Linked by Thom Holwerda on Thu 21st Feb 2013 20:48 UTC
It's turning out to be a bit of a crazy week for cool new products, isn't it? We already got Ubuntu Touch Preview for phones and tablets, then we got the new PlayStation 4 yesterday, and today Google surprised us all by launching the Chromebook Pixel. Google's first laptop appears to be a stunning machine - just don't ask who the hell it's for.
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Member since:2011-04-11
AND (probably)21:9/18:9 laptops
There isn't a market for 21:9 (or 18:9), just an ultra-small niche (as Philips found out after they failed to push their 21:9 TVs in significant quantities). Photos and 4:3 content look awful in 21:9. You know how it goes, photos and 4:3 on a 16:9 screen is tolerable, but photos and 4:3 on 21:9 is ridiculous.
Essentially, with 4:3, 16:9 and 21:9 content being all in the daily menu of most users (where "content" means movies and photos), 16:9 is the safest choice for consumer hardware, because it sits somewhere in the middle, so black bars (horizontal of vertical) will never be too thick.
Of course, if you want hardware for productivity, good luck finding a 4:3 laptop. A niche market for this Chromebook Pixel? (after you install a real OS in it of course)
Well, maybe it's hackable and we can run Linux-proper
Clearly this is a high end laptop for people who want to put linux on their machines. That's really the only point I see for it.
Clearly this is a high end laptop for people who want to put linux on their machines. That's really the only point I see for it.
Thought about that too, then I saw the Intel GPU. Intel GPUs have notoriously terrible Linux drivers (not that the Windows ones are a pinnacle of software quality, but at least they mostly work). In fact, THE most interesting thing about this laptop is the drivers Google will use to drive the GPU. Remember, this is an integrated product, so Google cannot say "sorry for the bugs, tee hee", so it will be interesting to see how they plan to work around the problem that is the Intel GPU. They could turn off the acceleraton, but there is Web GL stuff they need to support. And H.264 acceleration.
Edited 2013-02-22 15:33 UTC
Member since:2005-07-06
Intel GPUs have notoriously terrible Linux drivers
It has been getting better and better ever since Chris Wilson started working on it ~3 years ago. He is the guy who almost single-handedly makes Intel GPUs viable on Linux:
http://cgit.freedesktop.org/xorg/driver/xf86-video-intel/log/
Member since:2005-07-06
I personally only use a laptop when I need to and am willing to compromise on the screen. I tend to use a desktop as much as possible. I like a wide screen for my desktop computers, but for productivity dual monitors is the way to go imo.
All of that having been said. I don't have to use my laptop all that much so it's a little easier to compromise on the screen size/resolution.
News
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 22:33 UTC
Official Apple statement on PRISM and privacy: "Regardless of the circumstances, our Legal team conducts an evaluation of each request and, only if appropriate, we retrieve and deliver the narrowest possible set of information to the authorities. In fact, from time to time when we see inconsistencies or inaccuracies in a request, we will refuse to fulfill it." This is basically Apple re-publishing their earlier statement in a more official manner. You either believe it, or you don't.
Linked by Anonymous on 06/18/13 22:26 UTC
The open source Contiki operating system and its commercial Thingsquare distribution are making strides towards the connected home. According to a Computerworld article, a new LED light bulb manufacturer is putting small computers into their light bulbs. Each computer runs the Contiki OS, which gives each bulb an IP address and allows them to be controlled with a smartphone application. To connect the bulbs to the application, the bulbs use both Wi-Fi and the much lower power IEEE 802.15.4 mesh technology.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 22:25 UTC
"Google asked the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on Tuesday to ease long-standing gag orders over data requests it makes, arguing that the company has a constitutional right to speak about information it's forced to give the government. The legal filing, which cites the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech, is the latest move by the California-based tech giant to protect its reputation in the aftermath of news reports about sweeping National Security Agency surveillance of Internet traffic." Draining the ditch after the cow has drowned in it.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 17:45 UTC
"I can't find one person who has been using the Nexus 7 for an extended period of time, and hasn't seen a massive downgrade in performance. Just what kind of downgrade are we talking here? I cannot pick up my Nexus 7 without experiencing problems like a lag of ten seconds, or more, just to rotate the display; touches refusing to acknowledged; stuttering notification panel actions; and unresponsive apps." Fully and utterly agreed. My Nexus 7 was blazing-fast and awesome for a few months, and at some point, it just started sucking. Just like that. I've tried loads of ROMs, and nothing helps.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 17:32 UTC, submitted by poundsmack
A new release of the hobby operating system MenuetOS! The release notes are a bit non-descript, but you'll have to take what you can get: "updates and improvements (picview, httpc, ehci, ...)".
