
<?phpxml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<rss version="2.0" 
xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
>
<channel>
<title>Haaze.com / gearsandgeardrivess / Published News</title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com</link>
<description>Test Web 2.0 Content Management System</description>
<pubDate>Mon, 07 Mar 2011 08:10:41 +0000</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Tablets are the 'post-PC era' I beg to differ]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=tablets-are-the-post-pc-era-i-beg-to-differ</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=tablets-are-the-post-pc-era-i-beg-to-differ</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 07 Mar 2011 08:10:41 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>gearsandgeardrivess</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=tablets-are-the-post-pc-era-i-beg-to-differ</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Apple's iPad 2(Credit:Apple)I've been hearing &quot;post-PC era&quot; so much now that I wince when I hear the term. Clearly it must be time for me to get something off my chest.There is no post-PC era.Not as I see the landscape, at least. To me,tablets are a big break with the past when it comes to user interface, but deep down, more stays the same than changes. And the better tablets get, the more they'll simply absorb what we do with PCs.In short, tablets will become PCs. Different PCs from today's PCs, but PCs.Granted, I might be using the term &quot;PC&quot; differently from the main proponent of the &quot;post-PC&quot; idea, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs, who eagerly trotted the phrase out over and over during the iPad 2 launch last week. Apple often means &quot;Windows personal computer&quot; when it uses the term &quot;PC,&quot; as evidenced in theMac vs. PC ads. And there was a day when PC Magazine, PC World, PC/Computing and their ilk were indeed devoted to the Wintel world and not Macs.But I prefer the term PC in a more generic &quot;personal computer&quot; sense. I use a MacBook Pro, a Lenovo Windows XP laptop, and a DellWindows 7 laptop, and to me they all feel like, well, personal computers. There are differences between the Windows and Mac machines, sure, but I use the tools for exactly the same work and personal tasks. In short, for personal computing.Today's differencesRight now there are plenty of legitimate distinctions between tablets and PCs. First and foremost, tablets have a touch-screen interface rather than the traditional combination of a keyboard and a mouse or trackpad. They're smaller and lighter. What they lack in processor power they make up for in battery life. They come with a different operating system that means the vast array of PC applications won't run. And at least in the case of the iPad, they lack the profusion of ports to connect external monitors, digital cameras, wireless network dongles, backup systems, thumb drives, and, yes, heated slippers.  Then there's the matter of how people use tablets. There's plenty of overlap--Web browsing, e-mail, social networking, casual games--but there are differences as well. Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son has ditched his PC for an iPad at work, but most people probably aren't ready to follow him just yet even if conservative corporate IT administrators could be persuaded to make a pretty radical change.Many routine work chores become harder or impossible on a tablet. Microsoft Office is absent, typing on a virtual keyboard isn't the same, and file storage and transfer is a more complicated matter.On the flip side, there are things tablets can do that PCs today can't. Games, drawing apps, and other interactive software take on a new direct, physical connection with a large touch screen and an accelerometer that tells a program how a person is moving the tablet around. Watch Apple's demo of iMovie for the iPad to get a feel for how far user interfaces are moving away from WordPerfect 5.1.In addition, tablets function as book readers much more gracefully than laptops and are significantly more portable. The battery life means they're not nearly as tethered to power sockets. And the instant-on availability means people put off by the hassle of booting a PC might grab a tablet for a mid-conversation search to identify six wives of Henry VIII.All these new options for tablets lead Gartner to agree with the post-PC idea: &quot;We expect growing consumer enthusiasm for mobile PC alternatives, such as the iPad and other media tablets, to dramatically slow home mobile PC sales, especially in mature markets,&quot; said George Shiffler, a Gartner research director, last week.In other words, to some extent, it's an either-or situation, where tablets replace PCs in some circumstances.Tomorrow's similaritiesTo this point, I