Apple Planning 3-D Kinect-Like Interface?
By Stuart Fox, TechNewsDaily Staff Writer
While most people only woke up to the 3-D video revolution over the course of the last year, the brains over at Apple have been working on the problem for the better part of the last decade. Last month, Apple received approval from the U.S. Patent Office on a five-year-old patent detailing how Steve Jobs and company would produce a 3-D screen that viewers could use without any glasses. Even better, the patent outlines a Kinect-like interface that allows users to control digital 3-D objects as if they existed in real space.
Apple's particular innovation involves combining those screens with a projector and a tracker. As reported elsewhere, the screen style highlighted in the patent only provide the illusion of depth when viewed at specific angles. Apple's patent shows that the device would track the location of the user, altering the image to maintain an 3-D illusion regardless of the user's position. However, according to the patent, the tracker also serves as a 3-D input for any computer, TechNewsDaily has learned. Further investigation shows that Apple's scientists also envision this system running 3-D interactive programs.
"For example, the 3-D display system can present an unobtrusive 3-D virtual desktop (not shown) to the observer in the virtual display volume. The observer is then able to manipulate objects within the desktop by reaching into the virtual display volume and 'grasping,' 'pushing,' or otherwise manipulating the virtual objects as if they were actually present (which they appear to be)," reads the patent.
"The manipulation of the virtual objects occurs because the feedback mechanism recognizes observer movements, such as finger movements, at the locations of the virtual objects and reconfigures the display of the virtual objects in response thereto."
Forget the Kinect -- the Mac brains want you reaching into your iPhone, not just sliding your fingers across it.
The screen, which Apple has not announced anything official about, uses the same trick as the Nintendo DS: lenticular 3-D. In lenticular 3-D, the screen is not a flat surface, but a series of tiny dome-shaped lenses. Two images -- a left and a right -- pass through the small lenses, and distort in a way to create the illusion of depth. Viola, 3-D without the funny-looking head gear.
However, there are some drawbacks. For one, the patent also includes an eye tracking component, which implies that only one user at a time can experience the full range of 3-D. Additionally, previous attempts at mass producing high quality lenticular screens have only worked on smaller, portable screens.
If only Apple made small, portable products with screens that users would want to interact with in 3-D. They should probably get on with developing a few of those...
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5 Technologies That Just Might Be Extinct By the End of 2011
By Ned Smith, BusinessNewsDaily Contributor
Remember 8-track players? Typewriters? How about dial-up modems and VHS tapes?
Relics all, they are mementos of earlier technology that time has passed by. In their day, though, each stood as a triumph of the latest, greatest technology. Do you miss them? We didn’t think so.
With that cautionary tale in mind, BusinessNewsDaily decided to cap off the year on a nostalgic note by taking a look at current technologies that are part of our daily life to see which of them might be ready to jump the shark in the near future. We turned to a number of experts in technology and came up with this highly arbitrary list of candidates for the 2011 Technology Death Pool. Let the debate begin.
Cable TV
Even when peace reigns between cable TV companies and the content providers, and we’re allowed to bask in 200-plus channels of content that ranges from the ridiculous to the sublime, we have an uneasy relationship at best with our cable providers. In most markets they have a monopoly and viewers face a take-it-or-leave-it choice. The alternative is rabbit ears and a digital converter.
Jay Levy, a principal at Zelkova Ventures, a venture capital firm with a technology bent , said the convergence of TV and the Internet is going to level the playing field in television distribution.
We’ll still have a cable leading to our homes and apartments, but it’ll be piping in the cornucopia of content that is the Internet. “People are fed up at this point,” Levy told BusinessNewsDaily. “You’ll continue to see a speeding up of convergence of TV and the computer. You have legitimate players like Apple coming after this market who want to democratize TV. People are already making the transition. I don’t think we’re going to miss anything. It’s going to be better and we’re going to be paying less. Is there anything we miss from black-and-white TV?”
Landline Telephones
POTS (plain old telephone service), with its drooping wires all over the place, is a tired old critter that deserves to be put out to pasture. That’s the sentiment, at least, of the millions of mobile users who have made their devices the telecommunications standard bearer here and abroad. Anyone with an older home who has tried to puzzle out its network of hidden telephone wires will agree that it’s time to cut the cord.
