Developages - Development and Technology Blog

In Singapore, the Dutch consumer electronics maker Philips is designing a multimedia server to stream audio and video through the air, from the Internet to any device in the home.

In Munich, a former unit of Siemens envisions a cordless phone that would double as a music player, wirelessly drawing music from home computers.

In Japan, members of Sony’s global “digital home team” are redesigning 90% of the company’s home electronics components to connect wirelessly to the Internet by 2011.

Across the consumer electronics industry, the leading players are revamping their audio and video equipment for a future centered around the Internet, a world in which televisions, stereos, computers — even kitchen appliances like dishwashers and refrigerators — can communicate with each other over a wireless home network.

Some industry executives say the new focus on Internet content and wireless networks reflects a fundamental shift in home entertainment. 

Expanded lines of “networked entertainment equipment” took center stage this week at the Internationale Funkausstellung in Berlin, the largest consumer electronics convention in Europe, with 1,200 exhibitors and 200,000 visitors.

Sony is introducing plug-in adapters to enable some of its Bravia television sets to connect to the Internet wirelessly. Philips is demonstrating a line of hard-disc stereo systems that can wirelessly read and play music stored on personal computers or laptops in other rooms, streaming music selectively through the house.

Pioneer, Samsung and Sharp are presenting flat-panel TVs that hook up to the Internet, some with wires, some without. Hewlett Packard’s MediaSmart LCD TV will wirelessly stream high-definition video. 

More at the International Herald Tribune.

Tags: HP, philips, samsung, sharp, siemens, sony

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Copyright VoIP & Gadgets Blog

Original post by nafiz

At the 2008 Intel Developer Forum, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak (right in photo) took the main stage to talk about his love of engineering and science, the process behind developing the Apple II personal computer, and what it’s like to be “Employee No. 1″ at Apple.

Wozniak also spoke of the impact Steve Jobs (left in photo) still has on Apple and its slew of successful products, from the iPod to the iPhone.

If he had his wish, he would have remained an engineer for life at Hewlett-Packard.

Instead, Steve Jobs encouraged Wozniak to leave the safe confines of HP and venture out into a new company — Apple — where the two would work to bring the Apple II personal computer into every household, school and business.

With some reluctance, Wozniak left HP and became–and still remains–”Employee No. 1″ at Apple. In his partnership with Jobs, Wozniak would remain the engineer, and Jobs would sell what Wozniak would invent.

“A lot of times you become what you want to be in life, and I wanted to be an engineer,” said Wozniak at the conclusion of the Forum.

“I never wanted to run a company. I didn’t want to worry about money. I didn’t want to move up the management chain,” Wozniak said. “I wanted to be an engineer for life, and I wanted to stay at Hewlett-Packard. Steve [Jobs] had this dream to be one of the great people that wanted to create companies and make products that would change the world and be one of those people like Shakespeare and Einstein, who become well known. He wanted to be in that group. So, every time I designed something great, from the time we were very young, he would say, ‘Let’s sell it.’”

More at eWeek.

Tags: apple, apple II, hp, intel developer forum, iphone, ipod, steve jobs, steve wozniak

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Copyright VoIP & Gadgets Blog

Original post by nafiz

Here’s a good deal from Deals2Buy.com: “HP Pavilion dv9700t, Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo T5750, 2.0GHz, 17″ WXGA+, 3GB RAM, 250GB, LightScribe SuperMulti DVD+/-R/RW Double Layer, 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS, 802.11 a/b/g/n, 8 Cell Battery, Windows Vista Home Premium for $699.99 at HPShopping.com”

Check it out here. The promo works for only the first 2700 buyers. Be warned though: anyone who owns a 17″ laptop will tell you that it’s more “powerhouse” than “portable”. All we know is that desktop replacement laptops really below on the desk.

Tags: 17″ laptops, Deals, dv9700t, hernia, HP

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Original post by Rico

Filed under: Laptops

Generally speaking, HP’s Mini-Note 2133 is pretty well loved the world over. Sure, there are a few things that could use tweaking, but what good gadget couldn’t use even a small dose of overhaul? Nevertheless, a few reports have been trickling in suggesting that HP’s netbook is suddenly going dark and refusing to start back up. Folks are apparently being told that it’s a motherboard power failure, though it doesn’t seem to have become widespread just yet… or has it? Let us know in comments below.