agree with the &quot;post-PC&quot; idea, too. Smartphones and tablets are qualitatively different from PCs, and they're supplanting PCs to some significant extent both when it comes to purchasing choices and daily usage.But when I unleash my imagination and fast-forward a few years, I think the distinction between what we call PCs and tablets will fade.Let's start with peripherals. Today, you can connect a Bluetooth keyboard to your iPad. As I see things shaking out, wireless connections--Bluetooth, Wi-Fi Direct, or something else--also will permit many other devices to be attached. And as tablets adapt to the business world, I predict they'll get ports. Maybe Intel's new Thunderbolt, though doubtless expensive today, will provide a one-port-to-rule-them-all simplicity that will get along better with the sleek tablet world.Processor power, too, will improve. Certainly very thin and light designs can't accommodate the hot and power-hungry CPUs of high-end or even mid-range PCs today, but the better mobile processors become, the more average computer user's workload they'll be able to handle.The way I see things shaking out, people will often end up carrying a tablet with them. When necessary, modular keyboards, mice, and large monitors will be linked up to assemble something that would be awfully hard to think of as anything but a PC. Maybe for the laptop crowd, people who don't always have the luxury of a desk to clutter up with assorted accessories, keyboards will snap on or be built into optional covers.I don't think PCs, as we see them today, will die out. But they'll be relegated to a smaller niche. Laptops have steadily encroached into the mainstream PC world, edging tower and desktop PCs away from the center of the market toward those on a tight budget, gamers, workstation users, and cubicle farm dwellers. Tablets, I think, will do the same thing to today's conventional laptops--push them out to the fringes where people need optical drives or major processor power or aren't willing to pay a premium for lots of flash memory or something slimmer than a pancake.A continuum of PCs&quot;It's a shame, almost, that we squandered the term 'personal computer' 30 years ago,&quot; lamented the John Gruber of Daring Fireball while swooning over Apple's iPad 2 announcement.Nonsense, I say. &quot;Personal computer&quot; was a perfectly reasonable term then, and the term will be just fine until Ray Kurzweil's singularity arrives and Skynet converts all the humans into smart matter.A MITS Altair, a TRS-80 Model 4, an Osborne 1, an Apple II, a BBC Micro, a Macintosh SE, a Gateway 486DX2-40, a Power Computing PowerCurve 601/120, an IBM ThinkPad, an Asus eee PC--they're all PCs to me.There have been some revolutionary shifts over the years, of course. Graphical user interfaces, hard drives, networking, graphics processors, portability, CD-ROM drives, the Internet, Wi-Fi--each of these have profoundly changed what a PC is.With tablets, we get touch screens, orientation sensitivity, and geolocation.In the future, maybe we'll get voice control that works, a high-speed, all-purpose optical communications port, biometric identification that rids us of our 450 usernames and passwords, smartphones that beam information to our contact-lens displays, batteries that recharge from the sun or from a glass of whisky, truly reliable and pervasive wireless networking, and nanobots swimming among our neurons so we can download the ability to speak Mandarin Chinese.Is it personal Is it computing Then it's a personal computer. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Hands on with the new MacBook Pro 13- and 15-inch models]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=hands-on-with-the-new-macbook-pro-13--and-15-inch-models</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=hands-on-with-the-new-macbook-pro-13--and-15-inch-models</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 24 Feb 2011 08:10:40 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>gearsandgeardrivess</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=hands-on-with-the-new-macbook-pro-13--and-15-inch-models</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Panasonic Lumix ZS10, ZS8 compact megazooms announced]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=panasonic-lumix-zs10-zs8-compact-megazooms-announced</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=panasonic-lumix-zs10-zs8-compact-megazooms-announced</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 24 Jan 2011 08:10:54 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>gearsandgeardrivess</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=panasonic-lumix-zs10-zs8-compact-megazooms-announced</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:Panasonic)One of the few segments of point-and-shoots that's growing is megazooms, a category