IT-Code-News: IT News HeadLines (TechConnect Magazine) 26/01/2010

Acer plans app store, Chrome OS netbooks and more for this year
Encouraged by the growth experienced these last few years, Acer is continuing to aim high in 2010, a year in which it wants to branch out further. One major endeavor this year is the launch of an application store which would be compatible with multiple platforms, including Android, Windows, Windows Mobile and Chrome OS. The store is expected to debut around mid-year and will have to rival the likes of Apple's App Store and the Android Market, as well as Intel's new AppUp Center.

Also around the middle of this year, by the end of June to be exact, Acer will be releasing its first e-book reader and take on Amazon and Sony. The device, which will boast a 6-inch screen, is set to initially be distributed in Europe.

The big(ger) even in Q3 will be the introduction of Acer's first netbooks running Google's Chrome OS. The PC company is quite excited about the upcoming operating system and plans on taking a big piece of the Chrome OS market by shipping some 1 million devices powered by it before the end of 2010. Acer is looking into tablets too, but no detailed plans about such devices were revealed.

WHS Add-in Home Server Smart released
If you're a Home Server user that is mindful of your hardware- in particular your hard drives, then go check out the newly released Windows Home Server Add-in, Home Server Smart.

From their site:
Home Server SMART is a Windows Home Server (WHS) add-in that enables you to monitor the health of most of your hard disks attached to WHS. Home Server SMART examines the S.M.A.R.T. data exposed by your disks and determines the health of the disk. If problems are detected, Home Server SMART informs you which attribute(s) are critical or problematic, and it presents a summary of problems found. If the problems are serious, Home Server SMART will make a recommendation to you that you replace the disk.

Disks that are connected via IDE (PATA) and SATA (including eSATA), support Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T.) and report that S.M.A.R.T. data via the standard Microsoft storage driver (most modern PATA/SATA drives do), are fully supported. Unfortunately, since neither USB nor IEEE 1394 (FireWire) attached disks report S.M.A.R.T. data in a standardized manner, Home Server SMART cannot read S.M.A.R.T. data from them. However, it can read the standard Microsoft storage driver أ¢آ€آœfailure predictedأ¢آ€آ‌ flag, and USB/IEEE 1394 expose this, so if the storage driver detects a potential problem, Home Server SMART will alert you to it.

Simply log into the WHS Console, select the Home Server SMART add-in and immediately see all installed/connected disks. Click on a disk to see more details about the disk.

Users should be reminded that if and when you install this software, you might be in for a nasty shock as to the condition of your drive's sectors! But after all, better safe than sorry. A fantastic piece of software for users that need to know their data is safe.

Google releases second update for Chrome Voice extension
Google has launched their second update to the Google Voice extension in Chrome, which allows for click-to-call functionality, as well as simpler and faster access to voicemail.

Google Voice adds an extra button to the toolbar that shows the number of unread messages in your inbox, making access to those voicemail far easier. In addition to this, Google's speech recognition engine transcribes the messages for when it is less convenient to listen to them.

Additionally, they have added a button which allows users to simply click on any number viewed in the browser to call that number directly from within the browser, if required. These calls will be made from whichever phones the user has already set up on Google Voice.

Users can download the new extension from the Google Chrome Extensions page, and the voice icon will appear to the right of the search bar without the need for a restart.

Google said that it is working on voicemail playback functionality, which will be coming in the near future.

Fujitsu and HP facing strikes, again
Once again worker strikes galore are hitting the UK's tech industry from within Hewlett-Packard and Fujitsu. First in October, then again in November , and then AGAIN in December members of the Unite workers union have declared strikes over pay, working conditions and pensions, grinding the UK operations of HP and Fuji to a halt.

Unite announced the Fujitsu strike last week, after talks broke down between the parties. Shortly after this, the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) announced similar strike action at HP.

Unrest has grown at HP since the firm took over EDS in the summer of 2008. Around 3,400 staff have already been shown the door in the UK, and others have been made to work under a pay freeze. The PCS said that this does not tally with the firm's profits.

"[Our members] have worked hard to help [HP] deliver fourth-quarter revenues of $30.8bn [أ‚آ£19bn], yet have been slapped in the face with job losses and a pay freeze for two years running," said Mark Serwotka, general secretary at the PCS. "It is disgraceful that staff should be treated in such a way as they shoulder greater workloads to help generate good profit levels. The company needs to start valuing staff and recognising the crucial part they play in its success by giving guarantees on job security and a fair pay rise."

Alex Flynn, press officer at the PCS, confirmed that the strike had gone ahead, explaining that there were picket lines at all main HP sites in the UK. "We hope that management will react to the strength of feeling," he said.

The strikes at Fujitsu are the result of similar disagreements. Unite has long argued that redundancies, pay freezes and changes to staff benefits were unfair, and that Fujitsu is a profitable company. Seventy workers are facing redundancy on 31 January, while other cuts effectively reduce salaries by 20 per cent.