One in four households in the U.S. no longer has a landline connection and AT&T has petitioned the FCC to set a date for the extinction of landlines. Clearly, it’s technology whose time has passed. In the future, experts say, our home phone service most likely will be mobile or piped into our homes along with our Internet. The conventional justification for maintaining landlines was that you didn’t lose service if your electric power went out.
“Power outages are so infrequent that people don’t even remember them,” said Stowe Boyd, a social philosopher and webthropologist who has abandoned landlines altogether. “The younger generation will never use landlines at all.”
Laptop Computers AKA Notebooks
Laptop computers have long been a technology albatross around the road warrior’s neck. Many see them as being the worst of two worlds, trapped in limbo between powerful desktops and highly portable smartphones. Eventually, businesses will provide desktop computers in the office for productivity applications and mobile phones for workers away from their desk, said Khalid Muhammad, the Pakistan-based group managing director of the emagine group.
“With the massive growth of smartphones that do everything from taking pictures to handling MS Office documents, I don’t see people and businesses alike bothering to purchase laptops anymore,” Muhammad told BusinessNewsDaily. “As cloud computing grows more and more acceptable, more companies will start making their technologies, applications and data more mobile. Especially when you look at the massive acceptance of the iPhone and BlackBerry, people have already started to move in that direction, but the final push will be when cloud computing takes a firm hold in corporate environments.”
Hard Drives
Laptops won’t be the only casualty if the cloud establishes data storage and processing dominance. The whole idea of cloud computing drives a stake through the heart of the concept of keeping your information stored locally on a failure-prone device such as a hard drive.
“We will move everything to the cloud, with only a local cache in our PCs,” webthropologist Boyd told BusinessNewsDaily. “I don’t want to have to buy another hard drive. You’ve got to fudge around with them. It’s all bad. What if my hard disk crashed?”
And crash they do, as Boyd and legions of users know from firsthand experience.
“The only thing that saved me was my back-up cloud,” he said. “These guys are much less likely to have a catastrophic failure than I am.”
Desktop Operating System (OS)/Browser
Convergence in computing seems to be getting enough traction now to make it a real possibility rather than a pipe dream. It’s not just the convergence of TV and the Internet or the melding of devices such as the latest generation of smartphones. It’s now getting under the hood with your computer’s operating system and the browser that you use as your window to the online world. It can get confusing, even to the initiated. Take Google’s Chrome browser. The engineers in Mountain View, Calif., home of Google, are also developing an OS called Chrome. Which is which? And does it matter?
“The desktop OS will soon be replaced by a minimalistic OS, which is just a browser,” said Girish Lakshminarayana, the co-founder and chief technology officer of Klea Global, a technology firm. “The Google Chrome OS is a step in this direction. You could say this affects all the other technologies that are related to the standard desktop, including the browser and instant messenger (IM). The browser and IM will combine and will enable true real-time exchange and presence. The IM will acquire browsing capabilities. I better be right, because I have founded a company based on this theory, WebtoIM.”
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Next-Generation Intel Chips Focus on Media Processing
By Dan Hope, TechNewsDaily Staff Writer
In the era of the app, it's all about content, and Intel knows this. That's why the second generation of the Core i3, i5 and i7 processors will have a specific media processing focus, Intel says.
Intel unveiled the next generation of Core processors today, a total of 29 new chips and adapters, saying that users can expect to see up to twice the performance in graphics processing compared to the original Core processors.
The boost in performance is due to Intel's new design that puts the graphics processor and the system processor on the same chip, allowing them to share the same cache memory. This improves graphics processing for everything from gaming to YouTube videos. It's not a new concept – other processors have done the same thing – but it is a first for the Core line.
Intel is also including some new features on the Core processors. Intel Quick Sync Video will make video transcoding much faster (17 times faster than other integrated graphics processors). Intel InTru 3D will make 3-D playback possible over an HDMI connection to a TV. And WiDi 2.0 will allow the Core processors to stream full HD (1080p) video.
This is all good news for media fanatics (who isn't at this point), but it still isn't as powerful as having a discrete graphics processor. Gamers especially will still want to have a separate graphics card to handle newer games.
There are no official release announcements for computers running the new Core processors, but manufacturers are expected to announce many of them at the Consumer Electronics Show this week.
* CES 2011 Preview: Cricket Offers Unlimited Music Downloads
* CES 2011 Preview: Toshiba Tablet
* Samsung Sells 10 Million Galaxy S Smartphones Since June
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Germany plans cyber-warfare defense center
(Reuters) -
Germany will create a new cyber-warfare defense center next year to fight off espionage attacks, the German interior ministry said."We plan to create a so-called 'National Cyber-Defense Center' in 2011," a spokesman told reporters on Monday. "It will work by bundling existing know-how in the area of cyber defense."