that Panasonic pretty much started. Now all manufacturers have them, though, so trying to standout isn't easy. Panasonic's going the feature-dump route, by packing in as much as possible into the ZS7 refresh, the ZS10. The basic specs include a 24mm-equivalent wide-angle lens with a 16x zoom (with nano coating to reduce ghosting and flare), a 3-inch, 460K-dot resolution touch-screen LCD, and a 14-megapixel MOS sensor. The sensor is the same type that's found in the FZ100 and it's paired with Panasonic's Venus Engine FHD processor. This combo allows for high-speed burst shooting--full resolution at 10 frames per second--and full HD movie capture in AVCHD format. (Sadly, it doesn't have that camera's raw capture option.) The high-speed shooting also gets you 3D photos. The ZS10 will apparently fire off 20 shots and then picks the two best for overlaying to create a 3D MPO file that can be played back on 3D-enabled TVs, computers, and photo frames. Also added is an Intelligent Handheld Nightshot that works like everyone else's, but firing a bunch of shot and then stacking them up to remove blur from hand shake and reduce noise. Of course, it's chock-full of Panasonic's other Intelligent technologies, too.GPS returns as a key feature as does a manual shooting mode, though it's now joined by aperture- and shutter-priority modes. And for those that like to share what they've shot, Panasonic's gone and done something extra special creepy. Whenever you format your SD memory card in the camera, it embeds the Lumix Image Uploader on your card. You can then tag photos and videos in camera for uploading to sharing sites. Connect the camera to a computer or insert the SD card into a reader and the Uploader goes to work. If all that sounds like too much camera for you, you can opt for the streamlined version, the ZS8. That backs you down to a regular 14-megapixel CCD and a 3-inch 230K-dot resolution LCD, and 720p movie capture. You lose the GPS, the touch controls, and all the high-speed shooting capabilities. At least the lens stays the same. Both models will be available in March. No pricing was announced, but I'm guessing they'll stay about the same as their predecessors: $400 for the ZS10 and $300 for the ZS8. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Report: Android code identical to Java]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-android-code-identical-to-java</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-android-code-identical-to-java</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 21 Jan 2011 08:10:46 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>gearsandgeardrivess</dc:creator>
<category>Politics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-android-code-identical-to-java</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Updated 1:20 p.m. PT with additional analysis that comes to a different conclusion.Did Google take code from Java when it built Android Oracle sure thinks so, and now an expert on software patents seems to agree. Florian Mueller, who writes the blog FOSS Patents, posted a lengthy examination today of 37 files within the Android 2.2 source code. Those files match files found in Oracle's Java technology, and were even marked &quot;PROPRIETARY/CONFIDENTIAL&quot; by Sun Microsystems, the inventor of Java which Oracle acquired last year.Oracle sued Google in August alleging that Android and the Dalvik virtual machine used in Android infringed copyrights and patents that Oracle now held after buying Sun. It later amended its complaint to include a line-by-line comparison of code between the two technologies, which Google later claimed was misleading. Mueller took Oracle's complaint and compared it against Android 2.2, which anyone can download and examine. In addition to the code outlined by Oracle, Mueller found an additional 37 files in Android that he said were identical to those found in Java2 Standard Edition version 5. &quot;Whether under a proprietary license or the GPL, the related code could not be legally relicensed under the Apache license by anyone other than the right holder (Oracle/Sun),&quot; Mueller wrote in his post. It doesn't look good for Google (it declined to comment to IDG News Service), but the matter will have to be hashed out in a courtroom before all is said and done.UPDATED 1:20 p.m. PT: Ed Burnette over at our sister site ZDNet looked at the some code that Mueller did and came to a different conclusion. Burnette points out that the files in question actually didn't ship with Android: instead they were unit test code and another set of files had been uploaded to the Android code repository but didn't actually ship with devices.