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Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Review: Nextivity Cel-Fi RS2 3G

Strong 3G coverage has become an essential requirement for any small business, especially when it comes to important client phone calls. However, many rural areas in the UK still lack even the weakest of cellular signals. While the new 4G network - which promises far better coverage - goes through a tumultuous legal process, Nextivity believes its Cel-Fi RS2 3G booster can provide a solution.

The booster consists of two parts: a 'window' unit, which sits in the area of the building with the strongest 3G signal, and a 'coverage' unit, which goes wherever you want the signal broadcast to.

This isn't the most aesthetically pleasing network equipment - the window unit has the look and feel of a cheap toaster, and peeking inside reveals an ugly antenna array that the Cel-Fi was obviously keen to disguise.

Looks aside, the unit works as intended. Our testbed was an old, semi-subterranean cottage in the Devon countryside - a lovely place, but one where getting a 3G signal usually means calling from a very specific spot in the south end of the house.

With the Nextivity Cel-Fi RS2 extender, we were able to extend the 3G network to the north end, and freely browse the internet and make calls. It's impressively powerful too, and able to beam the signal through the thick walls.

The signal did drop occasionally, but this was more due to the undulating Devon landscape - and undulating Devon 3G signals - than the unit itself. Our unit was locked to Orange and T-Mobile networks, with other units available for other providers such as Vodafone and O2. This could be an issue if your home or business uses different networks for all its handsets.

Verdict

Priced at over £450, it's hugely expensive, and there could be some sense in waiting for 4G to be deployed and simply sticking with a landline or Skype for calls. But there are also a lot of businesses - particularly rural iPhone-centric start-ups - that would benefit from the Nextivity Cel-Fi RS2's technology.

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Review: X-Rite Colormunki Display

The X-Rite Colormunki Display calibrates monitors and projectors, and comes complete with a friendly software package which contains step-by-step guides and video tutorials.

Ambient light is swiftly measured while display flare may also be taken into account, and the process takes under 10 minutes from start to finish.

The results appear accurate, and the various image samples allow quick before and after comparisons post-calibration. It's not the cheapest or fastest device, but it's ideal for those new to the process.

The X-Rite Colormunki Display is an inexpensive monitor calibration device, which promises advanced control with ease of use. Capable of profiling wide-gamut displays and even projectors, the package contains a colorimeter complete with a diffuser panel, together with software and a Quick Start Guide.

Following the latter enables even first time users to quickly get to grips with its operation, while the profiling process may be run in either Easy or Advanced modes, depending on the user's skill level and desired control.

Once the software has been installed, an ambient light reading may be taken and calibration can begin. Everything is explained clearly and diagrams are provided, although video tutorials are also on hand should the user get stuck.

The software takes around two minutes to adjust the display's luminance using a series of patches, before the remainder are displayed and measured over an additional five minutes. Approximate timings are given throughout the process, and once complete it's possible to view before and after comparisons using a range of images.

The advanced controls enable you to measure flare from your display and to take this into account, along with white point specification and other options.

Overall, there's very little not to like: the results appear accurate and no obvious colour biases can be observed, and reminders can be set up should the lighting conditions change or if a large period of time elapses between calibrations.

The only minor niggle is that although it works in much the same way as the i1 Display Pro device, it's considerably slower (although around £50 cheaper too).

Verdict

Still, for the novice user performing occasional calibrations, it's pretty much spot on, colour casts will be banished and all your future image adjustments accurate and worth while.

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Review: Gigabyte Aivia M8600

The Gigabyte Aivia M8600 is a wireless gaming mouse that has the admirable aim to ensure you never run out of power.

Wireless mice are great, because we don't have to worry about trailing wires across our desks, and they generally give us a lot more freedom. One of their biggest problems, however, is reliance on batteries.

If you've got a mouse that uses standard non-rechargeable AA or AAA batteries, this can be an annoying expense, especially if they run out when you don't have any spares in the house, necessitating a frenzied rush to the shop just to move your cursor. A mouse low on power can also become unresponsive and erratic.

The Gigabyte Aivia M8600 Wireless Macro Gaming Mouse has addressed a number of these battery concerns. For a start, the M8600 doesn't rely on AA batteries. Instead, it has a Li-ion battery that is charged by placing the mouse on the charging dock, which also doubles as a wireless receiver.

The M8600 can also be plugged directly into a computer for charging (and simultaneous use) via a USB cable. Gigabyte claims you can enjoy 50 hours of continuous use with the M8600's battery, and it certainly retains its charge for a long time.

Even better, it comes with an extra battery, which you can install when your juice does start to run low. The standalone battery can also be charged in the dock, but not at the same time as the mouse.

It wouldn't look out of place as part of Batman's costume, with a matt black finish and rather severe angles.

Luckily it's a lot more comfortable to hold than we'd imagine, though still far from the most ergonomic mouse we've had a chance to test. It has a decent weight and feels well built, with buttons feeling firm and responsive.

The speed of the mouse can be quickly altered by pressing the plus and minus buttons on either side of the scroll wheel. There are three speed settings, represented by LEDs on the mouse, and each level is different enough from the last to make it worth switching for specific tasks or games, although it doesn't offer a great level of customisation.

Verdict

This mouse is expensive, but it's well designed and performs brilliantly.

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Improved support for AMD hybrid graphics users

A team member recently reported that the HP Pavilion dv7 model with a Hybrid graphics AMD 6700M HD and Intel coniguration is now fully supported in Linux by the recently released AMD graphics driver version 12.1:

http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/linux/Pages/radeon_linux.aspx

Hybrid graphics setup is now fully working, with switching from low power to high performance on demand and including suspend/resume support.
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Samsung Galaxy Y Pro DUOS Review Specs Price in India

Finally Samsung has launched their entry level Dual Sim Qwerty Android Smartphone called Galaxy Y Pro Duos. The phone comes under Galaxy Y series which is especially meant for young professionals to use two different Sims at the same time. However other manufacturers already launched their cheap dual sim android mobiles in the market and we need to see how long Samsung will give tough competition to others and stay in the market forever. I hope that this phone will get good reviews and impressions from android fans and customers. There are many features that this phone can give you. Here are some to get you started.
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Q. When Will Wisdio Add Authority Scores? A. Right Now.

Wisdio, a social QA site like Quora, has decided to up the social QA ante by adding something they're calling WAR - Wisdio Authority Ratings. These ratings allow folks to recieve answers from authorities on their subject of choice, thereby reducing the number of incorrect answers and, one would hope, increasing the utility of the site.Founded by Sebastian Zontek, Wisdio aims to help "find the right people to answer questions quickly and reliably," not unlike many of its competitors. However, the WAR score offers a one-stop shop for folks trying to figure out who to trust and, one would assume, listen to. For example, I can say I'm an expert in Social Media (which I am. I have LOTS of followers on Orkut) but in order to increase my score I need to answer questions about social media. This prevents gadflies from answering questions willy nilly and reduces useless responses.]]>
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(Founder Stories) Jeff Clavier On How Big VCs Can Hurt Seed Rounds

Jeff Clavier just finished raising $55 million for his third SoftTech VC fund and after closing it out, stopped by TechCrunch to tape Founder Stories with host Chris Dixon. The two discuss signaling risk, which is basically when a major VC invests in a startup during a seed round and doesn't follow up with more funding. ]]>
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Jon Rubinstein Leaves HP After “Fulfilling Commitment”

HP's had quite a 2011 and Jon Rubinstein, former Palm CEO and a top-level executive at HP after the giant acquired Palm in 2010, was along for the ride. But according to a report out of AllThingsD, Rubinstein has officially left the company.]]>
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YC Alum Curebit Raises $1.2 Million For Online Referral System

Y Combinator alum Curebit, an online customer referral platform that leverages social media for "word-of-mouth" advertising, has just raised $1.2 million in funding. The investors include 500 Startups, Karl Jacob, Auren Hoffman, Dharmesh Shah, Gordon Tucker, Alex Lloyd of Accelerator Ventures, and others.The funding will be used for continued product development and a slight expansion to the team involving three new hires (two developers, one designer) to the company's now five-person outfit.]]>
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Playfish Product Leader John Earner Is Leaving To Be An EIR At Accel

At this point in his career, it's safe to put John Earner in the "names as destiny" category. Following a hugely successful run with Playfish, he's leaving the social game developer today to start as an entrepreneur in residence at Accel, according to sources.A former naval officer, he joined as the company in 2008 as its first game producer, where he shepherded the development of its first big simulation game, Pet Society. Having figured out how to monetize virtual goods with it, he went on to launch the company's next big hit, Restaurant City.]]>
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Keen On… Payvment: Making eCommerce More Social (TCTV)

Earlier this week, Facebook announced changes to its Open Graph which have huge implications to the social ecommerce platform Payvment. The two year-old Palo Alto based start-up, which already manages 80% of the ecommerce transactions on Facebook, will now be able to be integrated into the Open Graph. What this means, according to Payvment's Founder and CEO Christian Taylor, is that we can now broadcast what we want on our Facebook pages. Such social one-click purchasing power is "big trouble" for Amazon and eBay, Taylor predicts. And even bigger trouble, I suspect, for parents who will now be inundated with gift ideas by their Facebook loving kids.]]>
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Gillmor Gang 01.24.12 (TCTV)

