Thursday 28 June 2007

IBM create worlds most powerful supercomputer

World's computer giant manufacture the first supercomputer capable of crunching through a thousand trillion mathematical operations every second has been announced by IBM. This is roughly equivalent to the combined processing power of a 2.4-kilometre-high pile of laptop computers.

Blue Gene/P will be capable of a peak performance of 3000 trillion calculations, or floating point operations, per second (3 petaflops). But its sustained performance is expected to level out at around 1 petaflop.

Each processing chip inside the machines contains 4 unique processor cores. There are 32 of these processors in every circuit board, and 32 circuit boards in every rack. With a total of 216 racks, the full machine features 884,736 unique processor cores.

The first Blue Gene/P machine will be installed at the US Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago, US, later in 2007. It will be used primarily to perform nuclear weapons simulations at that laboratory. Other systems will then be installed in Germany, the UK and elsewhere in the US.

Microsoft to hawk PCs to India's kids

"Microsoft plans to sell a PC for kids and launch an educational channel on its MSN portal in India as the next step in a worldwide 'Unlimited Potential' program" Reported by Austin Modine in Mountain View.

Aimed a target of Rs.40,875,000/- at school students, Microsoft's new IQ PC will be built on AMD hardware and vended by Zenith Computers. The computers will cost Rs.21,000/- ($514).
Microsoft will also open the doors on the MSN IQ Beta Education Channel. The new channel will feature tutoring, exam coaching, and other educational tools for students.

"The task that we have today is to make technology pervasive and useful in the everyday lives of more and more people," Microsoft India chairman Ravi Venkatesan said.
India ranks as one of the largest emerging markets in the world, but Microsoft is eager to whip that Indian pony into a gallop. Best to get 'em while they're young.

"The currency growth of IT penetration in India might be rapid, but it is not rapid enough. Affordability is critical and goes far beyond low-cost hardware," Venkatesan said.
Microsoft plans to test the waters for IQ at 10 retail outlets in Bangalore and Prun for three months beginning in July, before expanding the offer based on market response. The IQ PC comes loaded with Windows, Office, Encarta and specialized educational programs such as tutorials for competitive exams and homework helpers.

Microsoft will have to hope the software package will ease a price point that, while relatively inexpensive, is not on the low end of the PC market in India, where customers can pick one up for under $400. Microsoft India is also battling computer vendors who make a habit of installing pirated copies of Windows for no extra charge.

In July, India rejected the One Laptop Per Child project, which aims to provide kids in developing countries with a simple $100 machine. India's education ministry said that currently the country needs classrooms and teachers more than computers for children.

Microsoft's Unlimited Potential spokesperson Rachel MacGillivray said the Rs.20,000/- offering is an initial pilot, and Microsoft will work to bring the price down further as the program scales out.
Microsoft's Unlimited Potential campaign aims to get PC access for 1 billion people worldwide by 2015 — which just so happens to be the same target year as the United Nations' eight.

Wednesday 27 June 2007

Free Push Email Application with Five Mobile Accounts Comes to India

Hotmail®, Yahoo!®, AOL® Email and Google Mail™, plus Corporate Email pushed to Mobile Phones using a Single Application on any Data Network. From Mumbai to Bangalore and all across India, a free* version of the popular mobile email application, Consilient Pushª is now available. This marks the first time the Canadian company Consilient®, with regional offices in Singapore, has made a free version of their technology available in India. The mobile application is available at www.consilient.com.

The popular service features multi-account access, giving users a single application for accessing up to five different mail accounts on mobile phones. The Push application supports Wi-Fi access and can run on any data network, including Bharti Airtel, Reliance India Mobile, BSNL, Hutchison, IDEA and Tata Mobile.

Features of Consilient Push:

5 Email account access: personal and corporate in single application (one email account access for BlackBerry® and Windows Mobile devices only)
Yahoo!, Hotmail, AOL & Gmail - Plus POP3 and IMAP4 access

Personal Themes - personalize email application with pictures and color coding
MP3 ring tones for new email notification
Easy to use Account Management Profile
Photo attaching, saving, sending, receiving, viewing

Phone "lock and wipe clean" if lost or stolen
Personal signatures
Easy to set up: download sent via SMS

Attachment support for all file types

Consilient Push delivers mobile email for Hotmail, Yahoo!, Google Mail and AOL. The application also supports any POP3 or IMAP4 account, providing a single mobile application for corporate and personal mobile email use. Users can download the application on their existing mobile phones and move between personal and corporate email accounts using color codes. The Push service also has attachment support (ZIP, MS Word, PDF & Excel) and uses 128-bit encryption.

