The Future of ICT

Discovery could lead to smaller batteries with more power and run time

Nanotechnology may one day usher in a new era for electronics and other products with smaller portable devices that run longer than the electronics we use today. Much research is being conducted on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for a myriad of uses including electronics and batteries.

Battery research is being conducted in several different areas. Researchers at MIT are using viruses to create batteries that can hold more power and run for longer periods. Battery research is a hot bed of activity because the batteries can be used in automobiles to help reduce pollution and our need for oil. Improvements in battery technology will also lead to smaller computers and mobile phones that offer more run time with each charge.
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I’ve written periodically of my flirtation with dumping cable for an Internet-only approach to my TV watching. I haven’t, however, pulled the trigger – mostly because cable still has a lot of live programming, such as news and sports, that I can’t replicate over the Net alone.

That’s why I’m intrigued by Sezmi, a TV service that’s announcing that it’s rolling out to its first real customers (in Los Angeles). The service aims to provide a more personalized, Net-savvy, inexpensive alternative to cable and satellite – complete with the real broadcast and cable channels you can’t get from Apple TV, Roku, or Vudu. It does so via a 1TB DVR/set-top box that provides access to three types of TV sources: broadcast stations, cable channels, and Internet content. (It snags the first two kinds over the air, via a powerful antenna in a box that looks like a loudspeaker: Sezmi simply grabs local broadcast channels as is, and the company is leasing spectrum from local broadcasters to transmit cable channels – including both standard-def and HD.)
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Hewlett-Packard is trying to tackle concerns about the cost and complexity of thin-client computing with new products and tools announced Tuesday.

Proponents of thin clients say they can cut costs by allowing desktop programs to be deployed and maintained on a central server instead of locally for each user, and improve security because company data is stored in a data center instead of out in the network on PCs.
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The fact that Intel and AMD have reached a $1.25 billion agreement and established a pact to cross-license each other’s patents for the next 5 years should not come as any surprise. AMD needs the cash infusion and Intel needs…well, Intel needs AMD. Seems like a win-win.

Within the processor industry, Intel occupies the role of the dominant virtual monopoly—similar to the role Microsoft plays in the operating system, office productivity, and web browser markets. Intel is more or less the de facto standard for PC processors at 70 percent of the market, and AMD is a distant second with remaining 30 percent.
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Internet security experts say that misconfigured DSL and cable modems are worsening a well-known problem with the Internet’s DNS (domain name system), making it easier for hackers to launch distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against their victims.

According to research set to be released in the next few days, part of the problem is blamed on the growing number of consumer devices on the Internet that are configured to accept DNS queries from anywhere, what networking experts call an “open recursive” or “open resolver” system. As more consumers demand broadband Internet, service providers are rolling out modems configured this way to their customers said Cricket Liu, vice president of architecture with Infoblox, the DNS appliance company that sponsored the research. “The two leading culprits we found were Telefonica and France Telecom,” he said.
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Mac OS X is Mac OS X and Windows is Windows. They’ve always been operating systems with different philosophies and foundations, but earlier this week Microsoft UK partner manager Simon Aldous said something about the development of Windows 7 that raised more than a few pair of eyebrows.

“One of the things that people say an awful lot about the Apple Mac is that the OS is fantastic, that it’s very graphical and easy to use. What we’ve tried to do with Windows 7 – whether it’s traditional format or in a touch format – is create a Mac look and feel in terms of graphics,” said Aldous in a PCR interview. “We’ve significantly improved the graphical user interface, but it’s built on that very stable core Vista technology, which is far more stable than the current Mac platform, for instance.”
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A recent job opening at Microsoft indicates that the company is gearing up for Windows 8.

CodenameWindows discovered that Microsoft was recruiting new software engineers for Windows 8. The job listing, originally listed here, now shows that the job is no longer available. However, it revealed that Microsoft sought out new recruits for the planning and preparation of the Windows Update Client for Windows 8.
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It’s very amazing how much the world changes before breakfast.

At 6am Pacific this morning, a joint Intel & AMD press release hit our inboxes like a nuclear bomb: AMD and Intel are settling their differences. And just like that, the CPU landscape as we know it has significantly changed.

We’re previously talked about the spat between AMD and Intel, one that Intel was looking increasingly likely to lose. AMD had had leveraged some very serious accusations against Intel over actions Intel supposedly undertook earlier this decade: paying OEMs and retailers not to use or carry products utilizing AMD processors through the use of discounts and rebates. With this AMD launched civil anti-trust suits, and petitioned various governments for criminal anti-trust investigations.

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