As
computer systems become more important to control essential services, from power grids to banking, computerized attacks are seen as becoming as important a part of nations' arsenals as conventional or nuclear weaponry.
Britain announced a 650-million-pound ($1 billion) program last month, labeling cyber security a key priority despite broad cuts to government spending, including on defense.
Several Western security experts believe one computer worm, known as Stuxnet, may have been created by a national counterterrorism authority intent on crippling Iran's nuclear program by sabotaging the industrial control system at its atomic energy plant in Bushehr.
(Reporting by Rene Wagner and Christiaan Hetzner)
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Why you should go for Bluetooth mice
Bluetooth mice are compatible with many different devices. For example, if the user installs the correct drivers on their cell phone, they can use their bluetooth mouse to crawl through menus and select options on their cell phone as if the two devices were always meant to be used together. Bluetooth mice also work with PDAs, MP3 players, cordless home phones, and many other devices. Each device must, of course, be bluetooth-enabled and individual devices may require different drivers.
Bluetooth mice can also be taken virtually anywhere, put in virtually any pocket (bags, jackets, etc.), and can be used by many different devices. Bluetooth mice also have a much farther range than other wireless mice. For example, an infrared mouse has a "line of sight" which means that it has to be able to actually see the device; bluetooth mice do not have this problem as they use radio waves instead of infrared lasers. While an infrared mouse has a range of 5-6 feet, a bluetooth mouse has a range of about 30 feet.
The best Bluetooth mouse so far is the Razer Orochi Notebook Gaming Mouse is aimed at traveling notebook gamers, Razer presents the Orochi Bluetooth Notebook Gaming Mouse. This is an ultra-high-performance Bluetooth mouse, equipped with a 4000dpi sensor for precise inputs. The Orochi gives you the option of wireless mode, or a performance-enhancing wired mode for when you can set up your equipment. A 3-foot micro-USB cable is provided, along with a gold-plated micro-USB port on the mouse itself. The Orochi features Razer’s Synapse on-board memory function for loading your configuration profiles, along with an on-the-fly sensitivity adjustment. Although it may be expensive, the extra precision and rapid response times make the Razer Orochi Bluetooth Notebook Gaming Mouse an attractive option for those looking for a Bluetooth mouse that can deliver wired-mouse performance.
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LG Xnote P210 Claims World's Thinnest Bezel Title
LG Xnote P210 Claims World's Thinnest Bezel Titleby Roydon Cerejo
Just when we thought LG was throwing in the towel with their notebook lineup, out comes a new Xnote P210 to grab the title of the world's thinnest bezel.
LG has managed to fit a 12.5" screen in a size that is similar to notebooks with 11.6" form factor. The notebook is actually quite powerful as it packs in a Core i5 -470UM processor, 4GB of RAM and 320GB hard drive. There isn't any mention of the screen resolution but it has an "HD Ready" badge so expect something like 1366x768 resolution.
The P210 is extremely light at just 1.3kg and measures around 299 x 192 x 20.9 mm. On the connectivity front, the notebook has WiFi 'n', Bluetooth 3.0 and Windows 7 Home Premium x64. From it's slim design and specification it seems like it will go against Acer's Timeline X series when it comes out sometime in February next year. The P210 should be priced around US. $1,100 (Rs. 49,500).
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Internet road rules near FCC vote Part 1
By Jasmin Melvin
WASHINGTON | Sun Dec 19, 2010 1:40pm EST
(Reuters) - A controversial proposal for Internet traffic rules that would allow providers to ration access to their networks is scheduled to come before communications regulators for a vote on Tuesday.
The rules would ban high-speed Internet providers like Comcast Corp and Verizon Communications from blocking lawful traffic, but are expected to acknowledge their need to manage network congestion and possibly charge consumers based on Internet usage.Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski's plan will likely attract the grudging support of his two fellow Democrats, analysts say, overcoming opposition from the agency's two Republicans.
Items on the FCC's agenda are sometimes withdrawn on late notice when agreement cannot be reached, but those following the issue think Democrats Michael Copps and Mignon Clyburn will decide imperfect rules are better than no rules at all.Copps wanted the FCC to reclassify Internet traffic under tougher rules applying to telephone service, while Clyburn has said she is uneasy about giving wireless Internet providers more freedom to manage their networks than wireline services.
