IBM Launches OCtal-Core POWER7; Releases Benchmark Results
The x86 architecture has increasingly dominated the server market over the past decade but there's still a market for mainframe, big-iron servers. At present, Intel has challenged old guards Sun and IBM with a mixture of Nehalem-based Xeons and Itanium processors with the octal-core Nehalem-EX waiting in the wings. IBM isn't waiting for Nehalem-EX or Intel's new Itanium processor to hit the market before taking action of its own; Big Blue launched its POWER7 architecture on Monday. At 567mm2 and 32MB of on-die
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Wisair Intros UWB-Based Wireless System To Give MacBook Pro Users A Desktop Experience
Wisair is still fighting the good fight, doing their best to extend the reach of single-chip based UWB products in a world that is already enamored by Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It's tough for up-and-coming wireless protocols to gain traction when so many standards are already seen as "mainstays," but getting some attention in the OS X space certainly can't hurt.Announced this week, the Wireless USB DisplayDock Set solution for Mac OS allows Mac loyalists to experience the same wireless joys that have (up until now)
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MobileNavigator iPhone GPS App Gets Facebook/Twitter Integration, 3D Maps
When you think iPhone GPS, you probably think TomTom. That's likely because Apple themselves endorsed TomTom's app and cradle, but that one isn't widely viewed as the most superior option. Navigon is a lesser known navigation company, but the outfit's MobileNavigator app is easily one of the nicer choices when looking to route from your iPhone.Unlike most rivals out there, Navigon's software works with the original iPhone when coupled with a GPS receiver, so no one in left out (in theory). It obviously works
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Netgear Adds Integrated 3G Connectivity To MBRN3300 Router
Netgear has been in the router business for years now, but connectivity is changing. It's not just Wi-Fi that we need access to anymore--it's 3G as well. The company's newest broadband router makes sure to integrate that very functionality, with the MBRN3300 featuring an internal 3G modem as well as the typical features you'd expect in a Wi-Fi router.Inside, the device has an Ericsson 3G HSPA radio for connecting to cellular data networks, an 802.11n Wi-Fi radio and support for hard-wired Ethernet connections
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InFocus Brings 1080p To All With SP8602 Home Cinema Projector
InFocus has been a major player in the projection industry for years now, and the company's latest unit appeals directly to home cinema buffs in need of a new 1080p shooter that can put their Blu-ray films up against a 100+ inch wall. The new SP8602 isn't one of those pocketable pico projectors; this is a real-deal projector that would be right at home in your media cave.Boasting adjustable optics, a 30,000:1 maximum contrast ratio and video-optimized 1300 lumens, the device can project an image up to 300" across
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AMD Details Upcoming 32nm Fusion Processor, Codenamed "Llano"
AMD revealed more information on its first Fusion-class product at ISSCC this week. The new chip will combine both a CPU and GPU on a single package, but don't use either nickname—AMD is calling the new chip an "APU" or Application Processor Unit as part of its bid to shift product focus from the core components in a system to the tasks and workloads a system is capable of handling. Done properly, this could solve certain nomenclature confusions that have plagued the computer market from the very beginning,
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Windows 7 Not To Blame For Battery Replacement Notifications
If you upgraded your old notebook to Windows 7, you may have seen a new message surrounding the battery life meter that never appeared in Vista or XP. Many users began to think that Win7 was incorrectly reporting that their battery needed replacing, and the noise got so loud that Microsoft had no choice but to investigate on their end.The message that users were seeing alerted them that they should "Consider Replacing Your Battery," and many felt that their battery was perfectly fine before upgrading to Windows
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Google Launches Buzz: Social Networking Gets Smart, Gains Location Awareness
Google has been an innovator for years now. They fundamentally changed the way we searched for items on the Internet, and for many, they have changed how one perceives email. Gmail and Google (search engine) are both best-in-class tools, and the Android operating system is seriously challenging iPhone OS and webOS. Needless to say, the world pays attention when Google makes a move, and it's making a huge move this morning in the social networking space.During a press conference today at the company's Mountain
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Appeals Court Reverses Decision; Allows Class-Action Lawsuit Against Dell
The Ninth Circuit of the US Court of Appeals has filed its decision in the case of Olmstead v. Dell and reversed a decision by the lower court to dismiss the original case. The issue in question was whether or not Dell's Terms and Conditions of Sale (available here) could legally force the company's customers to settle disputes through arbitration rather than in a court of law. This is the second time in recent history that the ninth circuit has found such arbitration clauses unenforceable due to the unconscionable
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Google Launches Buzz: Social Networking Gets Smart, Gains Location Awareness
Google has been an innovator for years now. They fundamentally changed the way we searched for items on the Internet, and for many, they have changed how one perceives email. Gmail and Google (search engine) are both best-in-class tools, and the Android operating system is seriously challenging iPhone OS and webOS. Needless to say, the world pays attention when Google makes a move, and it's making a huge move this morning in the social networking space.During a press conference today at the company's Mountain View headquarters, Google Buzz was introduced. This is the first web-based tech to be introduced by Google since Google Wave took the web by storm, and Buzz is said to be "a new way to share" inside of Gmail. "A whole new world inside of Gmail" is what it was described as, and one of the main features is the auto-follow feature that connects you to the people you email and follow the most.