The Gillmor Gang — Dennis Crowley, John Taschek, Kevin Marks, and Steve Gillmor — visit with the ghosts of Foursquare Past, Present, and Future. @dens is semi-bicoastal these days, trying to stay ahead of his growing business. He just moved in to a new office in NY, and the one in SF is expanding as rapidly as he can hire.We try to get him to say bad things about Google +, but he demurs. But he never escapes the Gang without leaving a bit more of his roadmap than he anticipates. Of course, you'll need gamification chops to uncover it. ]]>
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#Humblebrag: Jack Dorsey, Reid Hoffman, Kevin Rose Coming To The Crunchies; Harris Wittels Hosting

After writing for NBC's Parks and Recreation for the past couple years (he's about to start a writing gig for HBO's Eastbound and Down), and authoring the sarcastic but brilliant and hilarious @HumbleBrag, Harris Wittels has decided to bring his talents to TechCrunch. This year, he will be hosting the Crunchies Awards, and bringing his chiding humor. If you're not familiar with Humblebrag, he scours Twitter in search of  braggadocio wrapped in humility. I'm willing to bet at least one of you has been retweeted. If so, post them in the comments below. We want to see.Not only is Wittels hosting, but Jack Dorsey, Kevin Rose, Marissa Mayer, Kevin Systrom, Reid Hoffman, Ron Conway and many more will also be joining us, many of them presenting awards themselves. This is going to be one night you won't want to miss. We have just released our last batch of tickets. If you would like to come to the Crunchies Awards, make sure to go here to get them, and get them quickly since they tend to sell very fast. And there's still time to vote for the best startups, apps, investors, and founders of the year. Voting ends at midnight on Sunday.]]>
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WSJ: Facebook Filing For IPO As Early As Wednesday

The Wall Street Journal has just reported that Facebook may file for its long-awaited IPO as soon as this Wednesday, but notes that the "timing is still being discussed", according to an anonymous source. The article says that Facebook is eyeing a valuation between $75 and $100 billion as it raises up to $10 billion, which is in line with a previous WSJ report last November.The article also reports that Morgan Stanley is currently the frontrunner to secure the top, "lead left" position in the filing, with Goldman Sachs playing a "significant role" as well. The news comes shortly after Facebook temporarily froze secondary trades on its shares, sparking speculation that the IPO filing may be imminent.]]>
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Davos: Ushahidi Grows Its Global Crowd-sourcing Platform, Slams Twitter Censorship [TCTV]

At Davos I managed to catch Juliana Rotich, Co-Founder of Ushahidi, the incredible crowd sourcing platform which came out of Kenya. Starting with just a handful of countries in 2009, it's main product, Crowdmap, is now used in hundreds of countries for crisis mapping and even crowd sourcing information about nuclear weapons in Iran. I got an update from her about their latest moves. These include news that the Omidyar Network, which put $1.4m towards Ushahidi, and which late last year put in another $1.9m.]]>
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Davos: BraveNewTalent Allows Job Seekers To Follow Their Future Employers

BraveNewTalent is a social recruitment platform operating in the UK and moving into the US. I caught up with CEO and founder Lucia Tarnowski at Davos. The startup is built around the idea that people want to follow companies they might want to work for in the future, and companies in turn want to educate potential hires about how they work.They recently introduced a few new features, which Tarnowski outlines, notably the new feature enabling a user to follow the key employees of a company. ]]>
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Android Smartphone Round-Up: December/January Edition

We took a break from the Android round-up in December because, well, to be honest I was on vacation. But January gave us a few extra smartphones and the holidays are over, so we're back. What we've got for you today leans into more expensive turf, and unfortunately, our favorite Android devices for the past two months are also exclusively at Verizon, so Big Red subscribers should pay attention. Without further ado, these are our favorite December/January releases of the Android persuasion: The Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the LG Spectrum, and the Motorola Droid RAZR Maxx. Enjoy!]]>
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Flurry: Amazon’s Kindle Fire Is Already Starting To Smoke Samsung’s Galaxy Tab

Wuh oh, Samsung — better watch your tail. While Apple might not be seeing any impact (be it positive or negative) on iPad sales from the launch of the Kindle Fire, Samsung's Galaxy Tab ought to be feeling the heat.Tapping into the data provided by their app analytics platform (which they estimate has found its way onto around 90% of the Android devices out there), Flurry highlights a few surprising numbers.]]>
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Gillmor Gang Live 01.27.12 (TCTV)

The Gillmor Gang - Danny Sullivan, John Taschek, Kevin Marks, Doc Searls & Steve Gillmor - is recording live today at 1pm PT. Recording has concluded.]]>
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Y Combinator Names Seasoned Entrepreneur Geoff Ralston As Its Newest Partner

Y Combinator has just announced the newest partner to join the prestigious firm: Geoff Ralston. Ralston's previous credentials include founding Four11, which was acquired by Yahoo back in 1997 for $96 million and served as the foundation for Yahoo Mail. Ralston spent eight years at Yahoo, eventually becoming Yahoo's Chief Product Officer. Several years after leaving Yahoo he was named CEO of Lala, before it was acquired by Apple in 2009.Most recently he cofounded Imagine K12, a tech incubator for education-related startups, which presented at TechCrunch Disrupt SF (you can find the incubator's first batch of companies here). ]]>
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Twitter Puts Its DMCA Takedown Requests Up For All To See

Yesterday's announcement that Twitter would be selectively censoring tweets based on country was not well-received. But part of that announcement was the assurance that the process would at least be transparent. A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.They also mentioned that they were working with Chilling Effects to make notices and orders sent to Twitter publicly available. At the time of the post yesterday, the site wasn't up yet, but you can now browse it at chillingeffects.org/twitter.]]>
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Secret Windows 8 Weapon: Kinect Built Into Your Laptop

The Windows release of Kinect is coming up in a couple days, but for most people that won't be a major event: the Kinect they have is sitting on their TV or in a drawer, waiting to be taken out for an impromptu Dance Central 2 party. Of the 10 million Kinects out there, the only ones connected to computers are the ones being fiddled with by the various hackers and students making science projects out the things.But according to the Daily, Microsoft is hoping to remedy this particular situation by building Kinect sensors right into your laptops. TechCrunch alum Matt Hickey got to handle a pair of prototypes, which were confirmed to be official, not just one of the many experiments that hide within Microsoft's various lairs.]]>
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Harvard Gets Its First VC Firm: The Experiment Fund

As just about everyone should know by now, the seeds of what grew into Facebook were planted at Harvard. Might there be a bunch of mini-Zucks lurking in the dorms of Cambridge? If so, a new venture capital firm — the first housed right on the Harvard campus — wants to find them.]]>
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Ron Paul, Mitt Romney Leading On Facebook Ahead Of Florida Primary

The Republican presidential candidacy is still far from decided, based on the split primaries and mixed polls so far. So here's another source for trying to figure who's really pulling ahead -- the number of new Facebook fans that each candidate is getting, according to the Inside Facebook Election Tracker.Mitt Romney is finally making some strong gains this month, in contrast to his Facebook performance over December. By "strong gains" I mean he's been attracting a roughly similar number of fans to Ron Paul, the candidate who normally dominates on the web (and the clear leader last month). The two have fought for the daily lead for most of January, except for when Rick Santorum surged around his Iowa primary win on the 3rd.]]>
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Why Every Entrepreneur Should Self-Publish a Book

I've published eight books in the past seven years, five with traditional publishers (Wiley, Penguin, HarperCollins), one comic book,  and the last two I've self-published. In this post I give the specific details of all of my sales numbers and advances with the traditional publishers. Although the jury is still out on my self-published books, "How to be the Luckiest Man Alive" and "I Was Blind But Now I See"  I can tell you these two have already sold more than my five books with traditional publishers, combined.If you, the entrepreneur, self-publish a book you will stand out, you will make more money, you will kick your competitors right in the XX, and you will look amazingly cool at cocktail parties. I know this because I am seldom cool but at cocktail parties, with my very own comic book, I can basically have sex with anyone in the room. But don't believe me, it costs you nothing and almost no time to try it yourself.]]>
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Samsung Exynos 5250 Begins Sampling – Mass Production in Q2 2012

Back in November, Samsung announced its next generation Exynos 5250 SoC based on ARM’s Cortex-A15 architecture. Samsung confirmed today during its earnings call that the Exynos 5250 has begun sampling and should hit mass production in Q2 2012

Just to recap, the Exynos 5250 is a 32nm dual-core Cortex-A15 SoC running at 2.0 Ghz. Memory bandwidth is a staggering 12.8 GB/s and allows it to drive up to WQXGA (2560x1600) resolution displays. As we reported back in November, compute performance should easily be twice that of the 1.5Ghz dual-core Cortex-A9-based Exynos 4210 and graphics performance is expected to be a four-fold improvement. 

However, not much is known about the GPU at this moment; but if the Exynos 4210 was anything to go by, we could see ARM's Mali T-604 based on their new Midgard architecture handling the pixel pushing duties. The Exynos 4210 packed a Mali-400 MP4 GPU, while its predescessor, Hummingbird, used a PowerVR SGX540 GPU. Samsung does have licenses to other GPU designs from ARM and Imagination Technologies, so at this point, the GPU in the Exynos 5250 could be anybody's guess.

