eComTechnology News

Rolodex is dead?

Saturday, 20 March 2010 07:00 administrator

The Life and Death of the Rolodex

Just a few years ago there were no virtual social networks, no synchronized address books, and no smartphones. But people had social networks and phones, and they had to memorize and organize thousands of contacts. Or have a Rolodex.

Google is reportedly pulling out of China April 10

Friday, 19 March 2010 18:22 administrator

Google is reportedly pulling out of China April 10 and will announce its exit March 22.

Those dates, noted by Bloomberg, originate from China Business News, which cited an unidentified sales agent. In other words, take the reports with a grain of salt.

Google hasn’t confirmed anything, but the reports are the latest to detail how the search giant’s departure is a case of “when” not “if.”

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that Google is likely to take a “burnt bridges” approach to its pullout without much opportunity to return. Peter Lui, formerly the company’s financial controller in Asia Pacific, said the publicity around Google’s pullout has likely alienated the Chinese government making a return impossible.

Google said it would stop censoring its search results after the company had been hacked from within China.

T-Mobile HSPA+ Speed Test: 3G Gets Pumped Up

Tuesday, 16 March 2010 06:24 administrator

T-Mobile HSPA+ Speed Test: 3G Gets Pumped Up

Streaming HD video. Uploading gigantic files. Surfing the web comfortably. These aren't things you'd normally expect on 3G. But T-Mobile's beefed up HSPA+ network, which I tested recently in Philadelphia, handled all these tasks beautifully. At the same time.

While the other carriers are looking past 3G to 4G technologies—Sprint with its WiMax already up and running, and AT&T and Verizon banking on LTE—T-Mobile is the one doing the most to upgrade the 3G network it already has in place. Overhauling their existing HSPA 3G network to HSPA+ promises theoretical speeds of 21Mbps—three times faster than the 3G we know and don't quite love.

The Windows Web Browser Choice Screen Works

Friday, 19 March 2010 06:59 administrator

The Windows Web Browser Choice Screen Works

According to the latest data from Opera, the Windows Web Browser Choice Screen—a browser download and activation pop-up mandated by the European Union in all versions of Microsoft's operating system—is working. They say it's "dramatic uptake on downloads."

Opera reports that their downloads have more than doubled across the European continent during the introduction of their latest version. Some countries saw their rates tripling. One, Poland, experienced a 328% surge. Of the total number of downloads, a 77% came from the Choice Screen in Poland. On average, 53% came from the Choice Screen in the whole of Europe. Not bad at all, considering that the roll-out has just started in early March, and will continue to happen "well into May for existing Windows computers and for five more years on new installations."

It seems the Eurocrats were right. Hopefully, the UScrats will take good note.

“Extreme Edition” CPU at the Game Developers Conference—the Core i7-980X

Saturday, 13 March 2010 13:19 administrator

Depending on your view, PC gaming is dead or is the only way to game. Clearly, Intel is of the latter view, which is why the company chose to preview its new “Extreme Edition” CPU at the Game Developers Conference—the Core i7-980X, the first desktop processor to feature six computing cores. At the same time, it allowed seemingly every tech site under the sun to put the new chip through the usual benchmarks, and they came up with a very “surprising” conclusion: It’s the fastest consumer-based CPU ever. (Check out HotHardware for one report.)

There are, of course, the usual caveats. For applications that only make use of one or two cores, the Core i7-980X’s horsepower is largely untapped, whereas for things like video encoding, the multiple cores make a noticeable difference. As much as a CPU can aid with 3D gaming, it also appears to provide a sizable boost, especially compared to AMD’s Phenom II X4 quad-core processor. (AMD’s six-core CPU, the Thuban, is due soon, but hasn’t been released widely to the benchmarking community.) But as usual with the Extreme Edition of Intel’s processors, you’ll pay dearly for the performance and bragging rights that come with the Core i7-980X—to the tune of around $1,000.

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