More Tablets

There are pluses and minuses to Samsung's Galaxy Tablet (middle image). Biggest plus is a slightly lower cost. A smaller screen (7") makes it easier to hold than an iPad, but -- it's smaller! Biggest minus -- it crashes a lot more than Apple's iPad. http://hothardware.com/Reviews/Samsung-Galaxy-Tab-Review/

To date the Galaxy Tablet has shipped over 1 million units (much of that "filling" the sales channel). iPad has sold over 8 million since April, and is #1 on every kid's holiday wish list.

If' you're trying to decide, the old rule of thumb is: "Look at the applications first". To complicate this, it's not just Windows vs Mac -- an Apple iPad is NOT a Mac, it's "iOS", which covers iPhone & iPod Touch as well. Galaxy Tab is "Android" which has an entirely different set of applications for smartphones and tablets. And then there's the Blackberry OS, Microsoft's latecomer "Windows Mobile 7", and HP/Palm's fading WebOS/PalmOS. For an application developer who has to convert applications from one 'platform' to another, which one would you choose first... and then second? Right! iOS first, and Android second.

A word of warning: even Google cautions Android won't be fully tablet ready until v3.0 next year)...
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-20016085-260.html?tag=mncol;txt
...and vendors such as Lenovo, LG and Acer, are timing their own tablet releases to coincide with Android 3.0...
http://gigaom.com/mobile/galaxy-tab-rises-to-the-ipad-challenge-with-1-million-sold/
...and next year there will also be tablets from HP (WebOS) and Blackberry (the "PlayBook").

Smartphones with cameras have already caused a 16% decline in sales of basic "point and shoot" cameras. As Tablet applications become more sophisticated, this all spells trouble for PC sales ... and Microsoft revenue/profits.

Future Smartphone Concept

For years the automotive world has had 'concept cars' incorporating advances in technology and design. Well, here's a generic 'concept smartphone' from Mozilla Labs® (the Firefox people). I know, you may think your current smartphone is a concept only because you don't know how to use all the features! What's a Pico Projector and why would a smartphone need TWO of them? Watch this 2.5 min video below (either link).
http://mozillalabs.com/conceptseries/2010/09/23/seabird/

A next generation smartphone incorporating the features shown IMHO might completely replace desktop/laptop/netbook computers as we know them today.
PCWorld® doesn't think we'll see dual Pico Projectors in next year's iPhone......
http://www.pcworld.com/article/212442/pico_projector_in_iphone_5_dont_count_on_it.html?tk=rss_main
...but at the pace things happen, you never know.

From today's science fiction to tomorrow's products, Professional Nerds® is Delivering 21st Century Technology™

DNS - IBM (it's better manual!)

This is an old joke from my IBM days where "IBM" means "It's Better Manual". Recently Comcast had an internet outage where their internet was working...
http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/comcast-subscribers-suffer-another-internet-outage/?news=123
...but their DNS (domain name servers) were down. The internet operates on IP addresses, for example 209.85.225.99, and DNS translates these to website names, such as www.google.com. With the DNS down, all of your Favorites/Bookmark website names could not be translated to IP addresses, and you'd get a message: "Internet Explorer cannot find the webpage".

Your Router usually gets a DNS address automatically along with your IP address. On both the router and the PC's DNS settings, change the DNS checkbox from automatic to manual. Use the big DNS server from Google®: 8.8.8.8. For your second choice, another good DNS is from Level 3 Communications®: 4.2.2.2. For a laptop, make sure you change the DNS settings for BOTH wired and wireless -- they're independent of each other.

Manually setting the DNS on the PC (both wired and wirelessly) also protects you against "DNS poisoning" where a virus on one PC used a router's default ID/pw to change the DNS. The remaining PCs on 'automatic DNS' became "sitting ducks" because the automatic poisoned DNS would not allow critical/security updates and virus signature updates for security software.

An Internet Geography Lesson

Compare the geography of the Internet in 2007 vs 2010. In 2007 MySpace ruled, and Facebook was a penninsula. Not only has that flipped, but Farmville (a Facebook game) has more usage than MySpace. See the geography maps here:

http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/09/map-of-online-communities/

What are buyers doing with their iPads ???

‎8 million iPads sold to date. WalMart starts selling them 10/28/10. Verizon starts bundling the basic iPad with their wireless MiFi. However, at least 1/3 of users have never downloaded any additional apps (not even free ones). So, what are people doing with them?

http://www.pcworld.com/article/208546/many_ipad_users_arent_downloading_apps_so_what_are_they_doing.html?tk=rss_main

Yet another new Android-based tablet

Last week Amazon announced that Kindle owners would be able to lend certain books (based on publisher consent), and now Barnes & Noble announces the $249 NookColor. The catch: it's a compormise. Altho Android-based and 1/2 the cost of an iPad, it won't run all Android apps, bat...tery life is way shorter than E-Ink (but comparable to iPad), no 3G version (WiFi only), and like iPad/netbook/laptops, you can't read the screen in bright sunlight.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2010101027049

History repeating itself

Today's Android-based E-Reader/Tablet announcements remind me of the early 1980s and all of the not-quite compatible PC clones. Most of the vendors didn't make it. Anyone remember Eagle PC and Columbia PC ?