The next generation SoC race is definitely heating up with silicon from major players such as Qualcomm (Snapdragon S4 "Krait") and Texas Instruments (OMAP 5) all expected to ramp up production soon, with devices expected in Q3/Q4 2012. Of course, what Apple could be doing with its A6 chip is entirely another story.

Source: GSMArena

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The AMD FX (Bulldozer) Scheduling Hotfixes Tested

The basic building block of Bulldozer is the dual-core module, pictured below. AMD wanted better performance than simple SMT (ala Hyper Threading) would allow but without resorting to full duplication of resources we get in a traditional dual core CPU. The result is a duplication of integer execution resources and L1 caches, but a sharing of the front end and FPU. AMD still refers to this module as being dual-core, although it's a departure from the more traditional definition of the word. In the early days of multi-core x86 processors, dual-core designs were simply two single core processors stuck on the same package. Today we still see simple duplication of identical cores in a single processor, but moving forward it's likely that we'll see more heterogenous multi-core systems. AMD's Bulldozer architecture may be unusual, but it challenges the conventional definition of a core in a way that we're probably going to face one way or another in the not too distant future.


A four-module, eight-core Bulldozer

The bigger issue with Bulldozer isn't one of core semantics, but rather how threads get scheduled on those cores. Ideally, threads with shared data sets would get scheduled on the same module, while threads that share no data would be scheduled on separate modules. The former allows more efficient use of a module's L2 cache, while the latter guarantees each thread has access to all of a module's resources when there's no tangible benefit to sharing.

This ideal scenario isn't how threads are scheduled on Bulldozer today. Instead of intelligent core/module scheduling based on the memory addresses touched by a thread, Windows 7 currently just schedules threads on Bulldozer in order. Starting from core 0 and going up to core 7 in an eight-core FX-8150, Windows 7 will schedule two threads on the first module, then move to the next module, etc... If the threads happen to be working on the same data, then Windows 7's scheduling approach makes sense. If the threads scheduled are working on different data sets however, Windows 7's current treatment of Bulldozer is suboptimal.

AMD and Microsoft have been working on a patch to Windows 7 that improves scheduling behavior on Bulldozer. The result are two hotfixes that should both be installed on Bulldozer systems. Read on for our take on what these hotfixes do to Bulldozer's Windows 7 performance.

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AMD Posts Catalyst 12.1 Drivers, Catalyst 12.2 Preview

AMD has posted its first Catalyst driver package of the new year, Catalyst version 12.1, the feature set of which hasn't changed much since the preview release - the banner feature is still custom application profiles, which allow users to create custom 3D and CrossFire setting for individual games. This has long been a feature offered by NVIDIA's driver packages, and it's nice to see AMD implementing it. AMD notes that users of the Catalyst 12.1 preview package should restore the Catalyst Control Center's default settings after upgrading to prevent compatibility issues.

The 12.1 drivers also enable 3D display support for CrossFireX setups, and a "Stereo 3D mode" over HDMI 1.4a connections which supports 1080p at 30Hz on displays that can take advantage of it. New video color and quality adjustment panels offer no new features but aim to simplify adjustment of those settings. A handful of game and bug fixes for Windows 7 and Vista users round out the release notes.

The Catalyst 12.2 preview, available here, focuses primarily on Eyefinity 2.1 improvements. These include a "larger" selection of resolutions are available, the drivers will automatically switch between different display configurations as monitors are plugged in and unplugged, the HydraVision software now allows the Windows taskbar to be moved and resized, and the driver also offers "increased support" for Display Groups, including groups of up to five monitors. Additionally, the 12.2 driver addresses many of the "known issues" with games present in the 12.1 drivers.

Interestingly, neither driver offers support for the newly-released Radeon HD 7970 cards—AMD says that 7970 users need to stick with the separate 8.921.2 RC11 driver, posted here. Given that the preview driver packages tend to be pretty representative of the final WHQL-certified versions, we may not see 7000-series support in the Catalyst packes until 12.3 (but hopefully not much later).

As usual, these drivers are available for desktops running 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows 7, Vista, and XP, and laptops running Windows 7 and Windows Vista. Most DirectX 10 and 11 capable cards, IGPs, and APUs in the 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, and 6000 series are supported.

Source: AMD (12.1, 12.2)

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Monday, January 23, 2012

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Review: LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt Series 240GB SSD

The Thunderbolt version of LaCie's Little Big Disk comes in three varieties. Two of them contain hard disks, but this one packs solid-state drives. There are two inside, pre-configured as a striped RAID array for a total capacity of 240GB.

Although that pales in comparison to the less costly hard disk models, the pairing of Thunderbolt with even faster storage is an exciting proposition. LaCie quotes read speeds up to 480MB/s, around 290MB/s faster than the hard disk versions, and write speeds up to 245MB/s, which, although less jaw-dropping, is still a respectable boost of 55MB/s.

Our tests revealed a pleasant surprise: LaCie's figures are too conservative. It achieved 502.7MB/s when reading such files, and 256.7MB/s when writing them. Speeds tailed off for small files under 1MB, but the low of 24.2MB/s is respectable for them.

However, the Little Big Disk is really aimed at apps that require the ability to sustain high speeds when handling large files such as high-spec video, and it shines at this.

The Little Big Disk boasts a second Thunderbolt port for daisy-chaining other devices. So, connecting it to a MacBook doesn't forfeit the ability to work more comfortably with a second display.

Thunderbolt can deliver 10W of power to a device, but the drive requires an external power supply. It adds roughly a third of the drive's volume again, which isn't much. It's more irritating to carry another bulky three-pronged UK plug.

The drive's metal body is sturdy. It weighs 650g, or just under half a 13-inch MacBook Air. The ridged sides are intended to dissipate heat, but it was only lukewarm after copying 100GB to the drive. The fan, though, emitted a noticeable high pitch about halfway through.

Don't forget to add the £35 cost of Apple's Thunderbolt cable, which isn't bundled. But if you need and can afford this sort of performance when away from your desk, that isn't going to hold you back. Nor should it.

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14 Steps To Successful SEO For Startups

This is a guest post by Ryan Spoon (@ryanspoon), a principal at Polaris Ventures. Read more about Ryan on his blog at ryanspoon.com.For startups, it is dangerous to entirely separate product and marketing – both strategically and organizationally. A great product isn’t overly useful without an audience. And a great marketing strategy can’t save a poor product. Product and marketing have to coexist.]]>
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Cowen: Google’s Mobile Ad Revenues Could Surge To $5.8 Billion In 2012

How much does Google make in advertising from mobile? Cowen analyst Jim Friedland estimates that Google is generating $7 per year from each smartphone (and tablet). This includes both search and display advertising in mobile apps on both Android and iOS (iPhones and iPads). Thanks to the rapid growth in smart mobile devices from an estimated 509 million last year to nearly double that in 2012 to an estimated 914 million, Google's mobile ad revenues are expected to more than double from an estimated $2.5 billion last year to $5.8 billion in 2012 (see chart).]]>
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Summify Shutdown Means Big Gains for News.me

When social news startup Summify announced Thursday that it was being acquired by Twitter, it looked like the Summify's existing users were out-of-luck — the company said the current version of the service would be shut down.Enter News.me. The company is best-known for its iPad newsreading app (which was developed at The New York Times, then commercialized by incubator betaworks) but it also offers an email digest of news from your Twitter stream, similar to Summify. It sounds like jilted Summify users jumped on News.me as an alternative, so the company published a blog post telling Summify users, "We're here for you," outlining upcoming features like Facebook integration, and asking for feedback.]]>
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Apple Just Incentivized Every College Kid To Get An iPad. As For High Schoolers…

As I watched Apple's iBooks event in New York City last week, my mind began to race about the ramifications of such announcements. Everyone had a pretty good idea for weeks (or months if you read the Steve Jobs biography) that textbooks would be a focal point for Apple, but there wasn't much thought given to what this would mean. During the event itself, I just kept thinking, "wow, Apple just incentivized every college student to get an iPad".Except, they didn't. Not yet.]]>
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Box’s Next Frontier: Cloud Storage For The Federal Government

For Box, 2011 was a huge year in terms of customer acquisition. Box ended the year with 77% of the Fortune 500 using the company's cloud storage offerings. Procter and Gamble marked one of Box's largest deployments for the year. While Box is still continuing to focus on cloud solutions for the enterprise in 2012, the company has set its sights on a potentially huge fish for the year—the federal government.Box CEO and co-founder Aaron Levie tells me that there is a huge opportunity for Box in procuring cloud storage options for government agencies. "There's going to be a big shift in public sector using cloud services this year," Levie explains. "With so many agencies having to collaborate with public and other organizations, it's more efficient to do this in the cloud."]]>
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OK Go And Eytan And The Embassy Rockers Talk About Their New App: inBloom

Today two musicians sat down with me to have a chat: Andy Ross of OK Go, and Eytan Oren of Eytan and the Embassy. But we weren't there to talk music.The dynamic duo actually built an iPhone app called InBloom — a Yelp-style application that offers up sustainable businesses and eco-friendly/dietary food retailers based on location — and sat down with me to tell us how it came to be, and what it's all about.]]>
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Data And Privacy Rears Its Head At DLD

