http://www.osnews.com/ Exploring the Future of Computing en-us Copyright 2001-2009, David Adams OSNews version 4 donotreply@osnews.com (Adam Scheinberg) donotreply@osnews.com (Thom Holwerda) Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:56:10 GMT http://www.osnews.com/images/osnews.gif http://www.osnews.com/ 120 http://www.osnews.com/story/22460/Open_Source_Design_and_the_OpenOfficeMouse/ http://www.osnews.com/story/22460/Open_Source_Design_and_the_OpenOfficeMouse/ Is complexity (and wearing this on the outside) an inherit part of open source design? FactoryJoe compares the OpenOfficeMouse (a mouse with 18 programmable buttons and even an analogue joystick) and the Apple Magic Mouse-"To me, the OpenOfficeMouse seems like such a typical product from the open source community." [Kroc: I honestly believed the OpenOfficeMouse to be a very clever satirical joke, the irony that it isn't suspends belief] Sun, 08 Nov 2009 10:21:45 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Kroc Camen) Hardware, Embedded Systems 38 http://www.osnews.com/topics/32 News http://www.osnews.com/story/22445/Rebel_EFI_Send_your_Computer_to_Psystar_for_Compatibility_/ http://www.osnews.com/story/22445/Rebel_EFI_Send_your_Computer_to_Psystar_for_Compatibility_/ We already had the news about Psystar's Rebel EFI possibly including open source code, but now we have another story which doesn't really seem to bode well for the small Florida clone maker. Gizmodo has a story on an interesting customer experience. Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:49:56 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Thom Holwerda) Hardware, Embedded Systems 30 http://www.osnews.com/topics/32 News http://www.osnews.com/story/22432/Startup_Litl_Launches_Internet-Enabled_Computer/ http://www.osnews.com/story/22432/Startup_Litl_Launches_Internet-Enabled_Computer/ Litl LLC launched today a Linux-based laptop design, named "Webbook". The device comes with a custom simplified interface, it can run third party web apps, and it can operate both in a laptop mode, or by bending backwards the screen, in the "easel TV-like mode". The Webbook can also connect through HDMI to an HDTV, and a remote control is sold separately. The Webbook goes in auto-maintainance mode, when in sleep. The Atom 1.6 Ghz/1 GB RAM device sells for $699. More info here and here. Videos of the UI here. Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:13:40 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Eugenia Loli-Queru) Hardware, Embedded Systems 18 http://www.osnews.com/topics/32 News http://www.osnews.com/story/22429/VIA_Intros_Nano_3000_Netbook_Notebook_CPUs/ http://www.osnews.com/story/22429/VIA_Intros_Nano_3000_Netbook_Notebook_CPUs/ "VIA has introduced out its latest Nano CPUs, pitching the new 3000 family of low-power processors at makers of thin'n'light laptops and of all-in-one desktops. The Nano 3000 series runs to six processors, clock at between 1GHz and 2GHz. They all sit on an 800MHz system bus. Four U3x00 models consume just 100mW of power when idling - the two L3xx0 Nanos consume 500mW at idle. VIA touted the new parts' support for 64-bit computing, virtualisation and the SSE 4 media processing instructions. Like past VIA processors, the new ones have on-board AES and SHA encryption engine." Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:48:17 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Thom Holwerda) Hardware, Embedded Systems 19 http://www.osnews.com/topics/32 News http://www.osnews.com/story/22415/Review_Hackable_Linux_NAS_the_D-Link_DNS-323/ http://www.osnews.com/story/22415/Review_Hackable_Linux_NAS_the_D-Link_DNS-323/ The D-Link DNS-323 is a bargain-priced, consumer-grade network storage enclosure, similar to countless others. It's made of cheap plastic, has uninspired design, and a clunky web-based management interface. It's also brilliant, and if you have any hacker in you at all, you should buy one. Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:34:05 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (David Adams) Hardware, Embedded Systems 25 http://www.osnews.com/topics/32 Feature http://www.osnews.com/story/22402/Rebel_EFI_Allegedly_Contains_OSS_Code_Covered_Under_APSL/ http://www.osnews.com/story/22402/Rebel_EFI_Allegedly_Contains_OSS_Code_Covered_Under_APSL/ When Psystar announced it Rebel EFI package, the company was quickly accused of simply taking open source code, repackaging it, and selling it for USD 50. While selling open source code is not a problem, not making the source code available if the license demands it is. Netkas, famous OSX86 hacker, and a Russian site are now claiming they have found the smoking gun. Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:09:36 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Thom Holwerda) Hardware, Embedded Systems 85 http://www.osnews.com/topics/32 News Cytor http://www.osnews.com/story/22399/Asus_Releases_Desktop-Sized_NVIDIA-Powered_Supercomputer/ http://www.osnews.com/story/22399/Asus_Releases_Desktop-Sized_NVIDIA-Powered_Supercomputer/ Asustek has unveiled its first supercomputer, the desktop computer-sized ESC 1000, which uses Nvidia graphics processors to attain speeds up to 1.1 teraflops. Asus's ESC 1000 comes with a 3.33GHz Intel LGA1366 Xeon W3580 microprocessor designed for servers, along with 960 graphics processing cores from Nvidia inside three Tesla c1060 Computing Processors and one Quadro FX5800 Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:27:06 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Thom Holwerda) Hardware, Embedded Systems 21 http://www.osnews.com/topics/32 News http://www.osnews.com/story/22395/We_Hate_the_Wall_Wart/ http://www.osnews.com/story/22395/We_Hate_the_Wall_Wart/ The "wall wart" is one of humanity's worst inventions (not counting all of the inventions that are actually intended to kill and maim each other, I'll admit). AC-plug power supplies are a cheap workaround to various engineering, economic, and regulatory problems that manufacturers face, and they solve those problems by pushing them off onto end users. So what can we do about it? OSNews takes a look at an ingenious workaround to the Wall Wart problem, and some hopeful trends that might make them a thing of the past. Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:32:37 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (David Adams) Hardware, Embedded Systems 43 http://www.osnews.com/topics/32 News http://www.osnews.com/story/22386/Psystar_Defies_Apple_Once_More_Releases_Rebel_EFI/ http://www.osnews.com/story/22386/Psystar_Defies_Apple_Once_More_Releases_Rebel_EFI/ As if selling non-Apple labelled computers with Mac OS X pre-installed and licensing the technology to do so to third parties wasn't enough, Psystar has now moved ahead and has started offering its Rebel EFI package for everyone to buy and use. It makes it possible for just about anyone to install Mac OS X on a non-Apple labelled computer. Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:08:58 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Thom Holwerda) Hardware, Embedded Systems 52 http://www.osnews.com/topics/32 News JayDee http://www.osnews.com/story/22352/Acer_Surpasses_Dell_in_Marketshare/ http://www.osnews.com/story/22352/Acer_Surpasses_Dell_in_Marketshare/ And it's that time of the, eh, quarter again. The third quarter of 2009 has ended, so IDC and Gartner both published their figures on marketshare and sales. The big news is that Acer has surpassed Dell and is now the number two PC manufacturer in the world. Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:16:07 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Thom Holwerda) Hardware, Embedded Systems 12 http://www.osnews.com/topics/32 News http://www.osnews.com/story/22336/Dell_Starts_Talking_Down_Netbooks/ http://www.osnews.com/story/22336/Dell_Starts_Talking_Down_Netbooks/ In what is about as surprising as the sun rising in the morning, Michael Dell has started talking down netbooks. Dell made his comments about netbooks at the Churchill Club in Silicon Valley, and considering the impact of netbooks on manufacturers' bottom lines, it's really not that surprising. Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:00:40 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Thom Holwerda) Hardware, Embedded Systems 55 http://www.osnews.com/topics/32 News http://www.osnews.com/story/22329/Eee_Keyboard_Detailed_by_FCC/ http://www.osnews.com/story/22329/Eee_Keyboard_Detailed_by_FCC/ Aspects of the mouth-watering Eee Keyboard have been mysterious since we first heard about it at the beginning of this year. Now that the FCC has had a go at the device and has released its documents, we have sweet description in full. "Several of the documents hidden from our anxious eyes during the FCC filing have now gone public. Not only can you visually