"We are very excited to bring our mobile email application to the Indian market, one of the fastest growing mobile markets in the world," said Trevor Adey, Consilient CEO. "People can now run mobile email for up to five accounts on their everyday mobile phones. This gives the Indian market a fresh, free alternative for mobile messaging," Adey added.

Consilient's underlying technology is push-based and is designed to be easy-to-use on popular mobile phones including Nokia, Samsung and Windows Mobile devices. No email or passwords are stored with Consilient - the technology acts as an instant relay pushing email out in real-time. The Push application can be quickly downloaded onto most popular mobile phones in seconds. * requires data plan or Wi-Fi access.

How to get Push:

Sign up at www.consilient.com, Receive one SMS to your mobile phone. Click on link in SMS - accept "yes" to allow application to run on network. A Premium version of Consilient Push is available for $5 USD/month. Consilient Push uses open standards (LEMONADE/P-IMAP) and is available in a scalable version for mobile operators and ISPs.

About Consilient®

Consilient is a leading developer of push email, multimedia and advertising for mobile phones. Consilient was founded in 2000 and has offices in Asia, North America and Europe. For more information, go to www.consilient.com.

press release.



Monday 25 June 2007

3G Camera Phone helps to get details of advertisements with 2D barcodes via WAP


Those who use a 3G camera phone from any location can access detail of the advertisements or products. "SCANBUY Media™ allows content providers and advertisers to streamline the access to mobile content by assigning to a dedicated two-dimensional (2D) barcode one or several WAP destinations. By simply pointing at a 2D barcode with a camera phone, consumers are automatically routed to the page the content provider has associated to that code.
2D barcodes are currently the preferred way for Japanese and Korean consumers to access mobile content. 2D barcodes can be found on city guides, maps, billboards, advertising, stores displays…


Designed specifically for camera phone, EZcode allows an easy capture by VGA camera phones even in low light environments while linear codes and other 2D codes require either macro or auto focus, high quality imaging modules or large barcodes.
In addition to EZcode, SCANBUY Media has been designed to support other barcode protocols already used in the market place." Press release SCANBUY Media.

Thursday 21 June 2007

Volunteers sought for Mars test

Artist's concept of Mars mission (Esa)

The Aurora programme envisages Europeans on Mars
The European Space Agency (Esa) is seeking volunteers for a simulated human trip to Mars, in which six crew spend 17 months in an isolation tank.

They will live and work in a series of interlocked modules at a research institute in Moscow. Once the hatches are closed, the crew's only contact with the outside world is a radio link to "Earth" with a realistic delay of many minutes.

It sounds like Big Brother, but there are no plans to televise the test.

The modular "spacecraft" measures some 550 cubic metres (19,250 cubic feet), the equivalent of nine truck containers. It is based at the Russian Institute for Biomedical Problems in the Russian capital. The goal is to gain insight into human behaviour and group dynamics under the kinds of conditions astronauts would experience on a journey to Mars.

Big commitment

With the exception of weightlessness and radiation, the crew will experience most other aspects of long-haul space travel, such as cramped conditions, a high workload, lack of privacy, and limited supplies.

The volunteers will be put through a number of scenarios, such as a simulated launch, outward journey of up to 250 days, an excursion on the Martian surface, followed by the return home. The 500-day duration is close to the minimum estimated timescale needed for a human trip to the Red Planet. The Earthbound astronauts will have to deal with simulated emergencies and perhaps even real ones.

But, while Esa says it will do nothing that puts the lives of the simulation crew at unnecessary risk, officials running the experiment have made it clear they would need a convincing reason to let someone out of the modules once the experiment had begun.

"The idea behind this experiment is simply to put six people in a very close environment and see how they behave," Bruno Gardini, project manager for Esa's Aurora space exploration programme, told BBC News.

Team ethic

In all, 12 European volunteers will be needed. They must be aged 25-50, be in good health, have "high motivation" and stand up to 185cm tall. Smokers, or those with other addictions, to alcohol or illicit drugs, for example, will be rejected. Esa is also looking for a working knowledge of both English and Russian.

"We will do pre-selection, medical tests, psychological tests, etc. But at the end, you really have to see how they react in as close to a real situation as possible on Earth," explained Mr Gardini.