[Via Chris Rue]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Laptops, Tablet PCs

We didn’t exactly get the best look at HP’s new EliteBook 2730p tablet when it was announced earlier today, but Notebooks.com has now thankfully come through with a video of the device, in which HP’s Kyle Thorton helpfully shows off every nook and cranny of sleek yet supposedly rugged convertible. That includes a peek at the tablet’s jog dial, which makes a welcome reappearance after being ditched on the 2710p, and its “double clutch” stylus-holding system, which promises to keep you from losing your trusty input device (it’s actually pretty slick). Head on past the break for the full show.

Continue reading HP EliteBook 2730p gets shown off on video

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Original post by Donald Melanson

Filed under: Laptops, Tablet PCs

HP just unveiled a pair of rugged (MIL-STD 810F tested for dust, altitude, and high temperature) Centrino 2 12-inchers with the launch of its 2530p laptop and 2730p tablet. The 2730p bests the HP 2710p launched last year with the inclusion of a touchpad and new jog-dial along the side for use when the tablet is in slate mode. HP is also offering improved ULV (up to 1.2GHz) and LV (up to 1.86GHz) Core 2 Duo processor options and faster, 1.8-inch 5400RPM hard drive (up to 120GB), 80GB SSD, and Qualcomm’s Gobi dual EV-DO / HSPA wireless option for near-complete WWAN support globally. The 2730p continues to maintain the legacy LED-backlit display, “Night Light” keyboard lighting, optional webcam (with business card reader), slice battery (up to 10-hours), and expansion base / docking station. Importantly, the stylus no longer slips out of the silo when carrying the 2730p through the cubicle farm.

The 2530p offers pretty much the same in a thinner (0.99-inches vs. 1.11-inches thick), lighter (3.19-pounds vs. 3.74-pounds), more traditional laptop design. See it pictured after the break.

[Via jkOnTheRun, twice]

Read — 2730p
Read — 2530p

Continue reading HP’s rugged EliteBook 2730p tablet and 2530p laptop for suits and Gobi squares

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Original post by Thomas Ricker

Filed under: Laptops

HP’s touting the DreamColor display in its new Centrino 2 / NVIDIA Quadro FX 3700-powered EliteBook 8730w as being one of the best displays on the market, and if the crew at Maximum PC is to be believed, the $400 option lives up to the hype. Other notable bits included the Durakey keyboard coating, which should protect against wear and tear for three years, and the semi-rugged chassis that can withstand short falls. Sadly, all these features bump the starting price from a reasonable $1,700 to over five large, but you get what you pay for, it seems — check out tons more pics at the read link.

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Displays

It’s not all DreamColor laptops for HP at SIGGRAPH today — the company’s line of performance desktop monitors got a little bigger as well. The new 24-inch LP2475w (pictured) puts 102 percent of the NTSC color gamut across 1920 x 1200 pixels, while the 22-inch LP2275w lights up 92 percent across 1680 x 1050 pixels, and both sport 1000:1 contrast ratios, extra-bright panels and adjustable stands. The LP2275w is out now and the LP247w will follow next month — HP says pricing will be between $459 and $649 at retail. There’s also a new calibration kit for owners of the DreamColor LP2480zx, which is available now if you’re a Window user with a critical eye and an extra $349; a Mac version will be out next month.

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Laptops

Not that these units are a complete surprise or anything, but HP’s taking the time to get really, really official with its minty fresh EliteBooks. Up first is the beastly EliteBook 8730w (that’s the 6830s pictured), which packs a 17-inch DreamColor display, a quad-core Intel CPU, 8GB of RAM and one of NVIDIA’s 1GB Quadro FX graphics cards. Keeping things going are the EliteBook 8530w and 8530p, both of which boast a 15.4-inch display, 8GB of RAM, a Core 2 Duo chip (8530w supports optional quad-core) and HP’s own brushed anodized aluminum DuraCase. As for pricing and release information? Good luck on the guessing.

[Thanks, Christopher]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Is Windows really that bad, you may ask?

Well, Apple Watch asked that very same question and came up with some very interesting statistics.

Last weekend, they got to wondering about Mac versus Windows PC pricing after seeing two HP notebooks on sale at the local Target. One of them, a 14-inch model, the HP DV2946NR (pictured at left), sold for $699.99 and packed 4GB of memory and a 320GB hard drive. Capacity for both features is twice that of the $1,299 MacBook – and shared graphics is 356MB compared with a meager 144MB for the MacBook.

