Month: January 2013

It is only weeks away at this point. Will it be the :next big thing” that Microsoft hopes it will be? Or, is it just too expensive?

Microsoft Here comes Microsoft Surface Pro, 64 bits and All

“Microsoft’s Windows 8 Pro version of the Surface will arrive soon, giving consumers probably one the highest performing tablets to date.

Microsoft is already dropping not-so-subtle hints that the device is coming ‘early in 2013.’ And now it appears to have made its debut at the FCC.

Let’s look at what else Microsoft is saying about the 2-pound tablet that sets it apart from the current Surface RT tablet.

• 64-bit computing in a tablet: Surface with Windows 8 Pro is “a 64-bit tablet PC.” That’s not a trivial point. You get all of the goodness of 64-bit computing via Intel’s power-efficient Core i5 Ivy Bridge processors. Surface RT, on the other hand, is 32-bit only.
• Security: Support for the same level of security you can expect with any corporate Windows laptop. And Microsoft includes sBitLocker, which encrypts your hard drive’s data.
• Pen: It includes a pen. That’s really a holdover from the Windows 7 slates but something that some business customers still want.
• Mini DisplayPort/display: This allows connection to large high-resolution displays (e.g., Apple Cinema Display). That said, the Surface Pro’s 10.6-inch (16:9) 1,920×1,080-pixel display is already the same resolution of some desktop displays. Other ports include a full-size USB 3.0, microSDXC card slot, headset jack, and Cover port.

And we may already be getting a sneak preview of the Surface Pro courtesy of CNET’s review of the Acer Iconia W700 tablet.

Like the Surface Pro, the W700 is a 2-pound Windows 8 tablet that packs an Ivy Bridge Core i5 processor and a 1,920×1,080 display.

Here’s what CNET said: ‘In our benchmark tests, the Iconia W700 performed similarly to other Core i5-3317U Windows 8 laptops and convertibles, or a little behind. It’s well-suited for everyday use, from HD video streaming to social media, to working on office tasks.'”

Kim DotCom has launched a new upload service with 50 gig of cloud storage FREE! Will it get taken down like the original?

Kim DotCom promises 50GB for free from Mega

Kim DotCom plans to launch his new site in two days, and users will get 50GB of storage for free, the infamous entrepreneur tweeted today.

DotCom also tweeted that his lawyers are working on giving former premium users their premium statuses on the new site but that the site ‘can’t at this time.’

50GB is a huge amount of free storage right off the bat. DotCom’s tweet comes a day after another cloud storage service, MediaFire, announced it would be offering 50GB of free storage. Other storage services may offer as much — or more — for free, but those accounts come with requirements.

DotCom’s tweets also indicate that more goodies are coming with the new service. After the year he’s had, he’ll need those incentives to get going again.

DotCom has spent the last year battling the U.S. government over his site MegaUpload, the highest-profile service to be accused of criminal copyright violations. He was arrested on allegations of criminal copyright violation, conspiracy, money laundering, and wire fraud. U.S. federal officials accused DotCom of pocketing millions of dollars in illegal profits from criminal file-sharing and downloading that has reportedly cost the film industry more than $600 million in damages.

While still fighting the government in court, DotCom decided to start a new site from New Zealand, where he now resides. He claimed that he was entrapped by the U.S. government because he complied with a federal search warrant targeting five file-sharing services using MegaUpload’s infrastructure in 2010, but the feds have called this claim ‘baseless.'”

The Chromebook, it seems, is really beginning to catch on! But isn’t it “just a web browser?” Well, if you can do all that you need to do over the Web, why not? I have heard that sales on Amazon of Chromebooks is out-pacing regular laptops! It fact, on Amazon, more Linux-based Chromebooks are selling than Windows-based laptops. Think of THAT! Coolness!

Lenovo shows its own Chromebook

“Lenovo has decided that it is just about the right time to join the Chromebook race with the likes of Samsung and Acer and it did do by announcing its own version, based on the familiar Thinkpad X131 design.