He added that the results would help define the selection criteria for a future Mars mission.

"This is the beginning; it will be a long time before we go to Mars," the Esa official said.

"But this is a field which is difficult to quantify. It's human behaviour, so there's no method. The Russians have done lots of study in the past and we will be sharing some data.

"We have to look at the mix of people; at the end of the day, we want a team."

Robots first

Marc Heppener, of Esa's Science and Application Division, said the crewmembers would get paid 120 euros (158 dollars) a day. Viktor Baranov, of Russia's Institute of Biomedical Problems, said his organisation had received about 150 applications, only 19 of which had come from women. A precursor 105-day study is scheduled to start by mid-2008, possibly followed by another 105-day study, before the full 520-day project begins in late 2008 or early 2009. European scientists have been asked to submit proposals for experiments in the areas of psychology, medicine, physiology and mission operations.

Mounting a mission to Mars would face many other hurdles, not least of which would be shielding the crew against the potentially deadly dose of radiation they would receive on the journey. Esa's Aurora programme has already begun preparations to land a rover - called ExoMars - on the Red Planet. It has the stated aim, however, of trying to get European astronauts to Mars at some time in the future.

By Paul Rincon
Science reporter, BBC News, Paris Air Show

Sunday 17 June 2007

Sony Ericsson's new watch Phones

Sony Ericsson is watching what happens with the iPhone, said IDC's Sean Ryan, because the company's "sweet spots" for phones have been cameras and music. But this wave of releases goes beyond the iPhone, he said. "This is part of the battle for the high-end of the market, trying for all-in-one devices with features that get noticed."

A five-megapixel camera. A personal GPS navigator. Storage for 8,000 songs. Shake control of music tracks. These are some of the eye-and ear-catching features on six new phones and three new Bluetooth watches released this week by Sony Ericsson.

The newest Cyber-shot phone, called the K850, packs a five-megapixel image sensor, a Xenon flash, and one-click light balance into its camera function, providing what the company called "picture quality similar to a digital camera." And the K850's rapid-fire BestPic function can take multiple shots of a quickly moving object.

Bluetooth Watch:

The Sony Ericsson MBW-150 watches, made with stylish watchmaker Fossil, vibrate when a call is coming in and show you caller ID info. You can reject, mute, or, if you are feeling generous, take the call on your phone or headset, not your watch.

Now, let's say your phone was way, way across the room. You want to keep your sense of effortless control without getting out of your chair. You can use your MBW-150 watch as a remote control for your music phone, adjusting the volume, viewing tracks, changing the song, or turning the thing off. The new K530 3G phone is the first with the GPS Enabler HGE-100, which, after plugging into your phone, lets you be the first on your block with "your own personal satellite navigation system." You can choose between text or voice navigational instructions. If you already know where you are, the HGE-100 also serves as your phone's stereo headset. Or it can provide speed, distance, route, and calorie burn rate for your fitness training.

Shake Control, 8,000 Songs:

The new W910 Walkman phone, offers Shake control. Shaking it back and forth shuffles everything. Or, in Wii-like fashion, you can steer 3D games by moving the phone. If more songs actually increased the weight of the device, you'd be able to work up quite a sweat simply by carrying the W960 Walkman Phone, which can store up to 8,000 songs in its 8 GB of memory. Sony Ericsson said that this device can transfer up to 1 GB of music from your PC in just a few minutes.

Two other new phones, Z250 and Z320 are both clamshell, pocket-size camera phones. The Z250's camera has a 0.3-megapixel sensor, while the Z320 has 1.3 megapixels.

Looking Beyond iPhone:

Sony Ericsson is certainly watching what happens with the iPhone, said IDC analyst Sean Ryan, especially since the company's "sweet spots" for phones have been cameras and music. But this wave of releases goes beyond the iPhone, he said. "This is part of the battle for the high-end of the market, trying for all-in-one devices with features that get noticed."

With features such as a five-megapixel camera, a GPS navigator, or motion control of music tracks, Ryan said, these phones will get noticed and "consumers might buy another Sony Ericsson phone even if they don't buy that particular one."
Sony Ericsson press release
all copyright reserved Sony Ericsson

Wednesday 13 June 2007

Bluetooth, Nokia unite for wireless watches

New technology may pave way for communication through small devices:

NEW YORK - The consortium behind the Bluetooth wireless standard announced that Nokia Corp., the world's largest maker of cell phones, is contributing a technology that promises to bring the wireless connections to devices that are too small for regular Bluetooth chips.



