Hardware Archive

Sun Microsystems on revealed the Constellation System, a high-performance computing platform that could hit a peak performance of 2 petaflops while HP and Microsoft gang up to give High-Performance computers a mass appeal by making it easier to deploy, support and manage. Customers can 'realistically expect to have a 64-node cluster deployed and running within two hours', HP said in a statement.

"The Series 5 pocket computer from Psion was launched 10 years ago this week. It was a remarkable achievement: entirely new silicon, a new operating system, middleware stack and applications were developed from scratch in just over two years. This was the last time anyone undertook such a daunting task: it may be the last time anyone ever tries, either."

"Although USB connectors in monitors appeared many years ago, they have performed only secondary functions all this time. However, now Samsung offers an LCD monitor that is connected to the PC via the USB bus and can work without a graphics card."

An updated version of the wireless technology will soon allow consumers to beam photos from cameras and use their cell phone to make purchases, reports Business 2.0 Magazine. There is also information about Bluetooth 3.0.

Via Technologies has unfurled a prototype for a mini notebook that will compete against similar small computers touted by Samsung and Intel, but sell for less. The Taiwanese company is also showing off motherboards that will appear in smart phones in about a year.

Geeks.com was so kind as to send me the TS-21F5-R, a 21-Inch TFT Flat Panel LCD Color Widescreen Monitor (it is a de-branded HP LCD monitor) for review. At USD 245.99, that is a whole lot of screen real estate. Read on for my findings.

When Dell put up its IdeaStorm community-feedback site, the company was surprised by the strong response in favor of shipping personal computers with Linux. The PC company then announced that it would offer Ubuntu Linux on select systems, and as of yesterday, they are taking orders. Ubuntu Linux is now available on the XPS 410n high-end desktop system at USD 849 (compared with USD 899 for the same machine with Windows installed), the E520n desktop at USD 599, and the E1505n notebook at USD 599. For now, the Ubuntu systems will only be available to customers in the United States. Availability is expected 'in the coming weeks' according to an announcement given on May 1, but Dell.com lists a shipping time of three to five days.

If online articles and blogs are any indication of things, the number of Linux users migrating to, and satisfied with, Ubuntu GNU/Linux seems to be staggering. Given that, it was only a matter of time before a capable company had the resources to offer accessible, affordable Linux desktops and notebooks that delivered the way that Apple's products have. Colorado-based System76 sent us their Darter Ultra for review, and proved that there is an OEM hardware/software combination capable of being the primary PC for the general public.

Chip-maker Intel "should be ashamed of itself" for efforts to undermine the USD 100 laptop initiative, according to its founder Nicholas Negroponte. He accused Intel of selling its own cut-price laptop - the Classmate - below cost to drive him out of markets. Professor Negroponte, who aims to distribute millions of laptops to kids in developing countries, said Intel had hurt his mission "enormously".

"Storage manufacturers are getting ready to start shipping solid state disks, and Linux-based devices like One Laptop per Child's XO and Intel's Classmate don't contain standard hard disks. To improve performance on the wide array of flash memory storage devices now available, project leader Jern Engel has announced LogFS, a scalable filesystem specifically for flash devices."

"Ubuntu Feisty Fawn and Windows Vista are two state-of-the-art desktop operating systems. I got this Bi-OS laptop (with Feisty and Vista Business) recently as my desktop replacement. I compare some features of Vista vs. Feisty. Both operating systems have made great progress. Laptop is well built and great for a consultant like me (albeit tad heavy)." More here.

On the heels of announcing their plan to offer Ubuntu Linux pre-installed on selected consumer desktops and laptops, Dell will disclose today that it will team up with Novell and Microsoft to distribute Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Server software along with Microsoft's Windows Server software. As part of the deal, Dell will help Novell and Microsoft make SLES and Windows work together efficiently on Dell's computer hardware. Rick Becker, a Dell VP, says, "There's many aspects of open source that delight my customers, they have concerns about software licensing. Those concerns go away when they deploy Microsoft and SLES Linux."

"Late last week the One Laptop Per Child project had a media event in Cambridge, and while I couldn't make the event, I did tape a video interview for the BBC on the project. During my preparation I kept coming across these claims that Microsoft and OLPC had partnered to put Windows XP Starter Edition on the OLPC, and according to one report, this was being done to get the XO laptop into US schools. None of this jibed with what I had been hearing from sources, so I decided to look into it further. As it turns out, a number of new outlets, including the AP and Reuters, mischaracterized the situation."

OLPC Talks has several transcripts from the OLPC presentations (where we learned that Windows can run on the OLPC). Walter Bender talks about giving each child a Gmail account for storage, Red Hat's Christopher Blizzard talks about it's unique software installation, and more.