Video gaming will hit the big screen next month when Sony Corp unveils a new game title for its Playstation3 game console at movie theatres.
On October 5 and 6, four theatres in San Francisco and Thousand Oaks, California, Rosemont, Illinois and Bellevue, Washington, will give viewers a chance to play the upcoming action game Uncharted 2: Among Thieves title--on movie screens equipped with Sony digital-projection technology.
Those theatres will provide viewers with PS3s connected to Sony's 4K digital cinema technology, which is in about 500 theatres nationwide and which Sony says provides better image resolution than traditional projectors.
Mike Fidler, senior Vice President of Sony Electronics' Digital Cinema Solutions and Services Group, hopes events like this can eventually drive revenues for Sony, video game makers as well as theatre operators.
"This is the first time we're doing it in a theatre. We think it's a start of something for us, and hope we can build this into a standard element in the movie-going experience," he said. "Our goal in converting theatres to digital is to go beyond the traditional movie-going experience and focus on helping exhibitors find ways to fill seats."
"Gaming will be an important part of that equation." The first night will be a private invitation-only event, while the second event will be open to the public, to be publicized through radio and social networking sites.
Theatre chains have struggled to sustain revenue growth as home entertainment and the recession entices some moviegoers to stay home. And Sony, like other game console makers, is hoping for a hit title this holiday season to drive platform sales as the industry grapples with a protracted decline.
Both Sony and Microsoft Corp, the maker of the rival XBox 360, have recently slashed prices on their consoles. Sales of video game equipment and software in the United States fell 16 percent in August to $908.7 million, the industry's sixth consecutive monthly decline, research group NPD reported.
Uncharted 2 is due to be released on October 13.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Firefox: Google Chrome Frame poses a security risk to users
Firefox backer Mozilla has joined Microsoft in criticising Google's Chrome Frame.
Chrome Frame is a plug-in that puts Google's browser engine under the hood of Microsoft's Internet Explorer, and Google argues it can modernise IE versions 6, 7, and 8 with faster page loading and JavaScript performance. It kicks in only on web pages that web developers have labelled with a specific tag.
After Google announced it, Microsoft criticised it as creating a potentially increased risk to browsing security.
Mike Shaver, vice president of engineering for Mozilla, published a different concern in a blog post Monday night.
"I certainly share that longing for a web in which the vast majority of web users enjoy the performance and capabilities we see in Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Opera. Unfortunately, I don't think that Chrome Frame gets us closer to that web," Shaver said.
Google Chrome Frame
Firefox says Chrome Frame is not the answer (photo credit: Google)
Specifically, Shaver said Chrome Frame can disable IE features and confuse users' understanding of web security matters. And users of the IE 6 browser, he added, often won't be able to run Chrome Frame anyway because their computer is locked down to prohibit changes or lacks sufficient power in the first place.
"As a side effect, the user's understanding of the web's security model and the behaviour of their browser is seriously hindered by delegating the choice of software to the developers of individual sites they visit. It is a problem that we have seen repeatedly with other stack plug-ins like Flash, Silverlight and Java, and not one that I think we need to see replayed again under the banner of HTML5," he said.
Shaver's advice is to rely on the age-old technique: an upgrade suggestion on the website.
"It would be better for the web if developers who want to use the Chrome Frame snippet simply told users that their site worked better in Chrome and instructed them on how to install it," Shaver said. "The user would be educated about the benefits of an alternate browser, would understand better the choice they were making, and the kudos for Chrome's performance would accrue to Google rather than to Microsoft."
VIA - CNET
Chrome Frame is a plug-in that puts Google's browser engine under the hood of Microsoft's Internet Explorer, and Google argues it can modernise IE versions 6, 7, and 8 with faster page loading and JavaScript performance. It kicks in only on web pages that web developers have labelled with a specific tag.
After Google announced it, Microsoft criticised it as creating a potentially increased risk to browsing security.