The Republican commissioners have said they prefer that Internet traffic remain free of regulation."But I still think it's more likely that they will work something out," said Rebecca Arbogast, an analyst with Stifel Nicolaus and a former division chief at the FCC.Internet providers say they should be free to manage their networks for the benefit of all users, but content providers fear disruption of access and anti-competitive behavior.
The rules could help cable companies battling competitors who deliver competing video content over the same Internet lines the cable companies hook up to customers' homes.Level 3 Communications, a company that helps Netflix Inc stream videos online, has accused Comcast of charging it unfair fees to deliver content to Comcast subscribers.The FCC's ability to regulate the Internet has been in doubt since an appeals court in April said the agency lacked the authority to stop Comcast from blocking bandwidth-hogging applications.Court challenges are expected over this latest rule-making effort, although senior FCC officials have said they will invoke new legal arguments not employed in the Comcast case.
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Mozilla Moves
Mozilla Moves Sharing from Web Pages to Browser
By Leslie Meredith, TechNewsDaily Senior Writer
Mozilla Labs this week launched F1, a social plug-in for Firefox to quickly share any webpage link along with a personal comment from the user. For now you can share to Facebook, Twitter and Gmail contacts, but creators Mozilla Messaging say they will add more options in the next round of development.
After a quick install, the F1 icon is displayed in the upper right hand corner of the browser window. Click and a dialogue box appears with options to share to Facebook, Twitter and Gmail. Once you've allowed access to your accounts, it's a simple matter to choose your channel, add a note and post.
Twitter users will appreciate F1's automatic URL shortener using bit.ly. Facebook users will like the fact they can add a comment along with the expected screenshot and brief description.
The Gmail integration is especially slick. When you choose to email a contact, the auto complete function that's part of Gmail's "compose new message" is also part of F1. Start typing a contact name and the address is automatically inserted based on your Gmail address book.
Yahoo was supposed to be included in the options, but Yahoo's mandatory CAPTCHA got in the way, according to F1 developers. "If this extra step were avoidable we would consider adding Yahoo back into the list of supported services," Bryan Clark, Mozilla Labs developer, wrote in a blog post.
At the end of the day, it's Mozilla's attempt to make sharing a browser feature rather than a web page feature, and start to clear off all those sharing button arrays that lead to "web pages that are cluttered, ugly, but also not very usable."
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Low-cost handsets and smartphones
Low-cost handsets and smartphones will together account for almost 79% of all new mobile phones by 2014, according to analyst Juniper Research.
Juniper Research predicted that demand for mobile phones will be driven by the influx of new users from low-income socio-economic groups in developing markets and a rising demand for complex "smart" devices from affluent users in developed markets.
Mobile phone makers such as Nokia, Apple and RIM (makers of Blackberry) are well positioned to benefit from these trends, according to Juniper Research. However, mid-market phone manufacturers such as Sony Ericsson and Motorola will have to rethink their strategy.
The report's author Andrew Kitson said: "Low-cost handset shipments will number more than 700 million in 2014, up by 31% from levels seen in 2008, albeit down slightly from a peak of 716 million in 2012, as some users begin to upgrade to costlier devices.
"At the same time, smartphone shipment volumes will grow continuously across the forecast period, reaching almost 360 million by the end of the period. We therefore expect that mid-range device sales volumes will fall by more than 41% over the period."
Smartphones are becoming increasingly used as essential business tools. Microsoft and Nokia have joined forces to port Microsoft Office to Nokia smart phones, a move that could see the Nokia devices become more integrated with corporate IT.
Articles by Cliff Saran from http://www.computerweekly.com
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mobile coupons
This report looks in depth at the key developments within the mobile coupons market over the past 12 months and includes a number of key interviews with leading mobile coupon vendors, coupon scheme operators and mobile marketing agencies.
Key questions answered by this report include:
* How many mobile subscribers will use their mobiles to redeem coupons over the next five years?
* Which will be the leading regions in the market in 2014?
* What will be the size of overall mobile coupon redemption values?
* How large will be the NFC coupons and smart posters ARPU opportunity?
* What are the trends, drivers and constraints affecting the development of the market?
* What will be the regional trends in mobile coupon values over the next five years?
* How are mobile coupons currently being used by brands and merchants around the world?