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Skype outage affects tens of millions]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=skype-outage-affects-tens-of-millions</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=skype-outage-affects-tens-of-millions</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>gearsandgeardrivess</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=skype-outage-affects-tens-of-millions</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Skype suffered a widespread and lengthy outage today with its Internet calling service.The company said in a post that problems with the Skype network&amp;'s &amp;''supernodes&amp;'' are responsible and could take hours more to fix. Skype apologized to users. But the lesson is clear, as GigaOm noted. If you rely as a business on cloud-based communications tools, it pays to have a backup.Skype spokesman Peter Parkes said, &amp;''Skype isn&amp;'t a network like a conventional phone or IM network. It relies on millions of individual connections between computers and phones to keep things up and running.&amp;'' That is, Skype uses a peer-to-peer model in order to connect callers.The supernodes are like phone directories for Skype, and a number of them failed today. As we speak, Skype isn&amp;'t loading for me right now. Lots of people are affected. Skype accounts for 0.57 percent of all Internet traffic. For the first six months of 2010, Skype logged 88.4 billion minutes of Skype-to-Skype calls.[update: Skype said in a tweet that it is now returning to normal][image credit: ReadWriteWeb]Next Story: Classified interruptus: Craigslist shuts down adult services worldwide Previous Story: Sony launches its music-streaming servicePrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: peer-to-peerCompanies: SkypePeople: Peter Parkes          Tags: peer-to-peerCompanies: SkypePeople: Peter ParkesDean is lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He covers video games, security, chips and a variety of other subjects. Dean previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News, the Wall Street Journal, the Red Herring, the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register and the Dallas Times Herald. He is the author of two books, Opening the Xbox and the Xbox 360 Uncloaked. Follow him on Twitter at @deantak, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Analyst: iPad 2 launch sales close to 1 million]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=analyst-ipad-2-launch-sales-close-to-1-million</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=analyst-ipad-2-launch-sales-close-to-1-million</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>gearsandgeardrivess</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=analyst-ipad-2-launch-sales-close-to-1-million</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Forget the sales estimates of 600,000, Apple&amp;'s iPad 2 may have sold closer to 1 million units in its launch weekend, Reuters reports.The figure comes from Scott Sutherland, an analyst at Wedbush Securities. To offer a comparison, the original iPad sold over 300,000 units in its first 24 hours.Over the weekend, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster found that Apple likely sold out of its iPad 2 stock, with 70 percent of purchases going to buyers new to the iPad. And if you wanted an iPad 2 this weekend, you definitely had to buy it in stores, since online orders faced delays of three to four weeks.Sutherland&amp;'s numbers are still far from official, but it wouldn&amp;'t be too surprising for Apple to sell so many iPad 2s. At the moment, it&amp;'s difficult to find the tablet in stock at any Apple, Verizon, or AT&amp;amp'T store. And as Reuters mentions, Best Buy said on Friday that some stores sold out of the iPad 2 and its accessories within a mere 10 minutes.The iPad 2 went on sale at 5pm local time across the country last Friday. Reviewers, not surprisingly, generally had positive things to say about it, even though it&amp;'s not a revolutionary improvement over the first iPad.Previous Story: Amazon grabs exclusive on Angry Birds Rio for Android phonesPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: iOS, iPad, iPad 2, sales, tabletsCompanies: Apple, Piper Jaffrey, Wedbush SecuritiesPeople: Gene Munster, Scott Sutherland          Tags: iOS, iPad, iPad 2, sales, tabletsCompanies: Apple, Piper Jaffrey, Wedbush SecuritiesPeople: Gene Munster, Scott SutherlandDevindra Hardawar is VentureBeat's lead mobile writer and East Coast correspondent. He studied philosophy at Amherst College, worked in IT support for several years, and has been writing about technology since 2004. He now lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can reach him at devindra@venturebeat.com (all story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com), and on Twitter at @Devindra. Have news to share Launching a startup Email: tips@venturebeat.comVentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

</channel>
</rss>