inspect its innards, the feds have also laid bare the full spec sheet for the ASUS Eee Keyboard model EK1542. Beneath the 5-inch, 800 x 480 pixel touch panel (with stylus) we'll be getting Windows XP Home running on an Intel Atom N270, 945GSE / ICH7-M chipset with Broadcom AV-VD905 video decoder, 1GB of DDR2 memory, either 16GB or 32GB of flash storage, 4-hour battery, Bluetooth, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, gigabit Ethernet, HDMI and VGA outputs, integrated stereo speakers and mic, 3x USB, headphone and mic jacks, and external WiFi / UWB antenna. The Eee Keyboard's on-board Ultra-Wideband (UWB) throws 720p content to your TV within a 5-meter range (10-meters for non-video transmissions) via a UWB receiver packing 2x USB ports, another mini-USB port, audio out, and HDMI. You can even connect to two external monitors at the same time using UWB and either VGA or HDMI cable. Now all we need is a final date and price... ASUS?" Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:08:58 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Jordan Spencer Cunningham) Hardware, Embedded Systems 17 http://www.osnews.com/topics/32 News http://www.osnews.com/story/22319/Nuclear_Batteries_for_Phones_Laptops_Mini_Fire-Breathing_Robots/ http://www.osnews.com/story/22319/Nuclear_Batteries_for_Phones_Laptops_Mini_Fire-Breathing_Robots/ Not that we haven't known that this would one day happen, but it's still an exciting development nonetheless. Some folks over at the University of Missouri have whipped up nuclear batteries small enough to run the typical mobile device of today. They don't quite specify if has enough voltage to power something like a phone or a laptop as the batteries are being designed with MEMS and NEMS technology in mind, but they claim that these penny-sized batteries hold one million times the charge of "regular batteries." Whether a "regular battery" by their definition is the standard AA, the typical laptop battery, or a watch battery is unbeknownst to us peasants. It's being designed for MEMS and NEMS technology, but why not have it power my lappy if it's got the voltage? Imagine running one's computer for seven hundred years, and imagine all of that delicious space saved from the curse of conventional laptop batteries. Perhaps we don't need wireless electricity after all. Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:49:21 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Jordan Spencer Cunningham) Hardware, Embedded Systems 24 http://www.osnews.com/topics/32 News SReilly http://www.osnews.com/story/22314/NVIDIA_Ceases_All_Chipset_Development_Blames_Intel/ http://www.osnews.com/story/22314/NVIDIA_Ceases_All_Chipset_Development_Blames_Intel/ The future of integrated graphics processors lies somewhere on the dies of future processors, that much is a certainty. However, this creates a big problem for NVIDIA, whose chipset business will be out, of well, business. Beating everybody to the punch, the company announced yesterday that it is ceasing all development on future chipsets, citing unfair business practices from Intel. Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:47:44 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Thom Holwerda) Hardware, Embedded Systems 64 http://www.osnews.com/topics/32 News http://www.osnews.com/story/22313/_World_s_First_USB_3_0_Hard_Drive/ http://www.osnews.com/story/22313/_World_s_First_USB_3_0_Hard_Drive/ Remember those nearly pointless USB 3.0 cables one could buy way back in the golden days of April? If you were one of those who bought one by mistake or merely wanted to use its USB 2.0 speed until you had an actual 3.0 device and controller, now is your chance. Buffalo is offering what they claim to be the "world's first!!" shipping USB 3.0 hard drive in delicious 1TB and 1.5TB flavors come late this month, and a 2TB model is in the works. Since one would obviously need a controller as they don't come standard on motherboards just yet, the company is also offering one of NEC's world-firsts: the handy dandy USB 3.0 controller. Together these'll cost you over US$285 at the very least, but sometimes you just have to have shiny pieces of the world's first [place name here] before anyone else. Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:38:45 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Jordan Spencer Cunningham) Hardware, Embedded Systems 21 http://www.osnews.com/topics/32 News