Currently, almost all of the mobile coupon systems are based on delivering a code, usually a barcode, to the mobile phone. The code is either stored in the SMS or MMS inbox or is sent to a mobile coupon application that has been downloaded to the phone, as is the case with the Cellfire solution in the USA. Downloadable applications allow for the end-to-end coupon transaction to be managed from a single point and allow other mobile advertising applications to work in parallel to the mobile coupon function. With the growth of smart phones, coupon-specific downloadable apps have become very common over the last year, often linked to location based searches. And By 2014, consumer usage of mobile coupons will generate a redemption value close to $6bn globally.
news from http://www.computerweekly.com
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6 Internet Security Suites Software
Here are the criteria we used to evaluate internet security suites software:
Antispyware
Spyware is becoming the top threat to computers today. The security software you choose must have antispyware features capable of defeating worms, Trojans, adware and any other kind of spyware that might be out there. Suites that come from companies that offer quality antispyware products have a leg up in this area.
Antivirus
Although viruses have slipped behind spyware on the list of top security threats, they’re still a very real concern. You need to pick a suite with the ability to take down any viruses your computer might come across. The best antivirus applications include advanced heuristics which can spot virus-like activity long before a virus program has been identified and added to a protection program’s virus definitions.
Firewall
When you’re dealing with threats to the sanctity of your digital domain, you need to have a wall in place to keep them from coming in. Your ideal suite should have a firewall that stops threats before they have to pass through antivirus or antispyware scanners. The best firewalls are two-way, preventing not only incoming threats but also blocking outgoing information that can compromise your data or identity. The firewall needs to be the most solid part of your defense against computer security threats.
Other Security/Features
Your suite of choice should have a number of different features besides their antivirus, antispyware and firewall options. The more useful features you have, the more useful your program is going to seem to your customers. Useful features do nothing but increase the value of a program. Parental controls are prominent among these extras as are programs that help protect your identity by providing defense against spam and phishing attempts.
Ease of Use
Protecting your computer is a serious game that’s not for the faint of heart. The suite you choose must be easy enough for computer novices to figure out yet versatile enough for computer experts to be able to take advantage of their advanced features.
Help/Support
The software manufacturer must have enough help and support options in place to answer whatever questions you may have when you’re trying to keep your computer protected. These options can come either within the program or on the manufacturer’s website. All that matters is that they exist and they are going to be there when you need them.
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Instant Previews by Google
Google has updated its search capability with Instant Previews, which enables users to see what a web page looks like before opening it.The Instant Previews feature comes just two months after Google Instant, which displays results as users type in search terms.
Now users can find the right results even faster, says Google, by looking at snapshots of the webpages by clicking on the magnifying glass next to any search result and then hovering over further results.
"In our testing, we've found that people who use Instant Previews are about 5% more likely to be satisfied with the results they click," Raj Krishnan, a Google product manager, wrote in a blog post.
"The previews provide new ways to evaluate search results, making you more likely to find what you're looking for on the pages you visit."
But it is difficult to predict what impact the innovation will have on pay-per-click advertising, said Jim Warren, pay-per-click (PPC) account manager at search marketing agency Greenlight.
"However, you can be sure a negative reaction to a site layout or colour design of a website in Google Instant Previews would have an effect on online advertisers' percentage click-through rates, something they have not had to worry about in the past," he said.
This would result in a drop in quality score and an increase in cost per click, not good news for sites with a poor user experience, said Jim Warren.
But he said there could be a positive impact on brands with easily recognisable colours that may find they benefit from Google Instant Previews.
However, he warned this could lead to a rise in PPC sites using similar colours and designs to big brands, in a bid to trick users into clicking on the wrong site.
news from http://www.computerweekly.com
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5 Brand Computer Speaker Low Price
Altec Lansing Expressionist Bass 2-Piece SpeakersAltec Lansing FX3022 Expressionist Bass 2-Piece Speakers - Built-In Subs, AUX In, Volume Control
Vizio VSB200 HD Sound BarDesigned for home theater enthusiasts, this Sound Bar includes four 3” hand built mid/bass transducers and two 3/4" high performance tweeters.
