have a keypad. Read the rest of this entry »

“Somewhere something incredible is waiting to be known.” ~ Dr. Carl Sagan ~

Man built many things with the help of science, but there has always been something that has been out of reach for man – creation of life. This has always been the domain of the “creator of the universe” and man could not transcend this.

Latest reports reveal that this is about to change and scientists have come closer to being able to put life into non-living things – once a humanly unthinkable task.

Scientists have taken several steps towards realizing one of the most magical moments for mankind. This crucial step involves the creation of a synthetic chromosome from scratch that will help create artificial life forms. This incredible human intellect accomplished the feat of making DNA fragments using lab chemicals and then assembling them in a cell. This genome contains all that an organism needs to live and reproduce. The organism in the study is called Mycoplasma genitalium, which is the tiniest bacteria ever found, and consists of 582,970 fundamental building blocks of DNA, making it longer than any previous genetic material ever created through chemicals. Not only that, unlike viruses made by humans, synthetic bacterium had the capacity to make copies of itself through cell division.

Initially, scientists started with building long strands of DNA. Each one was a quarter copy of the whole M genitalium genome. These strands were inserted into yeast cells, which stitched the strands together and made clones of the whole genome. Then this synthetic chromosome was inserted into a cell, in order for it to reproduce and create a new life form. Read the rest of this entry »

Answers to the most complicated computing tasks are found in the clouds. Not the clouds in the sky that shower rain but clouds that deliver a super computing power on the internet.

Cloud computing is the development and use of computer technology using the internet. The word “cloud” has been used as a metaphor for the internet. This enables users to completely rely on the internet for satisfying all their computing needs. They will be able to access services that are technology-enabled on the internet or you could say “in the clouds.” Users do not need any sort of expertise or control over the technology or the support structure for that technology. With cloud computing, information can be stored permanently on the internet in huge servers and cached on desktops, table computers, notebooks, monitors, handhelds etc. on a temporary basis.

The frenzy around cloud computing is at its peak, with high-speed internet connections, powerful but cheaper disk drives, chips and huge data centers with hundreds of computers to serve millions of users. Customers will be able to rent this infrastructure and pay for the usage only. Cloud computing power is being tapped into by almost every major company as it delivers sophisticated data analysis in the quickest way possible.

Cloud computing is being looked at as extremely powerful because of its ability to perform tens of trillions of computations every second and this is huge when you compare it to the most powerful desktop PC, which can process about 3 billion computations in a second. This power can now be accessed through the web for analyzing financial portfolio risks, for playing computer games, for delivering personalized medical information etc. With cloud computing, large groups of servers that use low-cost consumer PC technology are networked through special connections that spread data processing chores across them. Read the rest of this entry »

The few minutes that it takes for the computer to boot up are called the “black hole” of the digital age. During that time, there is nothing to do but wait and wait before one can log on. Have users become impatient or are the computers slow?

What do people do when waiting for the computer to boot up? While some people stare at the screen, others walk up and down or grab a hot cuppa. If it is time for brushing, then people do that too!

With all the complaints there have been of computer boot up time, the computer industry is forced to look into it and try and give back those precious seconds lost. Several of the major PC makers in the world are soon introducing “quick-start” computers. A few months back, we have mentioned that Hewlett-Packard is onto something in this arena in one of our articles titled, “Computers With Instant Start.” You can read that for more information and to understand how it works.

According to a senior executive of a company that makes quick-boot program from PC makers, it is ridiculous to expect people to wait patiently for a couple of minutes, in this day and age when people want instant-on. Read the rest of this entry »

Computers which are robots created by man to perform all the computing tasks, are being encouraged to develop a mind of their own and understand their creators better. They now are being programmed to respond to your emotions.

A new navigation system with the ability to provide emergency services with the quickest route while at the same time taking stress into account, has been developed by Trung Bui, a PhD candidate at the University of Twente. This dialogue system identifies users’ emotions and has the ability to react to them appropriately. Read the rest of this entry »

Apple is riding the wave of innovation with the introduction of the new versions of the MacBook Pro and MacBook portable computers, that Steve Jobs revealed were created using a new manufacturing process. They are said to be made from 2.5-pound blocks of aluminium.