The Thinkpad X131e Chromebook, as Lenovo decided to call it, features pretty much all the same specs as the X131 so you are looking at 11.6-inch 1366×768 anti-glare screen, a yet to be specified Intel CPU, three USB ports, probably 2GB of RAM and a minimum amount of storage, most likely enough for the Chrome OS while the rest will be cloud-based. It also comes with WiFi connectivity as well as VGA and HDMI outputs.

The new Thinkpad X131e Chromebook also comes with a recognizable Thinkpad keyboard and touchpad as well as the Thinkpad “rugged features” since it is mainly aimed at schools. It simplifies software and security management for school administrators and provides students and teachers with quick access to thousands of apps, education resources and storage, according to Lenovo.

The battery life is rated at “an entire school day” and at less than four pounds it is surely portable.

The new ThinkPad X131e Chromebook will be available as of February 26th via special bid since it is aimed solely at schools and school programs so we guess that we will not see in retail/e-tail anytime soon.”

More on the Success of the Raspberry Pi…. apprarrently that last article was wrong, it isn’t 700,000, it is over 1,000,000! That really IS more than a thousand!

One Million Raspberry Pi Boards Have Been Sold Since Launch

“With all the hoopla around CES, we sadly missed this amazing milestone for one of the greatest little projects I’ve seen in a long time, Raspberry Pi. An estimated one million of these tiny computers have been sold so far, an amazing feat for a tiny $35 circuit board that can boot directly into a streamlined version of Linux.

The folks at element 14/Premier Farnell announced today that they alone have now made and sold more than half a million Raspberry Pis. They’re only one of two official distributors; we don’t have completely up-to-date figures from RS Components yet, but Farnell’s news suggests that we’re well on the way to having sold our millionth Raspberry Pi.
To celebrate the company released this cute info graphic, informing us that, if stacked end to end, a million Pis would be higher than 111 Empire State Buildings.

We detailed the unique manufacturing challenges associate with the Pi with 4,000 Raspberry Pis leaving a U.K. factory every day – or one every 7.5 seconds.

Raspberry Pis have ended up as the brains for a mini arcade cabinet and a DIY GSM base station. It also runs RISC OS and, more important, is a great way for kids to learn how to use computers without spending a fortune on hardware.”

I told you about the shear awesomeness of the Raspberry Pi! Turns out the creator was not fully prepared for how successful it was! Now, I have one on order. I’ll report further on it when it is delivered!

RASPBERRY PI CREATOR SAYS SEQUEL UNLIKELY IN 2013

“Raspberry Pi’s $35 Linux-based computer is a runaway success. Creator Eben Upton told ZDNet in a recent interview that his team thought they would sell 1,000 units when they were designing the mini PC, but sales have now topped 700,000. ‘We honestly did think we would sell about 1,000, maybe 10,000 in our wildest dreams,’ Upton said. ‘We thought we would make a small number and give them out to people who might want to come and read computer science at Cambridge.’ On a slightly disappointing note to those hoping for an upgraded model in 2013, Upton said in the interview that the company has no plans to launch a sequel to the latest Raspberry Pi ‘Model B’ this year.”

Too good to be true? Well, it IS only 500 meg per month for free, but still, free wireless Internet at 4G speeds is VERY cool!

FreedomPop – Free Internet at 4G Speeds!

You have a choice of three devices to choose from, from a pocketable up to 8 device hotspot, to a USB dongle for your laptop! Not to mention a device that turns an iPod Rouch into a 4G iPhone-like hybrid! Pretty amazing!

• 100% free high speed internet – any device, anywhere!
• Free Data – guaranteed 500MB FREE every month
• Fast Speeds – internet at 4G speeds (10x faster than 3G)
• No Gimmicks – no data caps or throttling speeds
• Take It With You – use at home, the office, or wherever you go
• No Contracts – cancel anytime without fees or commitment