It's only day one of DLD, the annual TED-like conference in Munich thrown by German media giant Burda, and already we have a few misunderstandings brewing. Amid the furore surrounding the SOPA protests and lobbying form media companies, at the other end of the debate-spectrum, the European Commission, in the shape of EC vice-president Viviane Reding, has been looking at harmonising privacy and personal data in Europe. ]]>
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Weekend Watch Update

For the third time in a row Tag Heuer has once again released the worlds most precise mechanical chronograph watch. The oddly named Mikrogirder 2000 watch measures time with 5/10,000th of a second precision (and flair).The best German luxury brand A. Lange & Sohne releases a watch that sincere watch connoisseurs will go ga-ga over. It is the new Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar timepiece.]]>
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The Uphill Battle Of Social Event Sharing: A Post-Mortem for Plancast

Nearly three years ago, I left my position at TechCrunch to start my own Internet business, with the idea of creating a web application that’d help people get together in real-life rather than simply helping them connect online as most social networking applications had done.Alas, our efforts began to stall after several months post-launch, and we were never able to scale beyond a small early adopter community and into critical, mainstream usage. While the initial launch and traction proved extremely exciting, it misled us into believing there was a larger market ready to adopt our product. This post-mortem is an attempt to describe the fundamental flaws in our product model and, in particular, the difficulties presented by events as a content type.]]>
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Six Lessons in Entrepreneurship

As much as we all strive to build sustainable and stand-alone companies, we’re living in a period of massive transformation and thus, consolidation and acquisition. As a result, many entrepreneurs build their businesses with potential acquirers in mind, choosing to grow at any cost instead of actually building a sustainable business that is solvent and profitable.GRP VC Mark Suster (and occasional Techcrunch contributor) published an article on this themerecently. The very short version of the post is: “Most companies (98+%) in the world (even tech startups) should be very profit focused. Being profitable allows you degrees of freedom you don’t have when you rely upon other people’s money.”]]>
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Weight Watchers For Small Business: Silver Lining Helps You Set Financial Goals (And Actually Meet Them)

Owning a small business is tough. Carissa Reiniger has been working in small business development for over seven years and says she's seen countless entrepreneurs and small business owners run into what she calls the "cash flow catch 22": If I had more money, I could make more time -- and vice versa. What's more, the large majority of startups and small businesses that fail, she believes, don't hit the deadpool because their ideas were terrible, but instead because their owners' health declined, or their spouses were fed up with them working 80 hours a week, or they didn't have the stamina or resources to push on.That's why Carissa founded Silver Lining -- to help small business owners make enough money so that they can keep doing what they love. To help jack up the success rates of SMBs, she and her team created "The Slap", or the Silver Lining Action PLan. ]]>
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RIM Co-CEOs To Step Down; COO To Take The Reins

I suppose some might have seen this coming. In December, Research In Motion (RIM) released their third quarter earnings, which were yet another disappointment for the struggling maker of BlackBerry. RIM Co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis announced subsequently that they would only draw yearly salaries of $1 to help combat the company's financial woes. Today, it seems the pressure has become too great, and a management shuffle is under way. The Globe has reported that the co-CEOs, after a year of pressure from investors and stockholders, have stepped down from the position. Company insider and current COO Thorsten Heins will be replacing them as the new chief executive.]]>
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RIM’s New Playbook: The CEO Sneak

It was a big day for football fans, with both the AFC and NFC Championships taking place this afternoon and this evening. The games grab more than a few eyeballs every year -- last year's championships grabbed 54.8 million and 51.9 million viewers, respectively. While the numbers aren't out yet for today's games, the viewership is expected to be equally as enormous. That's why so many in the Twittersphere have been so quick to point out that, nestled quietly behind a hotly contested NFC Championship between the New York Giants and the San Francisco 49ers, and an equally great game over in the AFC, was a fairly huge announcement for the maker of BlackBerry, Research In Motion. During Championship Sunday, RIM quietly released a statement saying that its co-CEOs, Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, are stepping down and will be replaced by current COO for products and sales, Thorsten Hein. ]]>
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SOPA Spring

It's not so much that the world has changed as that the speed with which events evolve has telescoped. The rise of social analytics and realtime feedback loops means that business processes are now transformed on the fly by the velocity with which the impact of a product or idea or strategy is folded back into the process flow. Products become services, interactive streams of data and influence metadata where who thinks what about it when changes the service elastically.That explains why our leaders are having so much trouble with realtime. Their expertise is in the politics of yesterday, where all the PI used to live. What's happening? Look at the last election's data. Meanwhile this year's voters are getting Twitter push notifications with links to the most up-to-date attitude from a cloud-curated stream of instant influentials. Translated: the news is delivered on a whispernet by those we trust with follows and engage with @mentions.]]>
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I’d Rather Watch Instagram Than A Movie

Last week a friend of mine asked me at brunch, innocently enough, "What's Instagram, and why do you use it?" I meekly offered the answer, "It's a way to share photos via the iPhone," and then, feeling like I hadn't done it enough justice, went on the defensive and was like, "Oh but it's really simple and that's what makes it emotional. Like in one click, I can view all these interwoven stories." It turns out he used Instagram himself, and just wanted to hear someone describe its appeal.The appeal of Instagram is, for lack of a better word. simple; the world is moving too damn fast and we don't want the cognitive load of figuring out what we're looking at -- we just want to see simple pretty things. This simplicity is what makes services like Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest a joy versus other entertainment offerings.]]>
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Gadgets Week in Review: Picture Book

Here are some stories from the past week on TechCrunch Gadgets: What Happened To Kodak’s Moment? Improvement On Age-Old Mathematical Principle Could Yield Improved Images, Video Sea Change: Apple Guts Textbook Publishing Marketing Genius: Two Twins Giggling As They Sell You Designer 3D Glasses What Is A 3D Printer Good For? Stop-Motion Cartoons Featuring Princesses, Of Course!]]>
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Maker Of Taxi-Ordering App myTaxi Raises €10 Million From Daimler, Lars Hinrichs

Intelligent Apps, the Hamburg, Germany-based startup behind popular taxi ordering smartphone application myTaxi, has raised 10 million euros in growth funding from car2go, a subsidiary of Daimler, Germany’s third largest carmaker. XING and Hackfwd founder Lars Hinrichs also participated in the financing round, as did previous backers T-Venture (Deutsche Telekom) and KfW Bankengruppe.According to Bloomberg Businessweek, Daimler took a 15 percent stake in the mobile apps developer.Intelligent Apps claims myTaxi has a market share of no less than 80 percent in Europe, and is still growing fast. The app has been downloaded 800,000 times to date, and 7,000 taxi drivers have registered for the service so far.Read more at TechCrunch Europe.]]>
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TV ShowCase at CES 2012

Samsung and LG 55-inch OLED TVs
What's not to like? Except, perhaps, the prices (which will be revealed closer to the TVs' introduction). Most new TVs offer an incremental step up in picture-quality improvements. But with OLED TVs, even casual viewers will notice that something transformative is going on: deep, inky blacks, high contrast, vivid colors, and exceptional detail, all packed into a frame as sleek and sexy as I've ever seen.
Samsung OLED

LG OLED

Samsung is using RGB OLED technology, while LG employs white OLEDs plus a color filter, but it's too early to tell if one of them can offer either better picture quality or manufacturing advantages that would make them cheaper to produce. We'll have to wait until the very end of the year to find out how much these TV are going to cost, but I've heard estimates in the $8,000 to $10,000 range. Both TVs will be 3D-capable models with full Internet access, streaming movie services, and app markets.

LG 84-inch Ultra Definition TV
In addition to OLED, another new TV technology we heard a lot about at CES was 4K, or TVs with four times the picture detail of current 1080p sets. While there are several different 4K resolutions, including "true" 4K x 2K (4096 x 2160), LG's eye-grabbing 84-inch "Ultra Definition" TV—like some other sets—has a resolution of 3840 x 2160, which is a direct multiple of 1080p (1920 x 1080).

In addition to having more pixels, hence a greater ability to display fine detail, the LG set has all the company's bells and whistles, including passive 3D capability and its Smart TV Internet platform. The set will also have controls that allow you to adjust the depth of 3D images plus a new 3D Sound Zooming sound system that will sync to the onscreen 3D action. It will also come with a redesigned gesture-based Magic Remote that has added voice control to its bag of tricks.

Toshiba glasses-free 4K 3D TV
At CES, Toshiba once again tried to address a key impediment to 3D adoption for many people: the need to wear 3D glasses. Toshiba offered demos of a unique 4K 3D TV that didn't require glasses. To address one common problem with auto-stereoscopic 3D TVs—very narrow viewing angles—Toshiba's TV uses a powerful processor and the higher 4K resolution to create nine different views for viewers sitting in different areas in the room. The TV also has a built-in camera and facial-recognition technology to present the images correctly to viewers.

In the demo I saw, the technology still didn't seem to be perfected—there was some blurring when I moved off-angle, and the depth of the 3D effect didn't seem quite as impressive as with 3D TVs that use glasses—but it does offer a glimpse of the improvements being made to achieve glasses-free 3D. Toshiba told me that the TV, available in some foreign markets already, would hit the U.S. at the end of the year. No pricing was announced, but the TV currently sells for about the equivalent of $10,000 where it's available.