The technology, called Wibree, opens up the possibility of a host of small wearable gadgets, like watches, heart rate monitors, pedometers and pill boxes that communicate with Bluetooth-equipped cell phones or computers. A watch could display the user's incoming text messages, for instance, or an action figure toy could sense the presence of other toys.


Wibree has a lower data rate and much lower power consumption than Bluetooth, which is in widespread use as the interface between cell phones and wireless headsets. That means smaller batteries that don't have to be charged often, unlike Bluetooth headsets.


Nokia, which is based in Finland, started developing Wibree in 2001, and announced the technology in October last year. It formed a Wibree Forum with other companies to license and exploit the technology, an effort that will be subsumed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, which includes about 8,000 companies.


"Our members have been asking for an ultra low power Bluetooth solution. With Nokia's innovative development and contribution to the Bluetooth specification with Wibree, we will be able to deliver this in approximately a year," said Michael Foley, director of the Bluetooth SIG.


The decision by the Bluetooth SIG to embrace Wibree validates Nokia's technology, but it also means the Finnish company is giving away the results of a multiyear development effort as Wibree will now be licensed royalty-free. Such a move is not uncommon in the technology field _ Sweden's LM Ericsson developed and then gave away the original Bluetooth technology in the 1990s, calculating that widespread and fast adoption would allow the company to benefit more from its leadership than it would from a licensing scheme.


Nokia had been looking to turn Wibree over to an open standards group from the beginning, said Harri Tulimaa, Nokia's head of technology out-licensing. The move will help ensure Wibree will be deployed as widely as possible, he said Tuesday.


There is already a Bluetooth watch, sold under several brands, that vibrates in response to incoming calls on the user's Sony Ericsson phone and shows the number. However, because of the power-hungry Bluetooth chip and vibration function, the watch is large and heavy and requires charging every few weeks. Foley said Wibree should enable a wireless watch that's powered by a button cell that only needs replacing once per year.


Devices with Wibree chips will not be able to communicate with existing Bluetooth-equipped devices, according to Foley. However, future Bluetooth devices could relatively easily and cheaply be upgraded to include the ability to talk to Wibree devices, since the technologies use the same frequencies, and no new antenna or radio components would be needed.

By Peter Svensson
, June 12, 2007

Saturday 9 June 2007

Intel releases software for its latest multi core processors.

Achievements on the foot:
"New Intel Products Simplify and Speed Software Development for Multi-Core Processors.

SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 5, 2007 ? Intel Corporation today announced the availability of two software products that help developers efficiently create more reliable, high-performing applications that speed up a computer's responsiveness. The Intel® C++ Compiler and Fortran Professional Editions bring together a unique combination of highly optimizing compilers, performance libraries and the Intel® Threading Building Blocks.

The products feature new automatic support for accelerating program performance on Intel's latest multi-core processors. Applications containing 3-D graphics or video are automatically accelerated through the use of vectors via Streaming SIMD Extensions (SSE), including the latest SSE 4 instructions. Application performance is also accelerated by multi-core processors through the use of multiple threads. Combining the use of vectors and threads and integrating them with a technology known as loop transformation generates greater performance on multi-core processors without requiring developers to rewrite their code.

The combined capabilities also provide benefits that extend beyond multi-core optimizations by assisting developers in locating vulnerabilities that would otherwise go undetected, such as uninitialized variables and possible buffer overruns.

The Intel® C++ Professional Edition for Windows*, Linux* and Mac OS* X combines the Intel compiler with the Intel® Math Kernel Library, the Intel® Integrated Performance Primitives and the Intel® Threading Building Blocks.

The Intel Fortran Compiler Professional Edition for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X combines the Intel compiler with the Intel Math Kernel Library. For the first time, the Intel® Visual Fortran Compiler 10.0 now includes Microsoft Visual Studio, which provides the visual development environment to create, edit, build and debug Fortran applications.

The new products are all available today with suggested prices ranging from $599 to $1,599. Upgrades to the Professional Editions from the prior version of Intel compilers or libraries are available for limited time through resellers worldwide.

Intel also announced a new package for students that include all of these products as well as Intel® VTune Performance Analyzer, Intel® Thread Checker and Intel® Thread Profiler in one discounted package for students who qualify.