Basically, Google is looking to bring a Gmail-esque look to social media sharing, and for anyone associated with Gmail, they'll be able to "get it" right away. Of course, Google will support public and private sharing, so certain sharing is only viewed by certain end-users. The company is really pumping up the Gmail Integration aspect, which is a smart choice. Twitter already has a huge lead in the social networking space, and whatever is left is being picked up by Facebook.
In a way, this is just a sophisticated version of Google Chat, a module that is already integrated into Gmail. It's sort of an expanded view, so to speak, pulling in other, outside social media shares, Picasa pictures, etc. from your most connected people in Google contacts. Videos, photos and text-based shares are all viewable within Buzz, but a customized Photo Viewer allows Gmail users to flick through entire Picasa or Flickr galleries within their browser.آ
There's also a Rich Sharing feature that allows you to insert URLs and have Buzz automatically pull in related images. You'll also find like, unlike and reply functions, which FriendFeed users will immediately recognize. You can also setup your Buzz entries to post to your Google Profile (or they can be kept private), and you can easily create custom groups that will allow you to share certain things with only certain buddies (college friends, co-workers, etc.). Google is really pushing this aspect, noting that current social networks make it difficult to publicly post some things and privately post other things. From using Twitter, we can safely say that we agree on that difficulty.
Google promises that Buzz will be fast, but we're guessing this is dependent on your connection. Gmail has had a great deal of functionality added to it over the years, but those additions have caused it to be bogged down when on older computers or slower connections. Granted, Google will still let you use a Labs-less version or HTML version that loads very quickly, but you'll lose the Buzz functionality.
Google Buzz For Mobile Demonstration
As with Facebook and Twitter, Google Buzz fully supports "@replies." These are the typical ways in social networks to get someone's attention; essentially, in Buzz, you can say @personA, type a message/add a link/photo/etc. and hit send. Once you do, that message will go immediately to one's Gmail inbox and/or Buzz screen. This is obviously just enhancing e-mail as we know it, but it's something that heavy social networking users will probably fall in love with. Google confessed that Buzz can currently pull in Twitter Tweets, but your Buzz @replies will not go back to Twitter. Hopefully that gap will be fixed in the future. They also noted that "a lot of controls" are in place to deal with spam.
As with most Google products, Buzz is intelligent. When you receive "boring" shares, you can click "Uninterested" in order to collapse those types of messages and get them out of your way and then sending that information to a feedback system. In the end, Google wants to use this to send users "just the good stuff," which would allow only important data to filter through. This sounds like it works a lot like the Spam Notification filter, which relies on users telling Google what is and what isn't spam.
As if the desktop experience wasn't enough, Google Buzz is also coming to mobile. The company assures us that the mobile version isn't simply a squashed version of Buzz, but rather a mobile-optimized way to sift through links and provide information that is relevant to you based on your interests, friends, followers, etc. The main goal here is to provide sense and ranking to those of you with thousands of followers and who are following thousands of others; as it stands, Twitter users can easily drown in Tweets if you follow too many people. Focus on location was a big talking point, as Google noted that human conversation is greatly dictated based on where someone is (at the office, at the airport, etc.) Buzz is able to automatically use GPS modules in phones to lock latitude and longitude coordinates in and connect those points to a given location; for exaple, most offices do not move, so whenever you share something over Buzz from your workplace location, your followers will be able to recognize that location and take your message into the context of the place where you are sending it.