Sony's Crystal LED TV
Although some manufacturers would like you to believe you can buy an LED TV today, all the so-called LED sets currently on the market are really LCD TVs with LED backlights. AT CES, Sony actually showed a 55-inch prototype of a real LED TV, which is dubbed the Crystal LED Display. Although Sony says it has no plans to introduce any products using the technology in the foreseeable future—it is still experimenting with OLED technology as well—the Crystal LED set uses LEDs as the TV's light source, so no separate backlight is required.

Sony says the ultra-fine LEDs are mounted to each of the RGB colors, and the light source is mounted directly on the front of the display for better light-use efficiency. Based on the demo I saw, the Crystal LED display technology has many of the same advantages as OLED sets—most notably, a wider color gamut, better contrast, and faster response times than traditional LCD TVs. The improvements didn't seem quite as dramatic as with the OLED demos I viewed, but then again, the technology seems to be a bit further off on the horizon. Not surprisingly, pricing wasn't discussed.

While all the above sets provided interesting demonstrations of new technology, it looks like price-wise they'll be out of the reach of most consumers. That's OK; there are plenty of mainstream sets heading our way this year that should please even the most finicky viewers. Here are a few that I'm looking forward to getting my hands on in our TV labs:

Panasonic VT50-series plasma TVs
Panasonic's flagship plasmas, offered in 55- and 65-inch screen sizes, get some upgrades this year, including full Web browsing capability with Flash support as part of the Viera Connect Internet platform. Both VT50-series models use the "one-sheet-of-glass" design we saw on last year's VT30 series and are active-3D-capable sets with built-in Wi-Fi. Based on the quick demo I saw at the booth, this year's TVs boast better black levels—they include Panasonic's Infinite Black Ultra panels—but we'll have to officially weigh in on that after we get the sets in our labs.

Vizio CinemaWide 21:9 TVs
While most TVs we saw at CES were thinner, Vizio went wider with line of 21:9 CinemaWide 3DTVs, which were initially planned for last year. Three models will be offered, in 50-inch (XVT3D500CM), 58-inch (VT3D580CM), and 71-inch (XVT3D710CM) screen sizes, all with a higher 2560 x 1080 resolution due to the added width. These new 21:9 TVs are likely to appeal to movie buffs, as they will be able to display the many movies that are shot in the wider 2.35:1 or 2.39:1 aspect ratios without black bars appearing above or below the image.

The TVs can also scale 16:9 programs and movies to fill the wider screen, so there won't be any black bars on the sides, or you can choose to simultaneously display a full 16:9 full-HD image with apps appearing in a window on the side. All these sets will be full-featured models that use Vizio's passive 3D technology and include its VIA (Vizio Internet Apps) Internet TV platform. The two smaller sets use edge LED backlights with local dimming and include 120Hz technology, while the 71-inch model has a full-array LED backlight with local dimming and 240Hz technology.

Samsung E8000-series LCD and plasma TVs
All these sets are active 3D-capable models that include Samsung's Smart TV platform plus a full Web browser and access to Samsung's apps, including a TV-friendly version of Rovio's popular Angry Birds. The TVs get a bump in processing power, with new dual-core processors. Also new is Smart Interaction, which lets you use gestures and your voice to control the TV.

The sets also have facial recognition, so they can call up a customized TV interface for each user. And they'll also have have a feature called Smart Evolution, which is a slot in the TV that can accept an optional kit—both hardware and software—that can be added to the TV to update features and performance. The E8000 LCD TVs get edge-mounted LEDs with a new local dimming (micro dimming) process that divides the segments into smaller zones. Bigger 65- and 75-inch sets will arrive this summer.

Sony Bravia Bravia HX850-series LCD TVs
Sony's new flagship LCD TV series, offered in 46- and 55-inch screen sizes, are active 3D-capable TVs with the company's Motionflow XR 960 technology (for a 960Hz-like effect) to reduce motion blur, a dynamic edge LED backlight with local dimming, and built-in Wi-Fi. The TVs, which sport Sony's elegant frameless Monolitic design and Gorilla Glass, are also Skype-ready for use with an optional webcam and feature the Sony Entertainment Network online platform: This now includes the Video Unlimited and Music Unlimited streaming services, plus a new cloud-based family-memories-and-photo service, called PlayMemories Online, that will launch this spring.

Sharp Aquos LC-80LE844U
Admittedly, Sharp LCD TVs have been inconsistent performers in our Ratings, but I couldn't help but be impressed by the sheer size of this 80-inch monster. This top-of-the-line set is a 3D-capable model that uses a new version (Quad Pixel Plus II) of Sharp's four-color Quattron technology, and it includes a full-array LED backlight, 240Hz technology, built-in Wi-Fi and access to Sharp's Internet service. Like all LED-based Aquos LCDs, it comes with Aquos Advantage Live, a service that connects owners to a technician who can help with set-up, trouble-shooting, calibration, and even remote diagnosis. Despite the huge size, the Energy Star-compliant TV is expected to use only $22 worth of electricity per year, according to Sharp's estimates.

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Netgear at CES 2012: Consumer Networking, Storage and Media Products

It is almost a week since CES got over, but I still have a few meetings from the show that are pending coverage. There isn't much point in just rehashing press releases, and I take the extra effort to gather the right information that readers want. Given that most of my focus is on HTPCs and media streamers, I did talk with Netgear in detail about their plans for that market segment. But, before presenting that, let me take a small detour to write about the other interesting products.

WNDR4700 Media Storage Router

This router was honoured with a CES Innovations Design and Engineering award. It is quite different from any of the routers from other companies because of the addition of an internal hard drive slot. The model comes barebones or with a 2 TB hard disk installed internally. With the ability to act as a backup target for both Macs and PCs, it is an interesting alternative for users hooking up an external hard drive to the USB port of their routers.


The router also comes with all the high end features expected from a flagship model (simultaneous dual band with 450 Mbps in each channel, four GbE ports and two USB 3.0 ports for additional storage needs). Availability is slated for summer this year, while pricing is set to be announced at a later date.

XAVB5101 Nano Powerline Kit

Netgear also announced a small 500 Mbps powerline adapter, the XAVB5101 Nano. Its exceptionally small form factor ensure that the unit doesn't become a wall wart like most of the other powerline adapters that I have seen. The internal chipset is still from Atheros Qualcomm. We have been evaluating a number of powerline adapters based on that chipset, and initial testing results seem to indicate that there is not much of a performance improvement over the 200 Mbps kits in noisy line conditions (which could be all the time, if the end user is unlucky!).


In any case, if you are exploring powerline networking options and want something small and sleek, the XAVB5101 is a nice option. It will be available later this quarter for $120.

Apps for Networked Devices

While D-Link was concentrating on the cloud aspect for the control of networking equipment, Netgear seems to have hit upon apps as the way to move forward. Recognizing that many consumers install DD-WRT or Tomato on their routers, Netgear is providing an incentive for the developers of those firmwares to develop apps for their routers (and other products) to enable specific functionality not present in the original firmware.

In addition to router apps, Netgear also envisages that the 'Smart Network Cloud Application Platform' will include their NAS devices and media players. Netgear provides a SDK for developers to join in, and more information can be found here.

I saw some apps in action, running on a WNDR3500L v2. This seems like an interesting endeavour, and I am looking forward to see the types of apps which will eventually turn up for the various devices in the Netgear ecosystem.

Media Streamers

Readers who have followed my coverage of the NTV550 probably know that I was deeply disappointed with the way Netgear handled the product's firmware development. It looks like the NTV550 will get one more firmware update in February and then, will no longer be supported in terms of new firmwares. Unfortunately, I don't think one firmware update can fix all the issues that the unit currently suffers from. That said, the NTV550 is probably the cheapest Blu-ray enabled (unofficially) media streamer you can get, and it does work well enough in specific usage scenarios.

We also reviewed the Netgear NTV200 late last year, and were quite impressed for the range of OTT premium services supported for the price. Netgear just made the deal a whole lot sweeter at CES by adding Hulu Plus to the list of supported channels. The only premium service of note which the Roku 2 units have, but the NTV200 doesn't, is Amazon VoD. Netgear indicated that support was being planned for Amazon VoD too, but wouldn't commit on dates. The new killer feature of the NTV200 is undoubtedly Intel WiDi. Consumers wanting to take advantage of WiDi have often been forced to buy a separate unit with just a H.264 decoder in it, costing more than $50 usually. With the WiDi app, the NTV200 is able to replace the dedicated WiDi unit. I am very excited by this development, and Netgear deserves lot of credit for bringing this feature to the NTV200.

The Roku 2 comes in four different varieties (Roku 2 XS, Roku 2 XD, Roku 2 HD and Roku 2 LT) with pricepoints ranging from $50 to $100. The NTV200 has settled down to $50 at most retailers, and in terms of features it compares favorably to the Roku 2 XD priced at $80. Netgear seems to be preparing (but wouldn't confirm officially) another model based on the same chipset as the NTV200 and hopes to release it soon at $80. Tagged as the NTV210, it will include a USB port for local media support. Personally, I don't believe that the NTV200's chipset is powerful enough for local media streaming requirements. So, it will be interesting to see whether the NTV210 is at least better than the Roku 2 XS in terms of local media compatibility. Of course, our current recommendation for the best balance between local and online media support lies with the WDTV Live Hub / WDTV Live SMP, with the latter being available for less than $100. Can the NTV210 upstage the WDTV Live SMP? That will be something to wait and watch.