About Intel

Intel, the world leader in silicon innovation, develops technologies, products and initiatives to continually advance how people work and live. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com. Intel and the Intel logo are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the United States and other countries. Other brands may be claimed as the property of others".

Monday 4 June 2007

10 things your phone will do in 10 years


The past decade has seen the device evolve into the Swiss Army Knife of consumer electronics. Not only can you take pictures and video with your phone, you can use it to send e-mails, chat on instant messengers, listen to music, get directions, and even watch TV.

The technology has come a long way since the days of brick-shaped analog phones that barely fit in a purse, let alone a pocket. Two years ago, experts predicted that there would be 3 billion cell phone subscribers worldwide by 2010. Now it looks as if we'll pass the 3 billion mark by the end of this year.

As wireless-service operators continue to deploy third-generation or 3G networks, which support high-bandwidth applications such as video and Internet access, this phenomenal growth is likely to continue. But a big question for consumers is: what will these phones do? CNET News.com talked to industry experts and executives and spent some time gazing into a crystal ball to come up with the following list of 10 things the average cell phone user will be doing with his or her phone in the not-too-distant future.

1. No wallet? No problem

A new technology standard called "near-field communications," or NFC, will turn cell phones into credit or debit cards. A chip is embedded in a phone that allows you to make a payment by using a touch-sensitive interface or by bringing the phone within a few centimeters of an NFC reader. Your credit card account or bank account is charged accordingly.

Unlike RFID (radio frequency identification) technology, which also can be used to make wireless payments, NFC technology allows for two-way communication, making it more secure. For example, an NFC-enabled handset could demand that a password or personal identification number be entered to complete the transaction.

The NFC mobile-payment application is currently in trials in the United States, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, and a few other countries. The technology is widely used in Japan, where people use their phones to pay for everything from sodas dispensed in vending machines to subway cards. Nokia announced the first fully integrated NFC phone, the Nokia 6131 NFC, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, and the company is currently testing the 6131 with AT&T's Cingular Wireless in New York City.

Experts also note that NFC technology can be used for more than just retail transactions. It can be used to get data from an NFC-equipped business card, or to download tickets or other data from an NFC-equipped kiosk or poster.

2. The World Wide Web in your pocket

The promise of the mobile Internet has yet to live up to its hype. Users have had disappointing experiences with HTML Web sites that render poorly on handsets, or they've been forced to use stripped-down WAP sites that don't provide the same richness that they have come to expect on the wired Web. But as more phones come equipped with full HTML browsers, cell phones will truly become just another device used to access the Internet.

Today many smart phones already provide full HTML browsers. Nokia's latest N-series and E-series phones, which run Opera browsers for the Symbian operating system, are among the most advanced.

In the future, these mobile HTML browsers will make their way onto even the most basic phones. Motorola recently announced it is adding an HTML browser to its popular Razr phones.

So what will full Internet browsing mean for users? For one thing, it could accelerate the growth of mobile social networking. In the last couple of years, social-networking sites such as MySpace and YouTube have become hits. Now people are extending those social networks to their cell phones. In December, ABI Research said that almost 50 million people used social-networking sites on their mobile phones. That number is expected to grow to 174 million by 2011.

Mobile operators such as AT&T and Helio have a special deal with MySpace, and Verizon Wireless has a special deal with YouTube. Mobile phones could allow people to more seamlessly connect their virtual presence with their physical presence. But Charles Golvin, an analyst with Forrester Research, predicts that this fact alone could mean that people will form smaller, more-private social networks with their mobile phones instead of simply using the phones as extensions of the social networks they created using their PCs on sites like MySpace.

"Do you really want everyone on MySpace to be able to track where you are?" he says. "Cell phones are such personal devices, and they go with us everywhere. I think people will be more inclined to communicate among smaller groups who they already know and socialize with."

3. Location

Due to a Federal Communications Commission mandate that requires operators to locate people when they dial 911 in an emergency, a large number of mobile phones sold in the United States already have integrated GPS (global positioning system) chips. While these chips are used by some mobile operators to pinpoint users' locations when they're in danger, they can also be used to support a variety of location-related services.

The most obvious service is turn-by-turn navigation, which provides directions simply by allowing users to type in a destination. Satellites then locate the GPS-enabled device and map the device's location to the destination. A map can then be generated on the user's screen, along with text-based directions. Some devices will also "read" the directions to the user.

Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel already offer navigation services. Verizon charges $9.99 a month for the service and Sprint is offering the service for free when customers buy certain data packages. Handset makers Nokia and Motorola also plan to offer navigation map services. In February at the 3GSM Wireless trade show in Barcelona, Nokia introduced the 6110 Navigator, the company's first navigation-enabled handset designed for the mass market.

But location services will soon go far beyond navigation. GPS technology will also be used to enhance local search engines, so that when you type in the word "pizza" you get a list of local pizza parlors, rather than a list of pizza-related Web sites.

Media conglomerate IAC/InterActiveCorp, which owns more than 60 Internet brands, said recently it will use GPS-enabled search on its Ask.com mobile Web site to help consumers find friends, shops, and services based on their locations. The application will be available on Sprint's network. IAC plans to add the feature later to some of its other Web sites, such as Ticketmaster and Match.com.

Mobile virtual network operators Boost, Helio, and Disney Mobile are already offering tracking services that allow people to keep tabs on their kids or find their friends. Many of these services are beginning to come to market now, but by 2010 they should offer better accuracy and will also reach more mainstream users.

4. Search goes mobile

Mobile search will become a standard feature on all handsets over the next three years. Most phones will likely have search built into their main screens, with a search icon prominently featured next to the time and the icons depicting battery and signal strength. Some phones will actually have a search button on the keypad or protruding from the case. In April, Alltel Wireless announced that it would preinstall JumpTap's mobile search button on LG Electronics' LGVX8600 devices.

Helio's new smart phone, the Ocean, has a search feature that allows you to slide out the keyboard, type a keyword, hit Enter and immediately get results from Google, Yahoo, and Wikipedia.

While the big guys--Google and Yahoo--will certainly have a presence on mobile devices, "white label" services, such as one available from JumpTap, will also be popular because they allow carriers to brand the service as their own.

5. TV on the go-go

Mobile TV in all its forms is expected to explode in the next few years. IMS Research forecasts that by 2011 there will be more than 30 million mobile TV subscribers in the United States. The firm also predicts that almost 70 million handsets capable of receiving mobile TV will be shipped in the U.S. in 2011.

Consumers will have access to a wide range of TV possibilities on their phones, from original and professionally produced content to repurposed clips to live broadcasts and user-generated clips.

The mobile handset will become an extension of TV and computer screens at home, allowing consumers to time- and place-shift viewing. Sling Media already offers mobile users the option of viewing programming available on their home TVs on their Windows Mobile devices using a wireless data connection.

Four major cable operators working with Sprint Nextel--Comcast, Time Warner, Cox Communications, and Advance/Newhouse Communications--are also expected to expand some video programming to cell phones. Today they offer features such as remote programming for DVRs.

Over the next three years, broadcast TV networks designed to provide service for mobile devices will also emerge on the scene. Qualcomm's MediaFlo has already signed deals with Verizon Wireless and AT&T, which will use MediaFlo broadcast technology to distribute live TV programming to mobile subscribers. Another broadcast technology, known as DVB-H, will likely find a strong following in Europe.

Experts believe there will be a spike in mobile TV usage in 2008 when the Summer Olympics in Beijing are scheduled to take place. Many operators around the world expect to have their mobile video services up and running to air the games.

6. Simplifed surfing

Ever notice how many clicks it takes to find the one thing you're looking for on your phone? It's worse than counting how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop. But handset makers and mobile operators are hard at work trying to make phones easier to navigate and simpler to use.

The upcoming iPhone from Apple is a perfect example of how user interfaces will be improved. Apple fans are confident that the company has come up with another slick and intuitive design, just as it did for the iPod.

One aspect of the iPhone's interface that has been publicized is its use of sensory technology to detect when the device is rotated. This allows the phone to automatically render pictures on the screen in portrait (vertical) or landscape (horizontal) format. That allows the user to determine which format is best for viewing whatever is on the screen, be it a Web page, video, or photo.

In the future, motion-sensing technology, similar to that used in the Nintendo Wii game console, will also allow people to navigate their cell phone menus or the mobile Internet with a flick of their wrists.

But motion sensing is just one piece of the puzzle. Operators such as Verizon Wireless are redesigning their content menus to reduce the number of clicks users must endure to find what they want. Ryan Hughes, vice president of digital media programming for Verizon Wireless, said he believes that user interfaces will be customizable so that users can decide for themselves which applications will be displayed on their phones most prominently.

Motorola is already offering a customizable interface on the Razr 2, which the company claims will make searching for contacts, accessing applications, and messaging much easier.