Mike Shaver, vice president of engineering for Mozilla, published a different concern in a blog post Monday night.
"I certainly share that longing for a web in which the vast majority of web users enjoy the performance and capabilities we see in Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Opera. Unfortunately, I don't think that Chrome Frame gets us closer to that web," Shaver said.
Google Chrome Frame
Firefox says Chrome Frame is not the answer (photo credit: Google)
Specifically, Shaver said Chrome Frame can disable IE features and confuse users' understanding of web security matters. And users of the IE 6 browser, he added, often won't be able to run Chrome Frame anyway because their computer is locked down to prohibit changes or lacks sufficient power in the first place.
"As a side effect, the user's understanding of the web's security model and the behaviour of their browser is seriously hindered by delegating the choice of software to the developers of individual sites they visit. It is a problem that we have seen repeatedly with other stack plug-ins like Flash, Silverlight and Java, and not one that I think we need to see replayed again under the banner of HTML5," he said.
Shaver's advice is to rely on the age-old technique: an upgrade suggestion on the website.
"It would be better for the web if developers who want to use the Chrome Frame snippet simply told users that their site worked better in Chrome and instructed them on how to install it," Shaver said. "The user would be educated about the benefits of an alternate browser, would understand better the choice they were making, and the kudos for Chrome's performance would accrue to Google rather than to Microsoft."
VIA - CNET
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Microsoft to challenge Google with Office Suite
The clash of the Titans continue, as Microsoft announced that it will soon be launching Microsoft Office 2010 which will feature broadcast and video editing in PowerPoint, new data visualization capabilities in Excel, and co-authoring in Word. Microsoft is testing a new version of its market-leading productivity suite for Windows PCs that will tie-up with new Web-based Office.
The applications offered by Microsoft will be similar to those offered by Google, a suite of lightweight online applications. Google's online spreadsheet and office related applications has been gaining popularity. To counter that Microsoft plans to take Office online, with a new series of free Office Web applications. "Office Web Applications, the online companion to Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote applications, allow you to access documents from anywhere. You can even simultaneously share and work on documents with others online," says Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview Website. The ad-supported web-suite will be available to more than 400 million Windows Live consumers at no extra cost.
Google has been struggling to match the reputation of Microsoft office, as its own suite failed to perform up to their expectation. But Google is offering free version of this suite, thus attracting more than 15 million customers. Since then Microsoft has been under pressure to provide more free applications.
Microsoft is also set to announce the launch of its internet-based operating system, called Azure. This will see it give tough competition to Google in the business of selling computing resources over the internet and by allowing developers to buy capacity to run their applications based on the amount of storage, bandwidth or any other resources that they use.
Microsoft has also announced that it will reduce the number of office editions from eight to five. The Microsoft Office suite will be available in the first half of next year. So far, the company has made no announcement for an Office suite for Mac systems.
VIA siliconindia.com
The applications offered by Microsoft will be similar to those offered by Google, a suite of lightweight online applications. Google's online spreadsheet and office related applications has been gaining popularity. To counter that Microsoft plans to take Office online, with a new series of free Office Web applications. "Office Web Applications, the online companion to Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote applications, allow you to access documents from anywhere. You can even simultaneously share and work on documents with others online," says Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview Website. The ad-supported web-suite will be available to more than 400 million Windows Live consumers at no extra cost.
Google has been struggling to match the reputation of Microsoft office, as its own suite failed to perform up to their expectation. But Google is offering free version of this suite, thus attracting more than 15 million customers. Since then Microsoft has been under pressure to provide more free applications.
Microsoft is also set to announce the launch of its internet-based operating system, called Azure. This will see it give tough competition to Google in the business of selling computing resources over the internet and by allowing developers to buy capacity to run their applications based on the amount of storage, bandwidth or any other resources that they use.
Microsoft has also announced that it will reduce the number of office editions from eight to five. The Microsoft Office suite will be available in the first half of next year. So far, the company has made no announcement for an Office suite for Mac systems.