In addition to the above, Netgear also introduced a range of other products such as range extenders and DSL/cable modem/router combos. Hit up the source link for a detailed list.

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Windows 8 Mobile Broadband Enhancements Detailed

Using mobile broadband in Windows 8 will no longer require specific drivers and third-party software, says Microsoft's Billy Anders in a Building Windows 8 blog post today. This is thanks to the new Mobile Broadband Interface Model (MBIM) standard, which hardware makers are reportedly already beginning to adopt, and a generic driver in Windows 8 that can interface with any chip supporting that standard.

We've known for awhile now that mobile broadband chips would be treated as first-class devices in Windows 8 - the same as wi-fi, ethernet, Bluetooth, and USB 3.0, among others - but as usual Microsoft's blog post discusses the subject in exhaustive detail: because of their new first-class status, broadband antennas can be turned on and off in the same way that wi-fi and Bluetooth now are, and Airplane Mode can turn all of it off in one swoop, just like on a smartphone (see above). As on phones, Windows will automatically prioritize wi-fi networks when both wi-fi and cellular are available.

If your laptop or tablet has a SIM card installed, Windows will automatically detect which carrier it's associated with and download any available mobile broadband app from the Windows store, and carrier-unlocked laptops and tablets can choose between multiple cellular carriers if the hardware supports it (see above). As Brian noted in our first Windows 8 overview, the operating system also offers estimated data usage figures when connected to cellular networks, and the OS will adjust its default behaviors to save on data (for example, deferring automatic downloading and installing of Windows updates until wi-fi is available).

For people using wired or wi-fi connections that are also metered, Microsoft also gives you the option to see data usage figures for these networks. By selecting a "reduce data usage" option, Windows will use new built-in APIs to force network-aware Metro apps to use less data when possible (another example: using a low-bandwidth movie stream rather than a high bandwidth one). Network-aware Metro apps are required to use these APIs, and users can check how much bandwidth apps are using (both on metered and non-metered networks) in the Task Manager (above).

Lastly, Microsoft has made changes to the networking stack in Windows to allow for faster wi-fi connections when devices wake from sleep - information such as your preferred network list and other "hints" provided to your wi-fi adapter mean that wi-fi connections will be available "about a second" after the device wakes up.

That about covers all of the good stuff, but as always you can check the source post for more information. The Windows 8 beta is expected in February, with a final release targeted for sometime before the end of 2012.

Source: Building Windows 8 blog

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ASUS F1A75-M Pro Review - Micro-ATX Llano at $110

Llano is still selling strong for AMD, as shown by the relatively recent reports of representing a major aspect of their CPU profit margins. Building on our Llano and A75 review base, ASUS gave us the opportunity to look at their F1A75-M Pro motherboard - e-tailing at the time of writing for around $110.  Here at AnandTech we have reviewed other offerings from ASUS in A75, in full ATX from the F1A75-V Pro, and the mini-ITX F1A75-I Deluxe.  This time, it's the turn of micro-ATX.  Read on for the full review!

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TRIM Enabler 2.0 for OS X Lion Released

People are often concerned with the performance of their SSD; is it running as fast as advertised. TRIM is an essential part of keeping your SSD performance up (see this article for details) and it has been very beneficial for Windows 7 users. However, for Mac users, TRIM is only available if you purchase an SSD straight from Apple when buying your Mac. The actual TRIM command is supported by OS X, so with minor kext modifications, it’s possible to enable TRIM on non-Apple SSDs as well. Terminal is needed for this and although it’s simply a matter of copying and pasting the commands, not all users are comfortable with using Terminal at all.

To make enabling TRIM more user friendly, Oskar Groth (also known as Cindori) developed an app called TRIM Enabler. The app has now reached version 2.0 and is finally fully compatible with OS X Lion. The 1.x version worked in Lion but it included an old kext from Snow Leopard that caused worse performance for some users. TRIM Enabler 2.0 patches the kext file for you and also repairs permissions, something you would have to do manually if using the Terminal method. TRIM Enabler also supports S.M.A.R.T. monitoring on some SSDs, allowing the user to see for example the lifetime reads and the amount of retired blocks.

As always, use such utilities at your own risk. Especially SandForce based SSDs have had problems with TRIM in OS X and it’s generally not recommended to enable TRIM with them--plus the built-in garbage collection in SF SSDs is fairly effective. I would recommend force-enabling TRIM in OS X only if you do something disk intensive where performance matters, and only if you have an SSD where idle garbage collection is proving insufficient; otherwise you most likely won’t notice the change in performance and you run the risk of unintended consequences. On the other hand, TRIM Enabler makes disabling TRIM as easy as enabling it, so giving TRIM a try shouldn't hurt anything. Moreover, you can always enable TRIM later on if you experience poor performance, and even disable it right after it has TRIM’ed the empty blocks in case TRIM causes problems with your SSD.  

TRIM Enabler 2.0 can be downloaded here!

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Wilocity Demonstrates 60 GHz WiGig (Draft 802.11ad) Chipset at CES

At CES, I visited Wilocity to learn more about their WiGig chipset and see how close they were to being production-ready. A number of news articles covering Wilocity at CES have already been posted on various sites (PCMag, ArsTechnica). So, in this piece, I will be presenting analysis of details which haven't already been covered in the articles linked above.

Wilocity is part of the WiGig (Wireless Gigabit) alliance which promises systems capable of delivering upto 7 Gbps of bandwidth in the 60 GHz spectrum. The issue with the 60 GHz spectrum is the short range, which restricts it to being an in-room technology. The WiGig specifications are being developed under the auspices of the IEEE 802.11ad standards association, and expected to be ratified early next year. However, Wilocity believes that its current chipset adheres to the draft specifications, and it should not be difficult to make it compliant with the final specifications when it gets ratified.

Every technology needs to be in the right place at the right time, and the rise of tablets and the marketing push behind Ultrabooks might just be what WiGig needs. At CES, Wilocity (in association with AzureWave) demonstrated working prototypes of their chipset in action showing how it could solve the connectivity issue for Ultrabooks (and, by extension, tablets). AzureWave demonstrated the technology at Computex 2011, but the marketing push behind Ultrabooks was yet to take off at that time. The small and slim form factor of the Ultrabooks makes it very difficult to integrate I/O ports such as eSATA, USB 3.0, RJ-45 etc. which are taken for granted by many notebook users.

The DockingZone solution from AzureWave is meant to be a stationary dock in the room where the Ultrabook is usually used. It provides all the necessary I/Os like eSATA, RJ-45, USB ports (2.0 and 3.0), HDMI, VGA, DisplayPort etc. On the Ultrabook side, the Wi-Fi mini-PCI-E connector is replaced by a similar module which integrates Wilocity's chip as well as a Wi-Fi fallback option using a Qualcomm Atheros WLAN chipset. This enables the Ultrabook manufacturer to just replace the Wi-Fi module with the WiGig / Wi-Fi combo module without any loss of original functionality (essentially creating a tri-band wireless chipset). Since WiGig is media agnostic, it can be used to transfer data, I/O or video.

AzureWave DockingZone (Source: PCMag)

Wilocity's advertised usecase is the usage of the dock as a seamless extension of the Ultrabook itself. All the devices connected to the dock appear as if they are connected to the computer directly in the Windows Device Manager.

The speeds made possible with the Wilocity chipset make sure that even simultaneous data transfer and video output over HDMI don't cause system hiccups. Data transfers easily reached speeds of 1 Gbps and, on the whole, it was quite an impressive demo. Power consumption will apparently be on par with (or slightly better) than 802.11n based systems because of the possibility of the system going to sleep within a shorter timeframe because the data gets transferred faster.

Though the 60 GHz spectrum limits the range of the systems, the technology can take advantage of beamforming and also bounce off objects to not be necessarily a line-of-sight technology. Wilocity's technology has been part of the AzureWave system and has been demonstrated in various tradeshows over the last year or so. As I mentioned earlier, any technology needs to be in the right place at the right time. Wilocity's WiGig chipset adhering to the draft 802.11ad specifications is impressive enough to have a bright future ahead if Ultrabooks take off and tablets start to get used more within a single room in the household.
 

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Sunday, January 22, 2012

Review: Iomega TV with Boxee

We know that the Apple TV represents terrific value for money – but only if you live your life through iTunes. For those of us who have photos and video outside of Apple's walled garden, an Apple TV alternative such as the Iomega TV with Boxee we have here is a better bet.

But often in the past, these streaming devices have been rather lacking in ease of use. We looked at the original D-Link Boxee Box, and, while this Intel-powered Logitech box coped with all the media we could throw at it, there's still a major issue: price. There's no getting away from the fact it's twice the price of an Apple TV.

There are a few massive benefits with having a non-Apple box though. The first is support for 1080p HD video as well as a huge variety of formats (XviD for example), making converting files a thing of the past.

The second is the support for a huge amount of third-party video content from the likes of TED and The New York Times. Third, and most crucially, is the ability to stream from devices such as network storage drives, and not just your Mac.

