Bob Browning's blog

My mobile phone is too limited for any real work, my laptop is too big and only has a few hours battery life.  I need a smaller computing device that doesn’t weigh much or take much space, but which will do proper computing  jobs plus of course web surfing.

I still think the favourite is the netbook.  A possibility is the upcoming Apple tablet.  However Microsoft have come up with a third alternative that is really cool.  This is a tablet-like device, but with two screens, that folds.   They call it the Courier.  I really think two screens can work really well.

But no keyboard?

More details and a little video here: http://gizmodo.com/5365299/courier-first-details-of-microsofts-secret-tablet

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A smartphone is a mobile phone with some computer capabilities, such as web browsing and email.  A Netbook is a small notebook computer.  So a Smartbook is what?  Something between a Smartphone and a Netbook.?

You might think so.

Take device A.  This has 64 meg memory, a mobile phone operating system (windows CE or Android) a couple of gig of flash memory.  In other words the same spec as a smartphone but without the phone bit and with a screen and keyboard.

Device B.  A gig of main memory, maybe even a dual core processor, 160 gig disk, a full-blown multi-user operating system with a full set of office applications.

Obviously device A is a smartbook and device B a netbook.

Wrong. If device A has an intel processor and a Microsoft operating system and device B has an ARM processor and Unix.

It is madness, but the definition of a smartbook now is apparenrlty that it has an ARM processor because ARM processors are the ones you have in your mobile phone.

This is a triumph of marketing for Microsoft/Intel.

It has to stop.

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I have been receiving an Amazon Web Services newsletter but decided to un-subscribe.

Easy – you just hit the unsubscribe button and you are done: right?

Wrong.  Number one you have to sign in.  I had forgotten my password.  The password refresh function requires that you enter a code from a distorted image.  So distorted I had to have two goes.

I got the email, reset the password.  Then I was taken to the shopping page.

Back to the email, clicked on the link again, went to a page with my name, address and checkbox for this newsletter.  I unchecked the checkbox and submitted.

Error!  I have to enter a valid State.  Uh.  In the first place I hadn’t changed my address, and in the second place we don’t have states in the UK.

So I enter a state (XX) the postman with think they are blowing him kisses.

Done.

About five minutes for something that should have taken 5 seconds.  Not to mention my blood pressure.

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Nvidia just spoke on netbook operating systems for ARM based systems and they like … Windows CE.  They prefer it because it better suited to a netbook than ..Android.

Repeat after me 100 times.  A netbook is not a mobile phone.  A netbook is not a mobile phone. A netbook is not a mobile phone. A netbook is not a mobile phone.

Do these guys know nothing about computers and what they are used for.  Do they really think that the only use for these gadgets will only be used for browsing.  Because that is pretty much all these toy operating systems are capable of.

I dunno – I dispair. Maybe depressingly they are right.

Just because the first unix-based netbooks were a bit of a snafu it doesn’t mean that they should be written off.  Unix is the natural operating system for an ARM netbook.  No question.  If it goes the other way I will stick my head in a bucket.

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My guess is that Netbooks will eventually home in on a solid state drive and Unix as the ideal combination.  If you had such a device today with a reasonable processor how long would it take you to boot up and load firefox?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GKohxZHNg4&feature=player_embedded

22 seconds!

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David Pogue is writing a book.  Well actually he is not writing the book as such, he is compiling it from twitter posts.  It actually sounds quite feasible. 

Post a tweet and if included you get a copy of the book. 

http://davidpogue.com/bio_photos/twitter.html

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Pay Per Tweet was an April Fool joke only a year ago.  Now it is a business.  Isn’t the Internet wunnerful.

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With a blindingly simple idea Magpie are doing something with twitter, that twitter are not – making money.

Sign up with them, and they insert an ad in your twitter stream – say 1 in 10.  You choose the frequency and get paid something. They are a bit vague about how much.

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Kier Thomas took a good shot at Firefox in his blog last month.  I agree with him.  Firefox has turned into bloatware and Google Chrome has taken over as the browser I reach for if I want results fast.

The main problem I have with chrome is that the view-source actually reloads the page.  This may be fine, but sometimes you want to see the real source code not the code you get when you do a reload (which might be different). 

Other than that it is lightning fast and clutter-free.

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From my latest newsletter.

I have commented before about the impact of netbooks, these small cheap laptops that you can buy in Robert Dyas for £167.  This type of device is new and the technology  is changing fast.  It is worth keeping an eye on it.

They are about the size of a Filofax and generally come with a 7-10 inch screen that gives about 800×480 resolution plus a proper keyboard – albeit small.  They have an Intel Atom chip, a low power processor aimed at small computers and PDAs.  They often come with flash memory (the kind you find in a camera) rather than a hard disk.    They run Windows XP or Unix (Linux inevitably) but not Vista. The also come with built-in wi-fi.  Expect mobile internet connectivity to be built in when more upmarket devices become available.

(more…)

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