VIA siliconindia.com
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Google Chrome OS
It's been an exciting nine months since we launched the Google Chrome browser. Already, over 30 million people use it regularly. We designed Google Chrome for people who live on the web — searching for information, checking email, catching up on the news, shopping or just staying in touch with friends. However, the operating systems that browsers run on were designed in an era where there was no web. So today, we're announcing a new project that's a natural extension of Google Chrome — the Google Chrome Operating System. It's our attempt to re-think what operating systems should be.
Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Later this year we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010. Because we're already talking to partners about the project, and we'll soon be working with the open source community, we wanted to share our vision now so everyone understands what we are trying to achieve.
Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We're designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web. And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.
Google Chrome OS will run on both x86 as well as ARM chips and we are working with multiple OEMs to bring a number of netbooks to market next year. The software architecture is simple — Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel. For application developers, the web is the platform. All web-based applications will automatically work and new applications can be written using your favorite web technologies. And of course, these apps will run not only on Google Chrome OS, but on any standards-based browser on Windows, Mac and Linux thereby giving developers the largest user base of any platform.
Google Chrome OS is a new project, separate from Android. Android was designed from the beginning to work across a variety of devices from phones to set-top boxes to netbooks. Google Chrome OS is being created for people who spend most of their time on the web, and is being designed to power computers ranging from small netbooks to full-size desktop systems. While there are areas where Google Chrome OS and Android overlap, we believe choice will drive innovation for the benefit of everyone, including Google.
We hear a lot from our users and their message is clear — computers need to get better. People want to get to their email instantly, without wasting time waiting for their computers to boot and browsers to start up. They want their computers to always run as fast as when they first bought them. They want their data to be accessible to them wherever they are and not have to worry about losing their computer or forgetting to back up files. Even more importantly, they don't want to spend hours configuring their computers to work with every new piece of hardware, or have to worry about constant software updates. And any time our users have a better computing experience, Google benefits as well by having happier users who are more likely to spend time on the Internet.
We have a lot of work to do, and we're definitely going to need a lot of help from the open source community to accomplish this vision. We're excited for what's to come and we hope you are too. Stay tuned for more updates in the fall and have a great summer.
VIA - http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/
Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Later this year we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010. Because we're already talking to partners about the project, and we'll soon be working with the open source community, we wanted to share our vision now so everyone understands what we are trying to achieve.
Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We're designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web. And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.
Google Chrome OS will run on both x86 as well as ARM chips and we are working with multiple OEMs to bring a number of netbooks to market next year. The software architecture is simple — Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel. For application developers, the web is the platform. All web-based applications will automatically work and new applications can be written using your favorite web technologies. And of course, these apps will run not only on Google Chrome OS, but on any standards-based browser on Windows, Mac and Linux thereby giving developers the largest user base of any platform.
Google Chrome OS is a new project, separate from Android. Android was designed from the beginning to work across a variety of devices from phones to set-top boxes to netbooks. Google Chrome OS is being created for people who spend most of their time on the web, and is being designed to power computers ranging from small netbooks to full-size desktop systems. While there are areas where Google Chrome OS and Android overlap, we believe choice will drive innovation for the benefit of everyone, including Google.
We hear a lot from our users and their message is clear — computers need to get better. People want to get to their email instantly, without wasting time waiting for their computers to boot and browsers to start up. They want their computers to always run as fast as when they first bought them. They want their data to be accessible to them wherever they are and not have to worry about losing their computer or forgetting to back up files. Even more importantly, they don't want to spend hours configuring their computers to work with every new piece of hardware, or have to worry about constant software updates. And any time our users have a better computing experience, Google benefits as well by having happier users who are more likely to spend time on the Internet.
We have a lot of work to do, and we're definitely going to need a lot of help from the open source community to accomplish this vision. We're excited for what's to come and we hope you are too. Stay tuned for more updates in the fall and have a great summer.