Sony SS-CR3000 Center and Rear Speaker PackageSony SS-CR3000 Center and Rear Speaker Package - 120 Watt Center, 110 Watt Surround
Sony SSF7000 Floor Standing SpeakersSony SS-F7000 Speaker System - Floor Standing, 8" Woofer, 200 Watts Max, Pair
Bose® Companion® 2 Series II Multimedia SpeakersBose® Companion® 2 Series II Multimedia Speaker System
Logitech Z506 Surround Sound SpeakersLogitech Z506 Surround Sound Speakers - 75 Watts RMS, 27 Watts Subwoofer
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World's First 11n Hotspot Gateway
(news taken from http://www.zyxel.com.my)
ZyXEL Announces N4100, World's First 11n Hotspot Gateway for Hospitality ServicesHsinchu, Taiwan, May 11, 2010 – ZyXEL Communications (TSE: 2391), the world's leading broadband access solutions provider, today announced its new N4100, the first 11n Hotspot Gateway designed for hospitality services. Featuring 802.11n wireless performance and plug-and-play connectivity, the N4100 enables hospitality businesses to provide secure, free or chargeable, high speed Internet access. The N4100 uses the latest technology to enable better coverage and connectivity for all types of customer.
Today, Internet connectivity has become a basic premise for many public environments. People need to travel for work and pleasure and they demand to stay connected with friends, families and colleagues through different wireless technologies. Mobile devices such as laptops, netbooks, smart phones and game consoles are now all designed with inbuilt WiFi technology as standard. The change has driven the demand for more bandwidth, greater flexibility of connection type and higher hotspot density in wireless Internet solutions offered by hospitality businesses and public WiFi service providers.
"Hospitality businesses are striving to deliver high-performance connectivity to meet increasing customer demands for more bandwidth and higher hotspot density," said Alpha Chen, VP of ZyXEL Enterprise Solution Business Unit. "Offering convenient additional services as an attraction for customers while adding more revenue sources is their major concern."
The N4100 is the perfect addition to the existing world class range of hotspot gateways from ZyXEL. With data rates of up to 300 Mbps, N4100 delivers around 5 times the bandwidth of standard 11b/g devices. The N4100 also features the "3 Transmit 3 Receive" MIMO technology and enhanced11n-related features to provide better overall coverage.
Designed for easy configuration and operation, the ZyXEL N4100 can be used with an optional SP300 ticket printer. As no dedicated PC is needed, the hospitality staff can simply push a button on the SP300 to operate the gateway solution and automatically print the information for end-user Internet access. In larger business environments, the ZyXEL N4100 can support up to ten SP300 printers installed in different locations around the premises. This provides an ideal solution that scales as the business expands or as greater Internet coverage is required.
Aiming to simplify the complicated technical issues for Internet connectivity, the N4100 is equipped with "IP Plug-and-Play" technology that allows users to connect to the Internet without changing their existing IP and other network configurations. This not only eliminates the need and associated costs of hiring dedicated IT staff, the easy, trouble-free access encourages more usage which in turn increases the businesses profit.
The N4100 supports 100 concurrent users as standard and has has the capability to expand to 200 users with an electronic license. With the "pay-as-you-grow" licensing service, both service providers and hospitality businesses can increase their Internet service capability as their companies grow. Meticulously designed for simple use and convenient operations, the N4100 is a high-performance, secure hotspot gateway with user-friendly features designed to enable businesses increased profitability and the delivery of higher level of services to attract and retain customers.
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WiFi LAN of 802.11n
802.11n is a newer standard of WiFi LAN, or wireless local area network technology, subsequent to standards 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g. Its proper name is IEEE 802.11n, as it is a protocol developed by the international non-profit Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The number "11" indicates the IEEE working group assigned to 802 standards, and the "n" refers to a special task group within this body, known as TGn.
The IEEE 802.11n standard is scheduled to be reviewed by TGn in November 2005 and should debut in the marketplace sometime in mid-2006. It will reportedly offer quadruple the data transfer rates of the current fastest WiFi technology. It will also operate on the 2.4 gigahertz (GHz) band, like 802.11b and 802.11g. This frequency does not require line-of-sight availability like 802.11a, which works in the regulated 5 GHz band.
The newest IEEE standard in the Wi-Fi category is 802.11n. It was designed to improve on 802.11g in the amount of bandwidth supported by utilizing multiple wireless signals and antennas (called MIMO technology) instead of one.
When this standard is finalized, 802.11n connections should support data rates of over 100 Mbps. 802.11n also offers somewhat better range over earlier Wi-Fi standards due to its increased signal intensity. 802.11n equipment will be backward compatible with 802.11g gear.
Pros of 802.11n - fastest maximum speed and best signal range; more resistant to signal interference from outside sources
Cons of 802.11n - standard is not yet finalized; costs more than 802.11g; the use of multiple signals may greatly interfere with nearby 802.11b/g based networks.