During an Android-based demonstration, a Google executive was able to automatically pull up the location and then click "My Location" in order to snap the upcoming post to that very location. Imagine if you could know exactly where someone was each time they Tweeted; chances are their Tweets would make a lot more sense with that context, and that's exactly what Google is aiming for here. Best of all, iPhone and Android operating systems are able to get the new Buzz application by visiting buzz.google.com. This is far superior than a web-based alternative, as Google now has total control over how the app looks and feels.
Google is also making a way for users to see Buzz shared based not only on how important a given friend is, but how close a Buzz is. For example, if you look through Nearby Buzz shares, you'll see highly ranked posts that are coming from friends that just so happen to be near your current location. This is a great idea for discovering who is doing what nearby; maybe there's a concert you weren't aware of, and if you check in through this, you'll be able to hop down to it when you see your friend "Buzzing" nearby about how awesome the opening act is.
All told, Buzz is being launched in three portals: Google.com homepage, an updated version of Google Mobile Maps and for iPhone/Android platforms by visiting buzz.google.com. Google is starting the rollouts of Buzz today, but it could take 2-3 days for it to reach all Gmail accounts, so you'll need to be somewhat patient before being able to take advantage.
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Appeals Court Reverses Decision; Allows Class-Action Lawsuit Against Dell
The Ninth Circuit of the US Court of Appeals has filed its decision in the case of Olmstead v. Dell and reversed a decision by the lower court to dismiss the original case. The issueآ in question was whether or not Dell's Terms and Conditions of Sale (available here) could legally force the company's customers to settle disputes through arbitration rather than in a court of law. This is the second time in recent history that the ninth circuit has found such arbitration clauses unenforceable due to the unconscionable burden they place upon the purchaser. The Dubious Nature of "Neutral" Arbitration
In Olmstead v. Dell, plaintiff's propose a class action lawsuit on the grounds that Dell "designed, manufactured, and sold defective notebook computers" between July 2004 and January 2005. Specifically, plaintiffs allege that individuals who purchased a Dell Inspiron 1100, 1150, 5100, or 5160 for a cost between $1200-$1500 were affected. The appeals' court decision today does not validate or speak to the accuracy of that claim; it only addresses the applicability of certain Dell terms and conditions (the full text of which is here.) Dell first attempts to mandate that the case be handled under Texas law, which conveniently allows consumers to waive their right to form a class action lawsuit. It then moves on to compel arbitration, as quoted below:
12. Dispute Resolution: ANY CLAIM, DISPUTE, OR CONTROVERSY... SHALL BE RESOLVED EXCLUSIVELY AND FINALLY BY BINDING ARBITRATION ADMINISTERED BY THE NATIONAL ARBITRATION FORUM ("NAF") under its Code of Procedure and any specific procedures for the resolution of small claims and/or consumer disputes then in effect."Arbitration might bring to mind images of neutral mediation and fair consideration but the system can be abused by large companies seeking to avoid damages that might be individually small, but encompass large numbers of people. By forcing individuals to mediate each claim separately rather than combining them in a class action, companies can avoid much of the cost, particularly when contested sums ($1200-1500 in this case) are too small to be worth the cost of pursuing. Under the rules of the National Arbitration Forum, moreover, corporations can limit discovery to an amount "commensurate with the amount of the Claim." Since each claim is arbitrated individually, Dell (or any OEM) is only required to provide a relative scrap of information as opposed to a unified amount many times larger.
Dude, You're Getting A Lawsuit
The court based its ruling in Omstead v. Dell directly upon an earlier case, Oestreicher v. Alienware, in which Alienware (a Dell subsidiary) attempted to force Mr. Oestreicher into arbitration. In that decision, the court wrote that the Alienware contract was unconscionable because it was a "contract of adhesion." A contract of adhesion is a standardized contract, which, imposed and drafted by the party of superior bargaining strength, relegates to the subscribing party [the customer] only the opportunity to adhere to the contract or reject it."
Dell's allegedly flawed Inspiron 1100.
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