Google, Samsung team up for new PCs
Google has taken the “next step” along the way to convincing us that computers built around its Chrome operating system are worth giving a damn about, launching two new Chrome OS computers with Samsung and penning a little haiku to accompany the news:
Last year we announced
a new kind of computer
This is the next step
Though, equally, the haiku might have read like this:
Here are two PCs
They don’t do a lot of stuff
Does anyone care?
Not many people cared the first time around – I can’t say that I know too many people who own a Chrome OS computer – but who knows what will happen this time? A partnership between Google, the world’s largest advertising company, and Samsung, the world’s largest consumer electronics company, must eventually produce results, right?
Chrome OS (for those of you who didn’t care the first time) is a lightweight operating system designed for people who run most or all of their computing services in the internet cloud. If you use Google Docs instead of Microsoft Word for your word processing, and Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Contacts instead of Microsoft Outlook, you could well be a candidate for one of these two new machines.
One of the new Samsung devices is a “Chromebook” laptop known as the Samsung Series 5 550. It’s said to have a battery that lasts 2.5 times longer than Samsung’s first foray into Chromebooks, the Series 5.
It will go on sale in Best Buy stores in the US, as well as online, for $US449 for the Wi-Fi-only version, and $US549 for a version that incorporates 3G mobile broadband.
Perhaps of more interest is the other new device, known as a Chromebox. It’s what would once have been called a thin-client PC, or maybe an Apple Mac Mini, with an Intel Core processor, 4Gb of RAM, 6 USB ports, ethernet as well as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a DVI output for attaching it to a monitor. So, not all that thin, at least from a hardware specs perspective. It will sell for $US329.
The Samsung Chromebox: just add a monitor
Source: Google
One of the main criticisms of the previous generations of Chromebooks (to the extent that anyone bothered criticising them at all) was that they weren’t very good at doing stuff when they weren’t attached to the internet.
For cloud-centric machines, they were a little too cloud-centric.
But Google promises it has fixed that issue with the latest version of Chrome OS, which will sport a version of Google Drive (Google’s cloud-based storage system) that supports offline file access, and a version of Google Documents (Google’s answer to Microsoft Office) that allows you to work on documents even when you’re not attached to the internet.
That’s on top of what Google promises are hundreds of “offline-capable web apps” already in the Google app store, a phrase that must be less oxymoronic than it sounds.
Windows 8 so cheap, it’s almost free
Windows 7 users who feel a little short-changed by the shift to Windows 8 in coming months will be able to upgrade for pocket change. Microsoft has set the price for a Windows 8 upgrade, and it’s only $US14.99.
Depending on currency fluctuations between now and the launch of Windows 8 in October*, that could cost you as little a five cups of coffee.
But there’s a catch with that low price: it only applies to people who buy a Windows 7 PC after June 2 this year.
Whether or not you’d really want to upgrade a Windows 7 to Windows 8 is another matter, though.
If you’re buying a Windows 7 machine between now and October* (or indeed between now and next January, which is when the cheap upgrade offer expires), the chances are it won’t have a touch sensitive screen, and given that most of the enhancements to Windows 8 work best with a touch screen, Windows 8 will have limited, no, or possibly even negative appeal to many potential upgraders.
But there are a few things to Windows 8 that might convince a non-touch screen PC owner to shell out those $15. In the Windows 8 Release preview, the company greatly improved the software which drives touchpads, bringing it closer to the rich gesture-based, multi-touch experience that Mac owners have enjoyed for years. Multi-monitor support will be better in Windows 8 than in Windows 7, too: you’ll have more control over the location of the task bar, and will even be able to have a task bar on each monitor, with each one containing icons only for the applications that are displayed on that monitor.
By the time it’s released in October*, Windows 8 should also use less disk space, take up less memory, and use less CPU power than Windows 7, all of which might matter a great deal to someone without a touch screen PC but with, say, a low-voltage Ultrabook which didn’t come with a lot of memory or a lot of hard disk space in the first place. For such people, $US14.99 might seem like a bargain indeed.
(*Microsoft has yet to announce an official launch date for Windows 8, but in his blog the man in charge of Windows, Steven Sinofsky, wrote that Windows 8 would “enter the final phases of the Release To Manufacturing process in about two months”. This would put Windows on course for that much-rumoured October release.)
Motorola Xoom Android 4.04 ICS Update Release 2Day - Wireless and Mobile News
Motorola Xoom owners will have renewed faith in Motorola for updating the 3G/4G LTE Motorola Xoom tablet To Android 4.0 ICS which is due out today, June 4 according to a Verizon spokesman Albert Aydin.
When the Motorola Xoom was first released it had higher-end features than the iPad available at the time, it took a while for it to be updated to Verizon 4G LTE network but it did happen. On Black Friday, Verizon Wireless sold these high-end tab dual-core tablets for a mere $199.99 and we predicted that Motorola after being bought by Google would update the tablet. Motorola has come through even though it was at a much slower pace than promised.
The upgrade features speech-to-text technology, ability to dismiss individual notifications by swiping a finger , new launch bar customization, app folders and new photo editor. Verizon Wireless, typically for Over-the-Air updates, starts off slowly early on in the week and then pushes out in full force by the end of the week. To manually start the update at any time by going to Settings > About tablet > System updates. Select ”Install Now”. Your device will power off and back on and the installation process will begin.
The update IMM76, should take up to 25-30 minutes. Keep in mind that during the installation you will be unable to use your Motorola XOOM. The software update size is approximately 107.9 MB.
If the system update fails to install, you will get an error screen. However, this only means the software did not install properly. Simultaneously press the volume-up and power key to restart the tablet. The tablet will power back on with original software and will prompt you once again to install the system update.
Here are all the changes for the ICS update on the Motorola Xoom:
Enhancements & Fixes with Motorola Xoom Android 4.04 ICS Update
- Email, Messaging and Data
- 4G LTE upgrade issues resolved.
- Device successfully connects to 4G LTE network immediately after DUAL IMSI switch.
- Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) policy improvements.
- EAS security and sync fixed.
- Optimized EAS setup.
- Enhanced Client Conversions with EAS.
- Email search now available.
- Improved email folder ordering.
- Updated Browser with faster rendering, zoom and pan features.
- Users have the ability to save pages for offline reading and desktop versions of websites.
- Updated “People” application to integrate with Google+ and other social networks.
- Improved text input and spellcheck.
- Down arrow added in browser navigation bar.
- Improved device stability.
- Pressing the power button locks the device when you have a pattern, pin or password lock enabled.
- App launcher has been redesigned to allow app dragging to get information, uninstall and disable.
- Can launch camera from Lockscreen.
- Added effects during video recording.
- Single motion panorama mode.
- Added photo editor to the Gallery application.
- Updated widget controls to allow expansion and contraction to show more content.
- New system font (Roboto) for improved readability.
- Improved screen rotation response time.
- Optimized widget sizes.
- Improved device stability limits the number of resets.
- Improvements to Mobile Hotspot connectivity
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