The speed difference between 802.11n and the older 802.11g is only apparent on the local network in most cases. Internet speed is capped by whatever plan the user is on, and only the fastest plans are in excess of 25-54mbps, the limit of 802.11g. In other words, 802.11g is already many times faster than the average person's Internet connection.
Businesses/people that have their computers networked together (that's where you see the speed increase) *and* people who have Internet connections in excess of 25 mbps are the ones to benefit from 802.11n. Bear in mind the -average- Internet connection is about 1.5mbps for DSL and 5 mbps for cable. A *really* fast connection is 10mbps. Faster connections are certainly available but are pricey and are not what most people have.
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Wireless N - 802.11b
Home and business networkers looking to buy wireless local area network (WLAN) gear face an array of choices. Many products conform to the 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, or 802.11n wireless standards collectively known as Wi-Fi technologies. Additionally, Bluetooth and various other non Wi-Fi technologies also exist, each also designed for specific networking applications.
802.11bIEEE expanded on the original 802.11 standard in July 1999, creating the 802.11b specification. 802.11b supports bandwidth up to 11 Mbps, comparable to traditional Ethernet.
802.11b uses the same unregulated radio signaling frequency (2.4 GHz) as the original 802.11 standard. Vendors often prefer using these frequencies to lower their production costs. Being unregulated, 802.11b gear can incur interference from microwave ovens, cordless phones, and other appliances using the same 2.4 GHz range. However, by installing 802.11b gear a reasonable distance from other appliances, interference can easily be avoided.
* Pros of 802.11b - lowest cost; signal range is good and not easily obstructed
* Cons of 802.11b - slowest maximum speed; home appliances may interfere on the unregulated frequency band
Zyxel Releases Wireless N Access PointTaiwan based Zyxel Communications has introduced WAP 3205 wireless N compatible access point. The 802.11n standard offers enhanced speeds of 300 Mbps and enhanced range over the existing B & G standards. This makes it ideal for those seeking to stream high bandwidth HD video content over the network. Besides its primary function as an access point, it can be deployed for multiple roles like universal repeater, WLAN bridge, WDS repeater and as a Wi-Fi client.
Other features include a one touch WPS button for easy wireless security setup, mac address filtering and support for WEP, WPA and the latest WPA2 encryption standards. It also allows flexible network infrastructure setup with multiple SSID support, using which WAP 3205 can allow different groups of users to access different networks at the same time. It is available now for Rs. 6,771. Here's a full list of specifications:
* 802.11n enabled with data transfer rate of up to 300 Mbps
* Backward compatibility with the 802.11b/g standard
* Easy to extend the wireless network coverage with repeater modes
* Multiple SSID for separating access privileges
* WPS button for quick and easy wireless security setup
* Secure wireless communications with wep/wpa/wpa2
* Wi-Fi protected set up increase the flexibility and efficiency of the network infrastructure
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The Benefits of Continuous Data Protection (CDP)
The Benefits of Continuous Data Protection (CDP)for IBM i5/OS and AIX EnvironmentsDowntime and data loss pose intolerable risks to every business today. From IT departments to the Board Room, managers have seen the importance of business uptime and data protection to continued success, productivity and profitability.
For IT departments that are looking to take the next step in their data protection strategy, the technologies that offer continuous data protection (CDP) are becoming a regular consideration. it is important to provides a the most effective strategies and technologies to protect data and provide fast recovery and explains how CDP technologies benefit both IBM AIX and i5/OS environments.
The market for CDP products is expected to grow as businesses discover the advantages of maintaining a continuous journal of backups or archives generated over time. This is especially true for enterprises in which:
- Data changes often.
- The amount of stored data is large.
- Serious injury to the business could result from lost data, damaged files, or extended downtime.
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Continuous data protection (CDP)
Continuous data protection (CDP), also called continuous backup, is a storage system in which all the data in an enterprise is backed up whenever any change is made. In effect, CDP creates an electronic journal of complete storage snapshots, one storage snapshot for every instant in time that data modification occurs.
A major advantage of CDP is the fact that it preserves a record of every transaction that takes place in the enterprise. In addition, if the system becomes infected with a virus or Trojan, or if a file becomes mutilated or corrupted and the problem is not discovered until some time later, it is always possible to recover the most recent clean copy of the affected file.
