Technology News: Computing

Nvidia Optimus Gives Laptops a Graphical Gearshift
February 09, 2010

Nvidia on Tuesday unveiled Optimus, a technology that automatically chooses the best graphics processor for running a given application, thus lengthening a laptop computer's battery life. Based on the application's needs, Optimus will route the workload to either an Nvidia discrete graphics processing unit or graphics processors integrated into Intel chips.

Phone-Hater Linus Torvalds Blesses Nexus One
February 09, 2010

Google's Nexus One phone is a winner, according to Linus Torvalds, founder of the operating system it's based on. "I generally hate phones," explained Torvalds, who is known as "the father of Linux," in a blog post on Saturday. "At the same time I love the concept of having a phone that runs Linux, and I've had a number of them over the years," he wrote.

IBM Taps Green Power With New Chips, Servers
February 08, 2010

IBM on Monday launched a one-two punch with its new Power7 processors, which the company claims have twice the performance of the Power6 line but consume less power. These processors power IBM's Unix servers, four new models of which were also unveiled Monday in a move that might strengthen IBM's position in the Unix server market. The Power7 uses a 45 nanometer process.

Tune-Up App Lets You Get More Intimate With Your Mac
February 08, 2010

It's been both a boon and bane for the Mac that it has some characteristics of an appliance. For some users, "it just works" is what makes Apple computers so much more attractive than their competitors. Others, though, just feel incomplete unless they can get under the hood of their byte box. For them, there are programs like MacTuneUp.

Open Symbian: New World Order or Big Yawn?
February 08, 2010

It's not every day that a major operating system gets opened up, never mind one that leads the global market in its category. So, when the news came out last week that that's just what the Symbian Foundation had done -- and four months ahead of schedule, no less! -- it was hard not to get excited.

Eyeing Android, Symbian Opens Up
February 05, 2010

When the Symbian Foundation announced the opening up of its namesake smartphone platform on Thursday, it caused a major shift not just in the mobile landscape but also in the FOSS world. Announced by Nokia back in 2008, the transition of the leading platform from proprietary code to open source was completed four months ahead of schedule and is the largest in software history.

TweetCaster for Android Gets Almost Everything Right
February 05, 2010

Those who say there are no decent Twitter apps for Android simply haven't found the right one. When the Android Market first opened, you could sign in, watch the handful of new apps being uploaded every day, and generally know everything that was available on the platform. There really were only a couple of Twitter clients. Now there are plenty.

Motherboard Madness and Mayhem
February 04, 2010

Misery loves company, as the saying goes, and nowhere is that more evident than on the Linux blogs. Case in point: Linux Planet's Carla Schroder recently told a woeful tale about her attempt to upgrade the CPU on her ECS motherboard, and it has inspired a vast outpouring of sympathy from geeks far and wide.

NotifyMe Needs to Up the Nag Factor
February 04, 2010

For some types of personalities, a simple to-do list is all that's needed to keep things on track. They don't need reminders; they check their notes on their own accord. They don't like being bugged about stuff, so please get off their case already; they know what they're doing. Others need a little more prodding, goading and hammering.

IBM Taps Power of DAM With Guardium Buy
February 04, 2010

In November 2009, IBM announced its acquisition of Guardium, a privately held company based in Waltham, Mass., and the planned integration of Guardium's Database Activity Monitoring technology into IBM's Information Management and Business Analytics and Optimization initiatives. Financial terms were not disclosed.

F-Spot: An Able-Bodied All-in-One Image Machine
February 03, 2010

Few, if any, photo viewing apps on any platform provide a perfect photo management experience. However, F-Spot Photo Management for Gnome gives Linux users a fairly complete set of photo tools. F-Spot ranks among the most well-known photo apps for Linux. In many ways it is similar to Google's repackaged Picasa Photo Organizer and the popular GIMP photo program.

Google Shows Off a Chrome Tablet With 1,000 Faces
February 02, 2010

Fresh off the introduction of its Nexus One smartphone, hailed by some tech analysts as the first real iPhone killer candidate, Google has debuted mockups of a possible tablet device running its yet-to-be released open source Chrome OS. The mockups, posted on Google's Chromium Web site, depict a device that might have a 5- to 10-inch screen, an on-screen keyboard, and a touch interface.

iMac Firmware Aims to Smooth Out Flicker Glitch
February 02, 2010

Apple on Monday released its second firmware update in three months to resolve screen issues with its 27-inch iMac computer. This latest update is aimed at issues that "may cause intermittent display flickering," according to Apple's Web site. Some 27-inch iMacs have been plagued by problems since the model was launched in October 2009, and it's been reported that Apple has temporarily stopped production of the computer.

Will FOSS Jump Into the iPad Fray?
February 02, 2010

While the Macintosh, Windows and Linux platforms all compete to varying degrees on PCs, netbooks and smartphones, the iPad currently stands more or less alone in the tablet arena. It's clearly just a matter of time before competitors begin arriving; will an open source device be among them?

Intel, Micron Cram 8 Gigs of Chip Into 4-Gig Bag
February 01, 2010

Intel and Micron have jointly announced what may be the world's smallest, densest NAND flash memory device yet. Their 25-nanometer NAND flash semiconductor offers 8 GB of memory in a single NAND processor. This could pave the way for higher capacity storage for consumer devices.

TopXNotes: A Concierge for the Constant Scrivener
February 01, 2010

If there's one software category that's proven it has legs, it's the personal information manager. Knowledge workers and computer jocks are bombarded with a blizzard of information every day, and they seem to never tire of programs that promise to organize it for them. TopXNotes, recently upgraded to version 1.5, is such a program.