Posts for 'Desktops' Category

Calgary, Alberta-based desktop virtualization vendor Userful announced what it claims is the world's largest deployment of Linux desktops. Working with the Brazilian government and virtual terminal vendor ThinNetworks, the company has won a contract to deploy 356,800 virtualized "Userful Multiplier" desktops to Brazilian schools.

Userful's Multiplier technology, derived from its earlier DiscoverStation product, will cost less than $50 per seat for the Brazilian deployment, says Userful. Multiplier uses virtualization software to enable up to ten users to share a desktop PC, so all that is required are monitors, keyboards, and mice, all of which plug into the supplied USB hubs. The PCs may also require additional video cards, says Userful.

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Microsoft's Open XML standard has allegedly gathered enough votes to pass as a certified an ISO standard, several websites reported today, but the actual official vote count will only be announced tomorrow. Almost 90 national bodies have voted on the issue in the ballot which closed Saturday night.

At least two websites, such as OpenSourcerer and OpenDocSociety, have published alleged leaked copies of the ballot result which show 24 out of 32 of the "Principal Countries" involved in the process voted in favor of OOXML becoming the ISO/IEC DIS 29500 standard. This amounts to 75 percent, more than the 66 percent needed. At the same time, only 10 out of 71, or 14 percent, of those national member bodies disapproved of OOXML becoming an official standard.

If officially confirmed, the results show that the Microsoft request for fast-track approval of OOXML was approved. Even though that initially it appeared to be a serious stretch for Microsoft to actually pass their format, several countries changed their vote from disapproval to approval just before a Friday deadline.

OOXML, the default file-saving format of Microsoft Office 2007, is actually a rival to an already approved open standard, the already ISO-approved Open Document Format (ODF). A lot of experts argue that having two competing similar open standards defeats the purpose of having open formats in the first place. Others allege that Microsoft built the format on purpose very complicated so it can't be fully translated into another format.

In early March, a stunning number of over 100 delegates from 32 countries attended the Ballot Resolution Meeting (BRM) in Geneva, which had to resolve the even more amazing 1,100 (yes, more than one thousand) comments registered by the 87 National Bodies which voted last summer with respect to Microsoft's specification that itself exceeds... 6,000 (yes, six thousand) pages. The BRM was hosted by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

AMD announced today its first commercially available 3D workstation graphics card with DisplayPort support, the ATI FireGL V7700.

Aimed at professionals, the card provides what AMD calls "superior rendering speed, 3D performance and colour fidelity". It is expected to begin shipping in April 2008 and carries an MSRP of $1,099 USD.

"Imaging and 3D professionals require innovative, high-performance solutions and are increasingly turning to AMD to meet their real-world needs. The ATI FireGL family of workstation graphics accelerators is designed to deliver visible advantages and performance leadership at every price point, from entry level to ultra-high end. This accelerator with DisplayPort support is the latest example of AMD’s leadership in delivering new graphics technologies ahead of the competition."

In addition to DisplayPort connectivity, the FireGL V7700 features a 10-bit display engine that produces more than one fidelity billion colours at any given time. It's additional noteworthy features, as listed by AMD, include:

512MB of memory: Enabling effortless real-time interaction with large datasets and complex models and scenes.
Dual Link DVI Output: The combination of DisplayPort output and a Dual Link enabled DVI output, generates a multi-monitor desktop over 5000 pixels wide from a single accelerator. With native multi-card support, users can see more and do more using four displays driven by two ATI FireGL products in the same workstation.
Application Certification: The ATI FireGL workstation graphics accelerators are thoroughly tested and certified with major CAD and DCC applications, helping ensure reliability and stability.
AutoDetect: Based on a new generation GPU with 320 unified shader units, the ATI FireGL V7700 maximises throughput by automatically directing graphics horsepower where it’s needed most. Intelligent management of computational resources enables enhanced utilisation of the GPU delivering real-time rendering of complex models and scenes while increasing frame rates.
Scalable ultra parallel processing architecture with 320 unified shaders.
High Dynamic Range (HDR) rendering with 8-bit, 10-bit, and 16-bit per RGB colour component support.
Hardware acceleration of DirectX® 10.1 and OpenGL® 2.1 advanced features.
PCI Express® 2.0 compliant.

Acer launched on Wednesday its latest creation in terms of high-end mobile computers, easily rivaling to any other product on the market today, and combining a high-quality notebook with the latest entertainment features. Acer Aspire 8920G and Acer Aspire 6920G are part of what the company called the Blue Gemstone series, which will become available on the market within a month, the company said.

The Aspire 8920G comes with an 18.4 inch LCD display and uses the Intel Centrino platform, with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor that supports Intel 64 architecture, Mobile Intel PM965 Express Chipset and Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN network connection.

In terms of hard drives, it supports up to 2 hard disk drives, with a maximum of 320 GB each, while offering a DDR2 667 MHz memory that can be upgraded to 4GB, 2x Blu-ray Disc Super Multi double-layer drive and 6-in-1 card reader.