A CDP system with disk storage offers data recovery in a matter of seconds -- much less time than is the case with tape backups or archives. Installation of CDP hardware and programming is straightforward and simple and does not put existing data at risk.
IBM® Tivoli® Continuous Data Protection for Files is continuous backup software that protects your most important files.
This real-time, continuous data protection solution for file servers and user endpoints automatically backs up your most critical files the moment they are saved.
To help you capture every save of a file when it occurs and protect against corruption, file loss or system loss, you can specify as many as three target backup/replication ares for high-priority files.
To minimize the backup/recovery window, this continuous data backup software uses rapid disk-to-disk protection and restore capabilities.
To optimize recovery point objectives (RPO) and recovery time objectives (RTO).
It retains data files for predefined lengths of time, and version the separate copies of the files to facilitate date-based restore.
Easy to implement and manage, it runs transparently in the background with a light footprint.
Working with multiple backup/replication targets (local disk, web, file server, NAS device, Tivoli Storage Manager), you can specify a remote file server or Tivoli Storage Manager for off-machine protection when a user is connected, so real-time backup still occurs.
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News : Microsoft Exchange 2010 hits RTM
October 08, 2009
Microsoft Exchange 2010 hits RTM
The 64-bit server includes new storage and deployment options, enhanced in-box management capabilities, and a revamped Outlook Web Access client and is schedules to ship November 9
By John Fontana
Microsoft on Thursday concluded development on Exchange 2010 and said the new mail server would ship on Nov. 9 at the company's TechEd Conference in Berlin, Germany.
Exchange 2010, which is a 64-bit only server, includes new storage and deployment options, enhanced in-box management capabilities, built-in e-mail archiving, new database clustering, additional hardware options, and a revamped Outlook Web Access client.
[ First look: Exchange 2010 beta shines. | Keep up on the day's tech news headlines with InfoWorld's Today's Headlines: Wrap Up newsletter. ]
Exchange alternatives Microsoft Exchange 2010 holds challenges, rewards for IT executives
In addition, the server is being touted as a hybrid -- equally at home as the foundation for a hosted e-mail service or a corporate messaging infrastructure. The hosted version of Exchange 2010, however, is not expected to ship until May or June 2010.
Microsoft already hosts more than 5 million users on Exchange 2010 as part of its Live@Edu program. And end-users are already planning corporate rollouts, including Ford Motor Co. with plans to deploy 100,000 seats.
"Our senior leadership team has signed off on the final code, and it has been sent to our early adopters for one final look before its public release," read a blog post signed by "The Exchange Team".
Microsoft has said previously that it has specially architected Exchange 2010 for high-availability and cross-domain integration using techniques such as pairing the server with Windows Server 2008 clustering technology and directory federation features.The company said that the ability to use Exchange as a hosting platform is now built into the product.
Lee Dumas, the director of architecture for Azaleos, a provider of remote management services for Exchange and SharePoint, says 2010 has challenges and rewards.
"I'm not slamming Exchange, but to achieve the level of [service-level agreements], and dealing with large amounts of data, multiple copies of databases, server roles, and load balancing makes complexity inherent in getting the whole system in place," he says.
The rewards, however, will follow for those that heed due diligence, he says.
Network World Lab Alliance member Joel Snyder said in his Exchange 2010 review that corporate users should carefully assess the implications of the new server.
"The combination of clustering, replication and low-cost disk support means that reliability and scalability can be based on replicating small, inexpensive servers both within a data center and between data centers. E-mail managers thinking of deploying Exchange 2010 should step back and evaluate closely these new grid-style architectural approaches -- and be sure that your Exchange team has adequate time to re-think and re-evaluate commonly held beliefs on how to build large Exchange networks."
Exchange 2010 is the first in a wave of new Office products set to ship this year and next. Office 2010, SharePoint Server 2010, Office Communications Manager 2010, Visio 2010 and Project 2010 are slated to ship in the first half of 2010.
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the MacBook of apple IV
the MacBook Battery :
On the MacBook, we found we could get around 3 hours of solid use before we needed to plug in again. Those numbers were diminished when gaming or watching video, though the hit wasn’t as bad as we thought it would be (then again, these are new batteries). The Pro fared similarly, though there’s a palpable increase in drain when you’re using the 9600M (did you expect other results?). . Compared to previous models, these seem to get good — if slightly diminished — battery life out of the box. Of course, nothing lasts forever, and just like old versions, you’ll see those numbers decrease over time.
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