devices

Microsoft is reportedly working on a brand new edition of Windows specially designed specifically for tablet devices. The goal would be to overcome battery life problems with existing portable Windows machines. The key to the new edition would be ... how it interacts with the processor. The CPU (or "processor") is the the chip in any computing device that carries out calculations and processes information. There are two main types of processors in common use for portable devices: Intel's x86 architecture and the ARM chip. The two chips are very different inside, which means that the ... (view more)

Five portable devices have become the first certified as 'WiFi Direct,' a new system designed to rival Bluetooth in making it easy to connect devices without wires. At the moment, most WiFi-enabled devices can only connect through a router. The ... alternative is to use a tool in Windows known as an ad-hoc network connection, but this is difficult to establish and often unstable. While that's fine for home and office environments, it's of little use to business users on the road. It's also tricky to use with devices such as phones and digital cameras. The main solution to that problem has been ... (view more)

With the rise of Apple's thin n' flashy iPad and a slew of Windows 7-powered rivals , one might think the common laptop's day had passed. Not so says the CEO of big box electronics retailer Best Buy, who notes that such ideas are "grossly ... exaggerated." In a statement on Best Buy's site late last week, company CEO Brian Dunn offered his opinion of reports that the Apple iPad's impressive sales were taking their toll on the growth of notebook computers. "The reports of the demise of these devices are grossly exaggerated," Dunn said, adding that predictions that laptop sales will continue to ... (view more)

At the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) last week, Microsoft and Sony touted their upcoming motion-control gameplay devices, the Kinect and Move. Coming almost four years after Nintendo started the motion-sensitive movement with its Wii, one ... analyst says hype for the Sony and Microsoft devices is "relatively low." The report comes from analysts at EEDAR, who, in the wake of major E3 performances by both Microsoft and Sony, say that while hardcore gamers are interested in Move and Kinect, many casual gamers are not. Worse yet, EEDAR analysts think that even though hardcore gamers are ... (view more)

Windows 7 could soon be appearing on television sets and set-top boxes. It's the most high-profile outcome of Microsoft releasing a special edition of the system for standalone devices. For many years, Microsoft has released a completely separate ... version of Windows (called "Windows CE") for devices with limited storage space. What Windows CE does is allow small devices to carry out specific tasks without the hardware requirements -- and potential instability -- of a full-blown Windows operating system. Some examples of technology which use Windows CE are in-flight entertainment ... (view more)

In electronics and computing, firmware is a term often used to denote fixed programs and data structures that internally control various electronic devices. Typical examples of devices containing firmware range from end-user products such as PCs, ... laptops, netbooks, remote controls and calculators, and even include scientific instrumentation and industrial robotics. More complex consumer devices, such as mobile phones and digital cameras, contain firmware to define the device's basic operation as well as implementing higher-level functions in the future. Firmware Versus Software Technically, ... (view more)

It seems more and more folks are 'tweeting' with Twitter these days. According to a new study, almost 1 in 5 Internet users are using Twitter or a similar service to share personal and work happenings with their friends and colleagues. Helping the ... incredible rise in Twitter's popularity are Google and Microsoft (via Bing), whose search engines have actually begun indexing Tweets, otherwise known as "common status updates." Google, MS Index Filtered Tweets Microsoft announced yesterday it had begun a new beta feature in Bing that provides real-time Tweet updates alongside relevant ... (view more)

Cybercrime (or "computer crime") consists of specific crimes dealing with computers and networks (such as hacking) and the facilitation of traditional crime through the use of computers and technology infrastructure. (Source: gc.ca ) Although the ... terms computer crime and cybercrime are more properly restricted to describing criminal activity in which the computer or network is a necessary part of the crime, these terms are also sometimes used to include traditional crimes, such as fraud, theft, blackmail, forgery, and embezzlement, in which computers or networks are used. Types of ... (view more)

U.S. soldiers are being issued iPod touches; however, it's not a morale-boosting exercise or a way to combat boredom, but a low-cost way to give them access to important portable tools. In the past, the Army gave soldiers dedicated electronic ... devices for key tasks such as on-the-spot translation. However, officials found this proved expensive, particularly when they had to issue different devices for different tasks. This approach also meant the military bore the costs of researching and developing the hardware and didn't get as many economies of scale as with consumer devices. (Source: cnet. ... (view more)

Amidst the buzz surrounding the Google Android operating system , Intel has announced plans to release a new rendition of their own "Moblin" operating system (OS), a Linux-based system that the company created for small devices like netbooks . In ... addition, the company revealed a set of super-efficient chips that make the Atom processor look like a chump. The official announcement on Intel's Moblin OS was made at the Intel Developer Forum in Beijing, but the real talking point of the gathering was the future direction of the new Moorestown chip platform. One Compact Chipset ... (view more)