These computers were introduced on October 14, 2008, Tuesday, with an audience of about a hundred journalists, bloggers and analysts in an auditorium on Apple’s campus. The main topic of discussion was not the price but the manufacturing process.

According to Apple, this new process would give them scope to create lighter, stronger and far more reliable products. The new MacBooks have been crafted with a single aluminium block, and Apple started off with a 2.5 pound aluminium block. Traditionally, all notebooks are made with numerous parts, but Apple has come up with a unibody. Steve Jobs said that Apple has been trying to create unibody enclosures for some of the new notebooks.

Nvidia was another important topic of discussion and Mr. Jobs declared that several new Macintosh computer models will feature two custom-designed graphics processors from Nvidia. This should enhance the computer viewing experience and game play. Nvidia is also the supplier of the integrating chipset for the MacBook and the MacBook Pro. Mr. Jobs also mentioned that the new Nvidia graphics processor offers much better, at least five times the graphics power of the Intel graphics processors that the MacBooks currently have. This statement does nothing for Intel and leaves a question on Apple’s relationship with Intel, which is the supplier of the central processing unit for the Macintosh.

The MacBook and the 15-inch MacBook Pro also feature brilliant instant-on LED-backlit displays and new glass multi-Touch trackpads, which offer a whole lot more tracking area, allowing users to use several finger gestures, such as swipe, rotate and pinch. They can easily switch between applications with just the touch of a fingertip.

Apple revealed that the new MacBook features everything their customers always wanted; a complete metal enclosure, high performance 3D graphics as well as a LED-backlit display.

Apple also said that it leads the industry in meeting high environmental standards by eliminating toxic chemicals, by using arsenic-free glass and mercury-free LED-backlit displays.

The new 13-inch aluminium MacBook with full features, which is based on the standard MacBook line, comes at a price of $1,299, which is $700 less than MacBook Pro that costs $1,999. It is a beautifully compact and durable notebook featuring the new Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics processor that delivers extremely good 3D game play and is much faster than the previous generation. It comes in two models; the 2.0 GHz MacBook with a 160GB 5400 rpm hard drive and the 2.4 GHz MacBook with a 250GB 5400 rpm hard drive with a backlit keyboard.

The 15-inch MacBook Pro weighs 5.5 pounds and is a good looking and compact piece. It has Intel Core 2 Duo processors, that run up to 2.8 GHz, and provides two options for users. They can either use Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT discrete graphic processor for a more powerful performance or use the Nvidia GeForce 9400M processor for extended battery life. The new MacBook Pro is also available in two models; a 2.4 GHz with 250GB 5400 rpm hard drive and 2.53 GHz with 320GB 5400 rpm hard drive.

Apple updated its MacBook Air, which is sold at a starting price of $1,799 and comes with 50 percent more storage. The 17-inch MacBook Pro has also been updated. The while plastic 13-inch MacBook portable with Intel Core 2 Duo processors, 120GB hard drive as well as a slot-load 8X SuperDrive, comes at a reduced price of $999, a reduction of $100. Although, the price drop may not seem like much, it is a notable feat as this marks the first time Apple is selling a laptop computer for less than $1000.

With all these innovations and better features, Apple expects to see an increase in sales.

The new MacBook, 15-inch MacBook Pro and the 17-inch MacBook Pro are said to go on sale on Wednesday from all of Apple’s retail stores. The new MacBook Air will be available from early November onwards.

Apple’s Macintosh computer sales continue to grow everyday but it has been seen that there is a slight decrease in the rate of growth and the reason has nothing to do with the Mac itself, but is attributed to the fact that Apple has done nothing to refresh the Macs product line. With the updates of iPhone and iPod behind them, now everyone is focusing their attention on the MacBook and the MacBook Pro and they find it surprising that Apple took so long to update its notebook line, as these are the products that matter the most to Apple’s bottom line.