7. Brainier radios

Many phones today are equipped with dual radios that let subscribers roam on differently configured cellular networks throughout the world, but in the next few years handset makers will also embed Wi-Fi technology into phones, allowing customers to use the devices in any Wi-Fi network hot spot.

T-Mobile USA has been experimenting with such a service for the past several months in its hometown of Seattle. The HotSpot @Home service, which is expected to launch across the country this summer, uses UMA (unlicensed mobile access) technology to allow phones to seamlessly switch calls between a Wi-Fi connection and a cellular connection, depending on which is available and most cost-effective at any particular moment.

T-Mobile HotSpot @Home costs $20 a month on top of a regular cell phone plan, and it delivers unlimited "voice over Wi-Fi" calls from T-Mobile's more than 8,000 hot spots and through any Wi-Fi access point in a home that is connected to a broadband Internet service.

These dual-mode Wi-Fi and cellular phones will also make it possible for users to use voice over Internet Protocol services like Skype to avoid roaming charges when they are traveling internationally, for example. Skype is already available on PocketPCs and Windows Mobile smart phones.

8. Your very own cell tower

Does your cell phone get bad reception inside your house, but works just fine when you stand on your porch? Mobile operators may soon ask you to help them improve cellular coverage in your home or office with small Wi-Fi-like routers that boost cellular signals.

These routers create what are called femto cells, or small personal cellular sites. And they could help solve a major problem for cellular operators who have trouble covering less-populated regions or have difficulty reaching users indoors.

The femto cell router has a cellular antenna to boost the available cellular signals in a small area. The device is then attached to a broadband connection, and uses voice over IP technology to connect cellular phone calls to the mobile operator's network.

Because cell phones use licensed spectrum, the devices would be tied to a particular carrier's network just like a handset. If a consumer wanted to switch carriers, he'd have to get a new femto cell router.

While no carriers in the U.S. have said they plan to use femto cell technology, several companies are already developing products for it. 3Way Networks, based in the U.K., and Ericsson, based in Sweden, each introduced femto cell devices in February.

9. Picture perfect

One of the most dramatic changes in cell phone technology over the past decade has been the emergence of the camera phone. Today roughly 41 percent of American households own a camera phone. In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to buy a phone today that doesn't have a camera.

By 2010 more than 1 billion mobile phones in the world will ship with an embedded camera, up from the 589 million camera phones that are expected to be sold in 2007, according to market research firm Gartner.

There's little doubt that the technology will improve, with high-end phones easily supporting 8-megapixel cameras. The Nokia N95 already offers a 5-megapixel camera. William Plummer, Nokia's North America vice president of sales and channel management for multimedia, says that in a few years users will likely be able to manipulate their images directly on their handsets, just as they would on a high-end digital camera or PC.

Some camera phones will also let users’ stream live video to friends, family, co-workers, or anyone else with a video-capable phone. Motorola's Razr 2, due out this summer, will support this feature. And AT&T will offer two-way video sharing as a service later this summer using devices made by LG Electronics.

Phones of the future will also come with multiple cameras that will provide additional functionality, Forrester's Golvin predicts. While one camera may provide high-end imaging for sharing pictures and video, a second, lower-end camera could be used for things like capturing two-dimensional bar codes known as QR codes.

QR code-reading software on camera phones eliminates the need to type in contacts or URLs. In Japan, they're already widely used to store addresses and URLs on the pages of magazines, with the codes pegged to both editorial content and advertisements. The addition of QR codes to business cards is also becoming common, greatly simplifying the task of entering contact information into mobile-phone address books.

10. Mad for mobile music

There's no question that mobile music is hot and will continue to grow in popularity. Mobile phone users around the globe are expected to spend $32.2 billion on music for their handsets by 2010, up from $13.7 billion in 2007, according to Gartner.

This content category includes everything from basic ring tones, "real tones" (uncompressed, digital representations of analog signals), and ring-back tones to more sophisticated full-track downloads. Music in all its incarnations is the second-most popular mobile data service, behind SMS in terms of use and revenue.

Over the next couple of years, full-song downloads will drive growth in this category. The entrance of big brands like Apple into the mobile phone market will likely push mobile music to the forefront.

Apple's iPhone, announced in January, has created a kind of hysteria that has not been seen before in the consumer electronics market. The device, which combines Apple's popular iPod music player with a mobile smart phone, will go on sale in late June and will be available exclusively on AT&T's network. Even though critics have already noted some downsides to the iPhone--namely that it will not be 3G capable--it has still managed to raise the bar in terms of what's expected from a music playing phone.

