Archive

The mobile Internet device is the most exciting new device category to hit the market since the smartphone. A MID is a handheld device that delivers high-speed wireless Internet and multimedia services, typically with a 4- to 7-inch screen form factor. Most MIDs will be based on the Linux operating ...

Freescale Semiconductor has launched a new low-cost processor, the i.MX515, that's designed to power what Freescale hopes will be new lines of Linux-based netbooks retailing for less than $200. There are lots of interesting angles to Freescale's efforts -- the lower price point, the technology behi...

Given the many options out there, someone in the market for a portable computer may have a hard time deciding whether to go with an ultra-small netbook or a small-but-not-THAT-small notebook computer. If you want a netbook, you've got another choice ahead of you: Would you like that with Linux or Wi...

I recently carried out a personal quest for a netbook computer. Relying on a bit of insider snobbery since I write about computer technology almost daily, I was not expecting a big problem in making a selection. It's not that I really needed another computer. My home office is well-stocked with two ...

Universities and government agencies, even a few private corporations, are going all "mad scientist" on us in the realm of virtual worlds. But why are they experimenting there and why are so many drawn to virtual worlds like a dying man to a priest? "As a new part of the real world, virtual worlds a...

Universities and government agencies are conducting all kinds of research, both scientific and sociological, in virtual worlds -- but is this merely a newfangled boondoggle or is the research really real? "My general perspective is that virtual worlds are at least as real as many parts of the so-cal...

The traditional process for sourcing creative work contains significant risk for the buyer along with the potential for wonderful reward in the form of great design. The typical risks are threefold: first, finding and working with the right designer for your project; second, the inherent limitations...

Linux has proven that the open source model works -- it addresses two of the biggest challenges for IT professionals: the high cost of infrastructure software and the limitations a closed stack imposes on the enterprise. Open source is particularly appealing for cost savings, vendor neutrality, acce...

PicSay is one of the winners of the Android Developer Challenge, a contest Google set up to get a batch of decent apps into the Market in time for its launch. Cash prizes went to the devs who built the coolest apps for the platform. It's just an entertaining little app -- it's not likely you'll be u...

There's no leap of imagination needed to expect the arrival one day of a T-Mobile "G2" Android-based smartphone, an expected though still hypothetical follow-up to T-Mobile's popular G1. At this point, however, one does need some imagination to guess on a delivery date and describe a possible featu...

A quiet battle of sorts is taking place behind the scenes in the software industry. Software as a Service and cloud computing have evolved, placing much more attention on Web-based applications. This greater focus has also raised expectations for the services delivered via Web 2.0. The open source s...

Enterprise application whitelisting company Bit9 launched an attention-getting press release last week, a document which merely bubbled for a few days until the recent Internet Explorer flaw took center stage and Mozilla pushed out a few Firefox updates. Eventually, the heat under the issue boiled o...

If you've used an in-flight entertainment system, known in the airline industry as an "IFE," to watch movies, listen to music, or order food lately, chances are it used Linux as an operating system. You might not know that Linux is the operating system behind what you see on your screen, but it prob...

Some 20 years after the Exxon Valdez went ashore on Prince William sound, oil still remains at the bottom of the arctic waters -- but not because those responsible for cleanup have ignored it. Rather, multiple attempts to remove the oil from the sea floor have failed. Cold temperatures have rendered...

The advantages of open source, standards and methodologies have been working their way to the surface for the past few years. Whereas in the past, open source projects were more likely to be described as fledgling efforts that lagged far behind proprietary counterparts, "open source" has become a bu...