Apple understands what people need and is trying to keep everyone happy again by bringing out the much-awaited and long-overdue revamped notebooks. The release was earlier expected to be towards the end of September, but that seems to have changed. According to sources, it could very well be an October 14, 2008 release. However, some say that we may have to wait until November. We will just have to wait and hope it is sooner than later.

The three legs of Apple as referred by Steve Jobs are the Mac, iPod and iPhone. Well, there are high expectations from the Mac leg. Read the rest of this entry »

The invitations for Apple’s major music-related “Let’s Rock” event held on September 9, 2008 were sent out to the media and others, inviting them to the Yerba Buena Center for the Performing Arts in San Francisco.

Now with the heavily attended event behind us, the overall takeaway from Let’s Rock is that iPod is back on track. In spite of there being nothing exceptional, the incremental improvements were significant. Through this event, Apple shared a whole year’s worth of progress.

The iPhone has dominated every discussion about Apple the past few days. But at this event, one thing that figured prominently was the iPod product line and iTunes. The timing could not have been better and launching in September gives Apple a lot of time to look at the marketing and distribution ahead of the holiday season shopping.

At this event, Steve Jobs unveiled the sleekly designed iPod nano with a host of new features, an upgraded and cheaper iPod Touch and the new version of iTunes. He expressed his happiness at Apple’s growing dominance in the digital music market.

Upon his entrance, Steve Jobs talked about iTunes. He explained the new features of iTunes 8.0, which are the new “Genius” recommendation engine, a totally changed grid view, a visualizer and better accessibility on Windows and Mac OS X. The iTunes now offers 8.5 million songs, 125000 podcasts, more than 30000 TV shows, 2600 movies and over 3000 apps for iPhone and touch.

The Genius feature allows you to create playlists from songs in your existing library. It also scales to TV shows, podcasts and movies. This is done by selecting any one song and pressing the Genius button, which in turn creates about a 25 to 100 song playlist based on songs you have in your library, which will go well with the song you selected. Read the rest of this entry »

Ubuntu, which has been rated as one of the most popular operating systems, is a free and open source Linux-based operating system that is built around the Linux kernel. It comes with some good open source software applications that you can work on.

The name “Ubuntu” comes from Zulu and Xhosa languages and the principle of Ubuntu is said to be, “a person is a person only through other people.” This can be better explained through the following quote:

“A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.”
— Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Ubuntu is not only free of charge but people are also allowed to improve upon it anyway they wish to, which means they can change and fix the software in any way. This proves to be advantageous when developing programs. Users have no restriction on the number of systems they use it on and the installation is extremely simple.

Ubuntu, sponsored by Canonical a European-based company owned by Mark Shuttleworth, does not cost anything and is free software that does not carry any software licensing charges. In fact, the operating system CDs will be shipped free throughout the world. By making it totally free and open, the company has been able to leverage the knowledge of other developers instead of doing all the development in the company. Canonical is said to make money in spite of giving the software for free, from its engineering services and commercial support contracts, which it offers globally to the wide range of customers, from government organizations to Fortune 500 companies and from schools to research institutes. This paid support makes it possible for the company to earn revenues. Read the rest of this entry »

Apple has created quite a stir with the multinational launch of iPhone 3G, which is now in the process of resolving the teething problems and slipping quietly into the hands of keen buyers, who throng the markets to get their share of the “Apple Pie.”

There is not a free moment at the Apple headquarters and they know how to keep the “rumors alive,” to satisfy the insatiable appetite of the technology freaks.

Apple is planning on closing the year with a few new product introductions.

iPhone Nano

This time, it is the “Nano fairy” all ready to sprinkle its dust on the Apple product line.

According to a source quoted in a British newspaper, the iPhone Nano is expected to be unveiled soon – perhaps a Christmas gift?

The reason for this is believed to be the fact that the EDGE and 3G iPhone models are expensive and it would be easier on the light-pocketed customer to have a smaller sized phone that is similar to iPod Nano.

The iPhone Nano could be a “iPhone Lite” device without full internet access, with a rear-facing iPod style touch wheel for inputting the numbers and a display screen that is front facing.

Meanwhile, the iPhone is expanding its wings into new territories. Read the rest of this entry »