Offering a 1920 x 1080 resolution, 16:9 aspect ratio and 8ms high-def response time, the Acer Aspire 8920G operates on an NVIDIA GeForce 9500M GS graphics card or NVIDIA GeForce 9650M GS, at the customer’s choice.

As its creators intended, the notebook will offer a complete and exciting entertainment experience, through its 2nd generation Dolby Home Theater audio enhancement, five built-in speakers, high-definition audio support and two built-in stereo microphones.

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To meet the growing storage needs of laptop users, Samsung Electronics on Tuesday introduced a 500GB hard drive that could provide a notebook PC with as much as 1TB of storage.

The Spinpoint M6, a 2.5-inch hard drive, fits into the chassis of commercial and multimedia notebooks, said Andy Higginbotham, director of hard drive sales at Samsung Semiconductor. Two drives can be combined for 1TB of storage, he said.

The company was able to fit three 167GB platters in a small frame to achieve 500GB of storage in one drive, Higginbotham said. The hard drive spins at 5,400 RPM.

Priced at $299, the hard drive will ship to PC makers and retail stores later this month. A company spokeswoman declined to comment on which PC makers will be using the drive.

This is not the first attempt to put 1TB of storage in a laptop. At the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year, Asus announced the M70S laptop, which combined two 500GB drives from Hitachi.

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We're not exactly sure what the special event is -- Breast Cancer Awareness Month isn't until October -- but we suppose you can celebrate the joy of pink whenever the mood strikes. Iriver is busting out pink versions for a bunch of its players, including the clix, MPlayer, D5 and recently-launched E100. Apparently a set of pink colored pencils is also included as a free "gift" with the purchase of any of these units, which should come in handy for that Precious Moments diptych we were thinking of doing.

High-definition televisions making their way to U.S. stores are getting bigger, brighter and better -- including Internet connectivity.

Many of the biggest TV makers at the recently ended Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas pointed to Internet connectivity above any other new feature on the sets that will be available this year, The Dallas Morning News reported Tuesday.

Panasonic and Samsung officials tout their respective sets' ability to import videos and images from the Internet.

Sharp televisions, meanwhile, will let viewers visit NBC's Web sites for all programming offered there. The company said it also would use Internet connectivity to allow its technicians to perform repairs remotely.

"A lot of problems that people encounter don't require any hardware fixes. They just require someone to play with the settings or possibly work on the software," said Sharp representative Robin Feldman said.

Right now, though, there's one big drawback: all of the new TVs work with only selected Internet partners, the Morning News said. None of them make it easy for users to transfer video from their computers to their televisions.

But such open technology on the horizon -- probably within a year or two, electronics executives said.

   
   
 
Mp4 Player with enhanced features.

Features:

3” High Clarity TFT Screen
Sliding LCD pannel
512 MB Built-in memory extendable upto 3 GB through MMC & SD Card
3.0-Mega Pixel Digital Camera, Digital Video with 4x Zoom & PC Cam
AV Output on TV , AV in for recording
Supports ASF format for video playing
Supports thousands of games
FM radio and recording
Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery.

After decades as the computer of choice for homes and businesses, the desktop PC is being pushed to the scrap heap by its smaller, nimbler sibling: the laptop.

They've been around since the early 1980s, but portable computers are finally taking over. Last year, for the first time, American consumers bought more of them than desktops. Sixteen of the 20 bestselling PCs on Amazon.com this holiday season were laptops.
U.S. corporations are expected to make laptops the majority of their computer purchases in 2008. BNSF Railway Co. already has. Of the 4,000 Dell Inc. computers it bought last year, 60% were laptops, so rail inspectors could file reports from their trucks and other employees could work from home.

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Most high powered executives these days often wake up before the sun has risen in order to beat the crazy morning traffic jams, plant their respective butts in the office long before the official clock in time, and head home after the sun has appeared on the other end of the globe. Staying indoors in an office all day long could drive some people nuts, and it definitely isn’t healthy either since you’ll be breathing in the same old air. It is as though your lungs were getting reruns of stale air, and this will definitely have a detrimental effect on your health in the long run. Going outside or leaving your office window open is no fun either, as the smog and dust will be of no help.

The OXYGENFRESH Desktop Fan could just do the trick by reducing whatever pollutants that are around your immediate area while increasing the level of oxygen. This device comes with Sharper Image’s very own OzoneGuard front grill that removes smog while spewing out a cooling breeze (something that is very much welcome especially during the warm summer months). This is made possible by converting ground-level ozone (O3) to oxygen (O2) upon contact. The OXYGENFRESH Desktop Fan was designed to fit into any desktop or cubicle nicely without looking out of place, thanks to the design team over at Sharper Image Design.

Additional features of the OXYGENFRESH Desktop Fan include a continuous adjustable fan speed, flexible positioning, and a one-hour auto-shutoff option to help you conserve energy. It stands proud at 8.5″ tall on a base that measures 4″ in diameter. Should your office actually experience a blackout, the OXYGENFRESH Desktop Fan will still be able to function as long as you throw in a quartet of D batteries. Interested parties will be able to pick up this device for $29.95 a pop.