I wondered: If Vista notebooks are selling for so little and packing so much, how does this compare with Mac desktops and notebooks? 

You must read more and come to your own conclusion!

Tags: apple, apple watch, hp, macbook, target, windows vista

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Copyright VoIP & Gadgets Blog

Original post by nafiz

Filed under: Desktops, Displays, Laptops

In case you haven’t noticed, HP has a thing for attempting (emphasis on attempting) to stay one step ahead of the sector. Now, it’s being reported that touch technology is all the rage within Palo Alto, and HP is purportedly aiming to introduce “an array of products, including notebooks,” that utilize the finger-friendly tech within the next 18 months. Details on those very products are few and far between, but Phil McKinney (CTO of the Personal Systems Group) sees touch “as the almost preferred method for nontechnical users.” Funny thing, though — it seems most everyone else recognized touch as the new hotness a good while back. We’re betting HP has just been holding all of this mighty close to the chest… guess we’ll see in 18 months, huh?

[Image courtesy of Old-Computers]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Laptops

So now that HP’s joined Dell in releasing information on which laptops have those defective NVIDIA GPUs, we can sort of piece together which chips are faulty — and just as had been rumored, it looks like basically every Geforce 8600M and 8400M chip is affected. That’s not good news for NVIDIA, which has been saying that only “previous-generation” chips were problematic — unless the chipmaker is planning on updating the hugely popular 8×00 series sometime, say, now, that’s not exactly true, now is it? Other affected chips appear to be in the GeForce Go 7000 and 6000 lines, as well as the Quadro NVS 135M and the Quadro FX 360M, but that’s just looking at model numbers, and we can’t be exactly sure. We’d say that if you’ve got a machine with any one of these GPUs, it might be wise to call in and see what your laptop maker is going to do — and it would be smart for NVIDIA to come right out and say exactly how big and how bad this problem really is.

Read - Dell list of machines and patch
Read - HP list of machines, extended warranty info

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

DeviceVM’s SplashTop “instant-on” OS is based on Linux, even though it’s locked down to only run IM, Skype, media software, and Firefox, and you know what that means — it’s already been hacked wide open. Yep, the clever kids at the Phoronix forums have managed to open up the BIOS-based OS and make it do all kinds of tricks, including run other programs and boot other machines off a flash drive. The hacks are still a little complex, but with ASUS shipping tons of ExpressGate-enabled mobos and laptops and HP’s support in the Voodoo Envy 133, we’d there’s a one-click unlocker in the wild fairly soon. Anyone brave enough to install it on their machines?

[Thanks, george85]

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Sure, it’s all well and cute to think of “cloud computing” as being a magical data-fairy, but storing and processing all your fancy new CalDAV-enabled Google Calendar entries and MobileMe emails costs money, kid — and that means it’s hard for researchers to accurately simulate and build cloud research projects, since they don’t have the resources to build large enough data centers. HP, Intel, and Yahoo are teaming up to alleviate that problem, though — the three behemoths are going to build six cloud-computer research data centers around the world, stocked with anywhere from 1,000 to 4,000 nodes each, with the goal of bringing them online later this year for pre-selected researchers to work on scaling, security, management, and new applications for the cloud. Three of the data centers will be hosted at HP, Intel, and Yahoo, and the other three will be at the the University of Illinois, the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, and the Steinbuch Centre for Computing in Germany.

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Storage, Networking

It’s no secret that HP MediaSmart Server owners have been having an awful time getting their device to operate correctly, er, at all since HP loosed its most recent software update on July 21st. In order to make sure owners have a solution implement its best damage control tactics, HP’s own Director of Marketing for the Connected Entertainment group has put out a statement informing users that the problems (slow console shown above) are more than a figment of their imagination. Furthermore, the so-called solution is to simply “install each update one at a time, independently,” because clearly HP cannot be bothered to fix a problem it helped create. Oh, it gets better. HP is also aware that PacketVideo (bundled with the update) “no longer supports media streaming to Sony’s PlayStation 3,” so it simply encourages owners to surf on over to a third-party website and hack up the PV database in order to get things back to normal. Jump on past the break for the patently ridiculous letter in its entirety.

[Image courtesy of Within Windows]

Continue reading HP responds to MediaSmart Server issues, offers no real solution at all

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Original post by Darren Murph