There's also the ability to plug in and browse a USB hard drive containing video content you want to play. The box connects to your network via Wi-Fi or Ethernet, while there's HDMI, optical audio and composite plus two USB sockets front and back for connecting up devices.

Boxee devices are shipped with a remote that also has a QWERTY keyboard on the back. It's not the best, but it sure beats the Apple TV's stilted text input using the Apple Remote.

The interface isn't as good as the Apple TV's and could be considered a bit buggy in places (a problem since the original Boxee devices), but what you get is the flexibility so lacking with Apple TV – if you're prepared to pay for it.

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New bumblebee version nearing release

The Bumblebee developers team has been working on several improvements into a new version of bumblebee that will be released soon. Among the new features to be expected is the safe and seamless integration of discrete Nvidia card on/off switching with optirun calls to specific programs.

For more, follow http://twitter.com/Team_Bumblebee
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Bumblebee version 3.0 "Tumbleweed" release

The Bumblebee Project proudly presents version 3.0 of Bumblebee, a project
aiming to support NVIDIA Optimus technology under Linux. After two months of
hard work this version has finally been considered stable enough for release.

If you thought that Bumblebee was dead, it's still alive and kicking! See
http://wiki.bumblebee-project.org/FAQ

The project has been fully rewritten in the C programming language, providing
increased performance and reliability, mostly thanks to a new developer in the
project, Jaron Viëtor (a.k.a. Thulinma). That bring the number of main developers to
4, the three other ones being Peter Wu (a.k.a. Lekensteyn), Joaquín Ignacio
Aramendía (a.k.a. Samsagax) and Bruno Pagani (a.k.a. ArchangeGabriel).

The most important new feature is automatic power management support. Yes, in
Bumblebee 3.0 "Tumbleweed", you've got Power Management working out of the box,
without any manual configuration needed. That's not the only one though, the
full changelog could be found at
http://bumblebee-project.org/release-notes-3.0

This rewrite of the project was an occasion for updating available
documentations, wikis and instructions that can be found on the web. However,
please be aware that we cannot update all sites that exist and that a lot
misinformation is still spread. The best way to be sure to have the latest
instructions is checking our wiki at
http://wiki.bumblebee-project.org or follow us at
Twitter http://bumblebee-project.org/twitter,
Facebook http://bumblebee-project.org/facebook or
Google Plus http://bumblebee-project.org/g+.

Currently, packages for ArchLinux, Ubuntu and Mandriva have been packaged.
Below are installation instructions for some distributions:
Arch Linux:https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Bumblebee
Ubuntu:https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bumblebee
Debian: https://wiki.debian.org/Bumblebee
Mandriva: There's a bumblebee package in their repositories.
Other distributions can find more generic installation instructions at
http://wiki.bumblebee-project.org/Install-and-usage

We currently do not accept donations. The Paypal account referred by the
tinyurl "Bumblebee Project" belongs to Martin Juhl (MrMEEE), former
developer of Bumblebee and his own fork, Ironhide.

The team is looking for users having the necessary knowledge to build packages
for other popular distributions, if you're interested please join
#bumblebee-dev on Freenode. We'll then link our documentation to the one from
your distribution.

Now that Bumblebee 3.0 has been released, we will continue improving it.
Therefore we seek developers experienced in building Compositing Window
Managers, a goal we want to achieve for version (far).(away).

If you run into problems, be sure to read
http://wiki.bumblebee-project.org/Troubleshooting.
Although we aim at stability, (compatibility) issues may still occur which can
be reported by following the instructions on
http://wiki.bumblebee-project.org/Reporting-Issues.

The Bumblebee Project Team.
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Top 5 Home Wireless Broadband Routers

You can find the listing of some of the top 5 best wireless broadband routers for home broadband users in this article. Printing and file sharing in 802.11g is much faster when compared to 802.11b.

The former wireless router allows the user to add more and more computers without bogging it down. 802.11n series routers are much faster than “g”, but when you consider pricing, reliability and overall capabilities, 802.g is the best choice. Here’s a cool compilation of some of the best wireless broadband routers for home usage.
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Larry Page: Display Advertising Is A $5 Billion Business

The engine of Google's business is search advertising, but its display advertising business is becoming a very large business. During today's earnings call, CEO Larry Page that Google's display advertising business is at an "annualized run rate of $5 billion." That doesn't mean that $5 billion of Google's $38 billion in revenues in 2011 came from display advertising. It means that if you annualize the display advertising revenues in the fourth quarter, you would get $5 billion.]]>
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iSuppli Agrees With IDC, Gartner: Windows Phone To Surpass iOS By 2015

Nobody wants to give Windows Phone a chance except for Robin and a whole bunch of analysts. Back in September, IDC and Gartner predicted that Windows would overtake iOS for the number two spot in the market by 2015, and Windows Phone head of marketing Achim Berg called that prediction conservative. Now iSuppli has joined in, predicting that Windows Phone will grab a 16.7 percent market share by 2015, while Apple's market share is expected to decline from 18 percent to 16.6 percent in 2015. ]]>
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Google Commerce Starts The Year Off With A Reorganization

Some of Google's core product areas, like search and YouTube, have the enviable duty of retaining market dominance. Others, like its Android mobile operating system, get to be the free-wheeling disruptor. Google Commerce, meanwhile, has the perennial chore of trying to gain ground versus a vareity of well-established payments competitors ranging from PayPal on the web to Apple's iTunes and Amazon on mobile.So, it's not that surprising to hear about a reorganization within the commerce area as Google tries to figure this space out, as we and others did yesterday. Stephanie Tilenius, one of the two executives that Google poached from PayPal a couple years ago, has been moved to the side, according to two industry sources I've spoken with.]]>
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Anonymous Reacts to Megaupload Takedown With “Largest Attack Ever”

Hacker group Anonymous isn't happy about the takedown of file-sharing site Megaupload, and as a result, it's targeting some big companies and government agencies are going toEarlier this afternoon, interspersed with a stream of anti-SOPA and PIPA tweets, Anonymous the main Anonymous Twitter account declared, "The government takes down #Megaupload? 15 minutes later #Anonymous takes down government & record label sites. #ExpectUs." Specifically, the group claimed responsibility for taking down the Universal Music, RIAA (the record industry's lobbying arm), and Department of Justice websites, among others. As of 3pm Pacific, the sites were still down for me, although some comments on Twitter suggested that they were returning online sporadically.]]>
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Mozilla’s Anti-SOPA Message Reached 40 Million People

By blacking out the default Firefox start page and using social media, Mozilla reached 40 million people with its anti-SOPA/PIPA message. According to a stats wrap-up just posted to the Mozilla blog, 30 million people in the US saw the start page's call to action, 1.8 million visited its mozilla.org/SOPA info page, and the effort generated 360,000 emails to Congress. Here's how it stacked up against the impact of Google and Wikimedia's protests:]]>
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Does Google Have An Interest In Pinterest?

I've spent about a week trying to track down the rumors that Google had expressed interest in a Pinterest acquisition and here's what I know thus far (here's where to email if you know more): So Google never gave an official offer to grid bookmarking service Pinterest, but the desire to do was expressed (somehow?) indirectly, with a price in the "hundreds of millions" according to multiple sources.This makes sense, as Google wanted to buy Path for $200 million before it had any users. Pinterest has a bajillion users.]]>
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Pulse Jumped From 1 Million To 11 Million Downloads In 2011; Now Seeing Download Every 2 Seconds

In November, Amazon began shipping its new Kindle. At the time, even though reactions were varied, though Amazon hoped for the best, as some projected it would sell as many as 5 million by the end of 2011. Though the indications are that it didn't get there. However, the media hype and early Kindle sales have still been a boon for a young startup that you're probably by now familiar with: Pulse.]]>
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Does Google+ Really Have 60% Daily Engagement? Probably Not

With 90 million users, it would seem that things are going quite well for Google+. Those numbers don't mean much without context, though. Google+'s Vic Gundotra seemingly providedsome of that context by posting an image that said "over 60% sign in daily" and "over 80% sign in weekly," but it looks like Google is being rather vague about whether this means that 60% and 80% of Google+'s total users sign into Google+ or if they sign into Google (or if it means something completely different instead).]]>
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SOPA Protests Sway Congress: 31 Opponents Yesterday, 122 Now

Yesterday the Internet the internet cried out in protest of SOPA-PIPA, and congress heard us loud and clear. At the beginning of Janaury 18th, there were 80 members of congress who supported the legislation, and 31 opponents. Now, just 63 support SOPA-PIPA, and opposition has surged to 122, according to ProPublica.Now lets look at the breakdown by House, Senate, Democrat, and Republican, and see if there's enough opposition to defeat the bills. Currently there are still enough stated supporters for PIPA to pass in the Senate...]]>
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Sheryl Sandberg on Facebook Culture: It’s in the Posters

For the latest episode of her Valley Girl web show, Jesse Draper (daughter of venture capitalist Tim Draper) managed to score an interview with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg.For the first half of the interview, Sandberg talks about her work-life balance and her desire to see women in high-profile executive roles — it's engaging and informal, though it largely covers the same ground as the New Yorker's profile of Sandberg last year.]]>
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Of Course iPads Belong In Classrooms — It’s All About Balance

