Google Issues Nexus One Software Update
Posted by James B. in Technology on February 4, 2010
Google announced on Tuesday it has issued an over-the-air free software update for users of its new Nexus One smartphone. The update will come via the telephone network instead of having to plug it into a computer and download the software.
In addition to adding several new features, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) said it thinks the update released today for the Nexus One will address 3G connectivity issues some users reported last month. “We will provide a general fix to help improve 3G connectivity on some Nexus One phones,” the company said in a blog post.
Three key features of the update include a new version of Google Maps, the addition of the Google Goggles application and pinch-to-zoom functionality, a feature found in the iPhone.
With Google Goggles, users can snap a picture of something and have the device perform a search based on the image, so the user doesn’t have to type anything in. For example, a tourist could take a shot of a well-known landmark and get back relevant Web sites with more information on it.
The latest Google Maps 3.4 synchronizes starred items or favorite places from your phone or computer for easy access. The app now also includes search suggestions from a user’s personal maps history if they’ve already been using Google Maps. Version 3.4 also includes “Night mode” navigation, automatically changing the screen color and brightness for easier viewing when driving at night.
The update is being rolled out now and Nexus One users will receive a message notifying them of its availability. Google said the update is being rolled out gradually to avoid congestion, so some users might not get the notification until the end of this week.
SSDs in Enterprise Applications
Posted by James B. in Technology on February 3, 2010
Flashed-based solid-state drives (SSDs) are becoming a big issue for enterprise storage users; a number of customers I work with are planning for this new “tier 0″ data storage for a number of reasons. It could be as simple as IOPS per watt, IOPS per dollar, or for some applications, bandwidth per GB/sec of storage. Read the rest of this entry »
PC-over-IP Remote Display Technology: The Inner Workings of VMware View 4
Posted by James B. in Technology on February 2, 2010
VMware recently announced that the release of VMware View 4 is slated for later this month which will include a new display protocol called PC-over-IP (PCoIP), which should greatly enhance the user experience.
What is PCoIP?
PCoIP is a relatively new technology developed by a company called Teradici that VMware has chosen to partner with to use this technology in VMware View. Teradici has developed a breakthrough innovation in display compression and propagation over LAN and WAN networks that uses hardware chips on both the host and remote to offload the compression overhead. Read the rest of this entry »
Introducing TermBuilder – a Linux command line generator
Posted by James B. in Technology on February 1, 2010
If you’re a Linux newbie who wants to learn a bit more about the command line, or if you want to chain a few commands together to get some special output, we have a new tool for you to try. It is called TermBuilder, and it’s a web-based command-line generator for Linux and other compatible Unixes. All you have to do is click buttons and choose options and it will generate commands for you to copy and paste into your terminal.
Now, this is just the first release of TermBuilder, and that means you should expect some bugs. Plus, it only supports a handful of commands right now – if there are things you’d like to see it do, post a comment on the TermBuilder page and we’ll see what we can do. In the meantime, give it a try and let us know what you think!
TermBuilder: a graphical Linux command line generator
Microsoft to Revise VDI Licensing
Posted by James B. in Technology on January 31, 2010
Microsoft plans to modify its software licensing program to be more amenable to Windows shops that are interested in virtualization but that hold off because Microsoft’s per-device licensing makes it too expensive.
One executive responsible for Windows licensing, the Software Assurance (SA) maintenance agreement and Virtual Enterprise Centralized Desktop (VECD) said Microsoft will revitalize its licensing program later this year to lift some of the restrictions of today’s per-device model.
“We will see incremental changes on product use rights, on product use types and on requirements customers can meet to enable more types of users,” said Amilcar Alfaro, senior product manager of worldwide licensing and pricing at Microsoft. Read the rest of this entry »
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