All the major handset manufacturers are poised to offer iPhone competitors. Sony Ericsson has the Walkman series. Motorola has its Rokr, Z8, and MotoQ phones. And Research In Motion, best known for phones that cater to business users, has the new BlackBerry 8300 Curve, which comes with stereo Bluetooth, a true 3.5mm headphone jack, and a microSD expansion slot. All of these phones could be strong competitors, if not iPhone killers.

So what will be new in mobile music by 2010?

Most likely it will be more of the same. The line between phones and music players will increasingly blur. And if network operators, device makers and music studios are smart, there will be easier and more cost-effective ways for people to download their favorite tunes onto their phones.

Verizon Wireless, Helio, and Sprint Nextel already offer over-the-air downloads. But many experts believe that, in order to compete, all major operators will have to offer this convenience. And issues surrounding digital rights management--the use of software that limits the use and transfer of copyright material, including music and video files--will also likely be worked out in the next few years to allow users an easy and legal way to port songs from one device to another.

By Marguerite Reardon
Staff writer, CNET News.com (June 1, 2007)
**** press release

Sunday 3 June 2007

Fanless Processor from AMD

Fanless Embedded Designs Can Now Take Advantage of AMD64 Technology with the Introduction of the AMD Sempron™ 2100+ Processor

—Additionally, the AMD Geode™ LX 800 @ 0.9W processor now supports extended temperature applications —

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- May 30, 2007 --AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced an expansion of its Embedded Solutions offerings to include the new AMD Sempron™ Processor Model 2100+ and the AMD Geode™ LX 800 @ 0.9W Processor, which can now support designs to be deployed in harsh temperature environments. The addition of these new features in AMD’s broad embedded product portfolio showcases AMD’s commitment to delivering processor options that address the expanding and often unique needs of the embedded market. At the same time, AMD is delivering innovation on an industry standard platform, helping shorten design cycles and time to market.

The AMD Sempron Processor Model 2100+ offers fanless system design and incorporates AMD64 technology in a 9W power envelope. This processor will provide particular advantages for designers focused on delivering high performance and functionality in single board computing and embedded client systems and is compatible with the recently announced AMD M690T chipset. It also features the high shock and vibration specification Socket S1, offering high reliability for ruggedized computing.

Extended temperature support can be particularly critical in extreme computing environments. Applications such as telecommunications infrastructure (including wired, wireless and MSB/MSC), single board computing, automotive and transportation systems, and industrial control and monitoring often require temperature support in the -40 to +85 degrees Celsius range, which can now be supported with the AMD Geode LX 800 @ 0.9W processor.

“By expanding our product portfolio with this new, very low power version of the highly successful AMD Sempron processor and extending the temperature support in our Geode line, AMD is delivering on our promise of customer-centric innovation for a range of embedded markets,” said Greg White, vice president, Embedded Computing Solutions Division, AMD. “You will continue to see AMD offer our embedded customers the products and tools they need to get high performance, very low power products to market quickly.”

A host of embedded board manufacturers have products available that will accommodate the extended temperature AMD Geode LX processor, including Advantech, AAEON, Arbor, ICP, and IBase, while both AAEON and Arbor offer boards that will accommodate the new AMD Sempron processor Model 2100+.

About AMD Geode
The AMD Geode™ LX 700@0.8W processor, the AMD Geode LX800@0.9W processor, and the new AMD Geode LX 900@1.5W processor bring x86 power and versatility to applications for entertainment, business, education, and embedded markets.

The AMD Geode LX 900@1.5W processor is the most advanced Geode LX processor for demanding embedded applications. This level of capability may not be needed for every application, but when premium performance is needed, the AMD Geode LX 900@1.5W processor delivers. The AMD Geode LX processor’s integrated, innovative architecture is one of the most energy-efficient x86 solutions in the industry and can lead to longer battery life and enable small form-factor designs.

About AMD
Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) is a leading global provider of innovative processing solutions in the computing, graphics and consumer electronics markets. AMD is dedicated to driving open innovation, choice and industry growth by delivering superior customer-centric solutions that empower consumers and businesses worldwide. For more information, visit www.amd.com.

© 2007 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. All rights reserved. AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, AMD Sempron, and combinations thereof, and Geode, are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Other names are for informational purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.