"iPads And Digital Textbooks Don't Belong In Classrooms Yet"? What a headline. Alas, it doesn't quite do the post justice; Matt actually raises a few valid points on the potential woes of digitally assisted learning, but they're lost under a headline that (falsely) paint him as some sort of luddite.iPads absolutely have a place in the classroom. It's just a matter of finding a balance. ]]>
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Microsoft Girds Itself For Windows 8 Battle And Beyond

Microsoft's quarterly earnings statement didn't have any big surprises. It was generally good news: record total revenue, growth in many key sectors, big sales in Xbox, 525 million total Windows 7 licenses sold, and they even seem to be losing a little less money in the Online Services area. But all that is a side show. 2011 was a big one for Microsoft in mobile (at least, big in that they took major actions), but for their core businesses it has been a hold-steady year. 2012 will be an adventure.Windows 8 is Microsoft's next big thing. And trends suggest that by the time Windows 9 comes around, things in the personal computing industry may look a lot different. The way they handle this next phase will set the stage for the inevitable "post-PC era" changes.]]>
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Damning Evidence Emerges In Google-Apple “No Poach” Antitrust Lawsuit

Next week a class-action civil lawsuit will be heard in San Jose to determine if Google, Apple, Pixar, Lucasfilm, Adobe, Intel, and Intuit conspired to eliminate competition for skilled labor. In anticipation of the hearing, TechCrunch has attainedevidence from the Department of Justice's investigation in 2010 which was made public this evening for the first time. It appears to support the plaintiff's case that the defendant companies tried to suppress employee compensation by entering into "no poach" agreements.]]>
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VC Investing Soars 22 Percent To $28.4B In 2011, Internet Sector Reaches Highest Levels In A Decade

VCs poured significantly more money into deals in 2011, according to a recently released MoneyTree Report by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association, based on data from Thomson Reuters. Venture capitalists invested $28.4 billion in 3,673 deals in 2011, an increase of 22 percent in dollars and a 4 percent rise in deals over the prior year. The amount of venture dollars invested in 2011 represents the third highest annual investment total in the past ten years.In terms of the fourth quarter, investments in the quarter totaled $6.6 billion in 844 deals, which is actually a 10 percent decrease in terms of dollar amount and an 11 percent decrease in deals from the third quarter of 2011 when $7.3 billion went into 953 deals.]]>
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Daily Crunch: Sense Effects

Here are some recent posts on TechCrunch Gadgets: ZOOM’s B3 Bass Effects Pedal Launches At NAMM iPads And Digital Textbooks Do Not Belong In Classrooms Yet Apple Announces iBooks 2, A New Textbook Experience For The iPad Sea Change: Apple Guts Textbook Publishing Wireless Sensor Posts Temperature, Humidity, And Radiation Levels To Twitter (Video)]]>
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Saturday, January 21, 2012

Capcom Announces Surprising November Release For Resident Evil 6 (First Trailer)

One of the world's biggest video game franchises is getting a new title: Capcom today announced Resident Evil 6 [JP] for the Xbox 360, Sony PS3, and the PC. What's interesting is that the company also said when exactly the game will come out, namely on November 20 in North America and Europe, and two days later in Japan.Note that the release dates are for the console versions, the PC version hasn't been dated yet. By way of comparison: Resident Evil 5 was announced in 2005 and went on sale four years later.]]>
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Downfall: Photos Of MegaUpload Founder’s Valuable Cars Getting Seized

The shit really hit the fan over at massively popular file hosting site MegaUpload. Yesterday, the United States Department of Justice seized and shut down the site and commenced criminal cases against its owners and others, sparking retaliatory actions from hacker collective Anonymous.Yesterday, following the DoJ indictment, the Organised and Financial Crime Agency of New Zealand arrested MegaUpload founder Kim Schmitz (aka Kim Dotcom), CMO Finn Batato and CTO Mathias Ortmann.]]>
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SkyGrid Debuts iPad App Touchtv To Allow Users To Watch Content On Demand

SkyGrid, a startup that offers a powerful news aggregator to consumers is venturing into the TV content and media business with the launch of Touchtv, an iPad app that allows viewers to watch recent programs from popular sports, entertainment, politics, and news channels.Custom designed for the iPad, Touchtv, which is a free app, aims to give viewers their own personal TV via the iPad to watch their favorite channels. SkyGrid has partnered with a number of networks including Fox, CBS, ABC, NBC, ESPN, OWN, E! and others to show specific content and programming.]]>
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Snake Camouflage: Japan Gets Exclusive Metal Gear Solid 3DS System

Resident Evil isn’t the only big video game series that made the news in Nippon today: Konami announced [JP] the so-called METAL GEAR SOLID SNAKE EATER 3D PREMIUM PACKAGE for the Japanese market. The set includes a special 3DS system, a copy of Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D, and two clear files in MGS design. Here’s the so-called “Snake Camouflage”-style 3DS:]]>
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Tremor Video Acquires ‘InPlay’ Video Analytics Tech From TubeMogul

Exclusive - Online video ad technology company Tremor Video has purchased InPlay, the video analytics solution for publishers, from TubeMogul. Tremor Video will integrate InPlay directly into VideoHub, its enterprise video platform.]]>
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Cooler Master Silencio 450 mid-tower chassis - Desktop Cabinet

Cooler Master one the leading manufacture of high end cabinet and processor FAN, Cooler Master has launched the latest chassis in its Silencio line, the Silencio 450, a mid-tower case designed to reduce sound.

Priced approximately £50, the case has a number of sound-dampening features, including a solid-steel frame, foam padding, rubber feet and two 120mm Cooler Master quiet-spinning fans.

The interior of the Silencio 450 features a removable hard drive cage, three 5.25in, six 3.5in and one 2.5in hard drive bay, dust filters and a switchable door hinge.

Full specifications are detailed below:


Available Color Full Black
Material Steel body, plastic front bezel
Dimension (W / H /
D)
194 x 451.45 x 494.75 mm (7.63 x 17.77 x 19.47
inch)
Weight 6.2kg / 13.66 lb
M/B Type Micro-ATX, ATX
5.25" Drive Bay 3 exposed
3.5" Drive Bay 1 exposed, 5 hidden
I/O Panel USB 3.0 x 1, USB 2.0 x 1,
Mic x1, Audio x 1, SD card reader x 1
Expansion Slots 7
Cooling System Front: 120mm fan x 1, 800 RPM
(can support 140mm fan x 1)
Rear: 120mm fan x 1, 800 RPM
(can support 80/90mm fan x 1)
Power Supply Standard ATX PS2 (optional)
2.5"/3.5"- SATA
HDD Drive Bay
1 hidden
Maximum
Compatibility
CPU cooler height: 6.16 inch / 156.5mm
VGA card length: 11.06 inch / 281mm
16.61 inch / 422mm (Without HDD cage)
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Dell's Ultrabook is the XPS 13 at CES 2012

Dell is one the larggest lapto and PC maker and also one the trusted Brand, Dell's taken a while to jump aboard the Ultrabook bandwagon, but it's now prepared to do battle with the likes of ASUS's Zenbook UX31 with the newly-unveiled XPS 13.

Introduced at this week's CES trade show, the XPS 13 is Dell's first attempt at Intel's Ultrabook form factor and features a lush 13in edge-to-edge Gorilla Glass display that, thanks to a slim bezel all round, enables the system to maintain an overall size similar to that of an 11in laptop.
It's certainly attractive, and it has all the hallmarks of a quality Ultrabook. The XPS 13 measures just 18mm thick at the rear, tapers down to a razor-thin 6mm up front, and weighs as little as 1.36kg. The system's highly portable, but it should be sufficiently strong, too, thanks to a carbon fibre base and a machined aluminium lid.

On the inside, Dell's base specification will include an Intel Core i3 processor with integrated HD 3000 graphics, a 128GB solid-state drive, a backlit keyboard and a six-cell battery that promises nearly nine hours of battery life (eight hours, fifty-three minutes to be exact).

Elsewhere, you'll find a 1.3-megapixel webcam, two USB ports (one of which is of the SuperSpeed 3.0 variety), mini-DisplayPort, a headset jack, multi-touch trackpad and both Wireless-N and Bluetooth connectivity.

A strong foundation, but there are a few features that haven't made the cut. The 13.3in display, despite looking lovely, offers a limited 1,366x768 resolution - there's sadly no option to upgrade - and the laptop Ultrabook appears to be without an SD card slot or memory reader.
The display resolution is the major question mark, more so when you consider that ASUS's Zenbook UX31 offers a 1,600x900 display and Apple's MacBook Air weighs in at 1,440x900, but Dell does have some other goodies in store.

By being late to the Ultrabook party, the manufacturer has been able to utilise rarely-seen Intel technologies such as Smart Connect - which allows the XPS 13 to "wake periodically to detect known networks and update calendar and email."

And, in an effort to address multiple customers in one fell swoop, the XPS 13 will be available with a choice of Enterprise-specific enhancements. These include a standard Trusted Platform Module for BitLocker Data Encryption, ProSupport after-sales service and asset tagging.

Dell also claims that the XPS 13 will boot into Windows 7 in just 13 seconds, and adds that location awareness functionality will be made available to the system via Skyhook and Google Places shortly after launch. Speaking of which, the XPS 13 will first arrive on US shores at the end of February priced from $999, followed by a UK launch in March.
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