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/17/13 17:58 UTC
"The Internet is one of the most transformative technologies of our lifetimes. But for 2 out of every 3 people on earth, a fast, affordable Internet connection is still out of reach. And this is far from being a solved problem. There are many terrestrial challenges to Internet connectivity - jungles, archipelagos, mountains. There are also major cost challenges. Right now, for example, in most of the countries in the southern hemisphere, the cost of an Internet connection is more than a month's income. Solving these problems isn't simply a question of time: it requires looking at the problem of access from new angles. So today we're unveiling our latest moonshot from Google[x]: balloon-powered Internet access." Insane.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/17/13 17:52 UTC
"MineAssemble is a tiny bootable Minecraft clone written partly in x86 assembly. I made it first and foremost because a university assignment required me to implement a game in assembly for a computer systems course. Because I had never implemented anything more complex than a 'Hello World' bootloader before, I decided I wanted to learn about writing my own kernel code at the same time. Note that the goal of this project was not to write highly efficient hand-optimized assembly code, but rather to have fun and write code that balances readability and speed. This is primarily accomplished by proper commenting and consistent code structuring." Just cool.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 21:03 UTC
Jon Rubinstein, former CEO of Palm: "Well, I'm not sure I would have sold the company to HP. That's for sure. Talk about a waste. Not that I had any choice because when you sell a company you don't get to decide that. Obviously, the board and shareholders decide that. If we had known they were just going to shut it down and never really give it a chance to flourish, what would have been the point of selling the company? I think the deal we had with Verizon really hurt us, but who knew that at the time? These things are all hindsight."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 20:46 UTC
"And so it is with Dell's Alienware X51 R2, a small form factor gaming PC in console digs. It's shaped similar to Microsoft's Xbox 360 Slim, and though it's slightly larger than either a 360 or PlayStation 3, the X51 R2 would be right at home in a living room setting nestled next to a large screen TV. Indeed, it's adept at running Steam's Big Picture mode, and if your primary objective is to play games in the living room, go ahead and consider the X51 R2 a hybrid game console." This is obviously not the only machine like this - still, these are very valid console alternatives even for those that don't like being hunched over with a cramped WASD-claw. Also, PC gamers among us: could you get away with the $699 model for gaming?
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 17:32 UTC
From Bloomberg: "Microsoft, the world's largest software company, provides intelligence agencies with information about bugs in its popular software before it publicly releases a fix, according to two people familiar with the process. That information can be used to protect government computers and to access the computers of terrorists or military foes." The lid has officially been blown off.More News »
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Member since:
2011-01-05
I think the answer is there is certainly a market for 4:3 16:9 AND (probably)21:9/18:9 laptops ..same as for TVs and projectors
...but with 16:9 being the biggest market as it's the best compromise for most consumers -with an appetite for 16:9 film&TV content.
I think 4:3 is probably the best ratio for a productivity laptop though. And I strictly mean productivity in MY case where I need to read a lot of research papers and work with a lot spreadsheet data.
and thereby length, for once, is more important than girth.. ..I mean width.. sorry.
video professionals I'm presuming will want the nearest to their native ratio.
and web developers.. well, their a funny crowd, I can't call that one. I personally hate scrolling down more than I 'need to' on 16:9 displays..
If I'd a choice I'd almost go for a 16" or 17" (diagonal) 1:1 square-screened laptop.
But I'm strange.