Online searches rise 46% in 2009
According the market research firm comScore, online searches have jumped up by very nearly 46% since the same time last year (December 2008 in comparison with December 2009).

Some 131 BILLION searches were recorded worldwide last month, made by business users and consumers over the age of 15. This represents 4 billion searches per day, 175 million searches an hour, or 29 million searches per minute.

"Search is clearly becoming a more ubiquitous behaviour among internet users that drives navigation not only directly from search engines but within sites and across networks," said comScore executive vice president Jack Flanagan. "If you equate the advance of search with the ability of humans to cultivate information, the world is rapidly becoming a more knowledgeable ecosystem. The global search market continues to grow at an extraordinary rate, with highly developed and emerging markets contributing to the strong growth worldwide."

ComScore has ranked the UK as the fourth largest search market in the world with 6.2 billion searches last month, after Japan with 9.2 billion, China with 13.3 billion and the US with 22.7 billion.

AOL acquires StudioNow in $36.5 million deal
The Time Warner-free AOL Inc. today revealed that it has acquired Nashville-based StudioNow, a company that helps others create, manage and syndicate online videos. This buy, which is valued at $36.5 million in cash and stock, will enable AOL to add StudioNow's video creation platform into Seed.com, its super-fresh content management system which assigns, buys and distributes work for all AOL properties. AOL will also be making StudioNow technology available to its in-house studios and branded advertising and content partners.

"The successful combination of a talented team, innovative technology, seasoned/professional video creators and strong client service has rapidly established StudioNow as a leader in online video creation and syndication. Those strengths bring AOL significant strategic benefits and we're delighted that StudioNow is joining the AOL family," said Tim Armstrong, AOL CEO and Chairman. "Premium original video creation is a fundamental part of AOL's strategy to offer consumers world-class, stimulating content at scale and the integration of StudioNow into Seed.com will enable us to increase our video content/offerings significantly."

StudioNow is set to continue developing its existing business so customers shouldn't worry (just yet) about the company being 'lost' into the AOL crowd.

Kingston lets loose 512GB SSDNow V+ drive
Without making too much fuss, Kingston Technology has turned the NAND capacity knob up and introduced an SSDNow V+ series drive boasting no less than 512GB worth of storage space. The high-capacity solid state drives has a 2.5-inch form factor, a SATA 3.0 Gbps interface, MLC (multi-level cell) NAND memory chips, a MTBF (mean time before failure) of 1 million hours and maximum sequential read/write speeds of 230/180 MB/s.

The 512GB SSDNow V+ model is backed by a three year warranty and can be found 'on its own' @ أ‚آ£989.34 / $1,598 / 1,127 Euro, or within an upgrade bundle (includes cloning software, 2.5-inch enclosure, 2.5-inch brackets) @ 1197.63 Euro / $1,698.

Cooler Master readies the 'GX' power supply line
Cooler Master is currently teasing up some upcoming additions to its product offer, the GX (Gamer Xtreme) series power supplies which are "the evolved" versions of the Extreme Power Plus units. Coming in 650W and 750W flavors, the new PSUs are 80Plus-certified, Nvidia SLI-ready, deliver up to 60 Amps via one 12V rail, and are backed by a 5-year warranty.

Unfortunately Cooler Master hasn't provided more info about the GX units but it did post a video of one powered a BMW M3. Expect more data soon.

Icy Dock to deliver dual 2.5" to 3.5" HDD/SSD bracket
Californian company Icy Dock is just about to roll out the MB990SP-B, a little bracket that enables the installation of two 2.5-inch HDDs or SSDs in one 3.5-inch bay. The 71.6g solution supports 9.5mm (and slimmer) drives, it's made out of plastic, and can be used with screw-less HDD trays.

For more info about Icy Dock's bracket see this page. Unfortunately, its price tag has not been revealed.

Solid state drive shipments pass 11 million in 2009
The young yet not fragile solid state drive market has had a reasonably good 2009, because, despite the global economic problems, it managed to post double-digit growth in terms of unit sales. According to an IDC report, over 11 million SSDs were shipped last year, up 14% compared to 2008, and things are expected to improve in 2010 and beyond.

"SSD adoption will continue to experience tangible growth given the nascent stage for SSD adoption coupled with many of the benefits inherent in SSDs," said Jeff Janukowicz, research manager, Hard Disk Drive Components and Solid State Drives at IDC. "We expect SSD vendors to achieve capacity and price points that make SSDs an attractive solution in the PC and enterprise markets where the value proposition of SSDs is compelling."

IDC says that cutbacks in IT spending in the last 18 months have slowed down SSD price reductions but as overall sales increase, NAND and, consequently, SSDs will go to lower price points, making them more attractive to various markets. Hopefully this will happen sooner rather than later.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

IT News HeadLines (TechConnect Magazine) 26/01/2010

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