VIA - http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
An overview of the new Nokia N97
Nokia has launched its new N97 smart phone (Nokia calls it a mobile computer) with 3.5-inch tilting touch screen and QWERTY keyboard. Nokia N97 key features are:
* Tri-band HSDPA/quad-band GSM
* Sliding QWERTY keypad and touchscreen display
* 3.5-inch TFT (16:9 widescreen); 640 x 360 pixels
* 32GB onboard memory + microSD card slot
* Series60 5th Edition
* 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss Tessar optics
* MPEG-4 VGA video recording at 30fps
* Multiple music, video and image formats supported
* 802.11b/g; USB; Bluetooth with A2DP; GPS with A-GPS
* 3.5mm audio jack
* 117.2 x 55.3 x 15.9mm
* 150gm weight
The Nokia N97 is powered by the Nokia BP-4L Battery with 6.6 hours talk-time and 430 hours standby.Along with all major features like 3G, GPRS, GPS, HSDPA, Java, Bluetooth, A2DP, USB and WiFi ,the Nokia N97 has a 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics,32GB memory(up to 48GB) and the latest Series60 5th Edition OS.It has a slide-out QWERTY keypad and a large 3.5-inch touchscreen display.
The Nokia N97 is a high-end multimedia phone with 3.5-inch 640×360 pixel resolution display.The N97’s 32GB of internal memory with microSDHC support will hardly let any space shortage in it.The tilt-up display is a comfortable typing position than the flat sliding phones.The QWERTY keypad and the touchscreen will make sure that there is no restriction in writing text.The 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss Tessar optics is nothing new or big thing but anyway you are not buying just a camera phone.Overall the Nokia N97 is a sexy high-end multimedia phone.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Samsung launches solar-powered phone
Leading white goods and mobile handset manufacturer Samsung on Wednesday launched a low-cost solar-powered mobile phone, and said it was planning to introduce about 20 more models by year-end.
The new handset, launched under its low-cost line of products - Guru - at a price of Rs.2,799, has a solar panel on the back, which can be used to charge the battery anywhere the sun is shining.
"We have developed this phone keeping in minds the needs of the consumers, especially for people in areas where the electric supply is unstable," said J S Shin, president and chief executive of Samsung, Southwest Asia.
The phone, christened the "Guru E1107", can provide around 5-10 minutes of talk-time with one-hour of solar charging when the handset is turned off and sunlight has adequate intensity.
"Solar charging can give you enough time to make few important calls when there is no electricity or you are not close to a plug point," said Sunil Dutt, country head of Samsung India.
The battery will attain full power with about 40 hours of solar charging.
"But that is really not the intention behind the launch of this phone. It is to enable customers to make a call when there is no electricity," said Dutt.
The handset, the 11th model in the Guru series, will be in shops by month-end.
The first few batches of Guru E1107 will be imported from South Korea.
Saumsung has already launched about 20 models this year and plans to take this number to about 40 across categories.
Asked whether the company would consider introducing solar charging features in high-end phones, Dutt said: "We would definitely consider doing so."
Samsung, which has invested about $44 million in developing its mobile manufacturing facility in Noida, also has ambitious plans for the huge Indian mobile market.
"Our market share is in the early double digits currently. We plan to increase it by about 5-6 percent this year," said a company official.
The company is also planning to introduce in India its solar-powered touchscreen mobile handset, Blue Earth - unveiled at a technology conference in Barcelona, Spain early this year.
The new handset, launched under its low-cost line of products - Guru - at a price of Rs.2,799, has a solar panel on the back, which can be used to charge the battery anywhere the sun is shining.
"We have developed this phone keeping in minds the needs of the consumers, especially for people in areas where the electric supply is unstable," said J S Shin, president and chief executive of Samsung, Southwest Asia.
The phone, christened the "Guru E1107", can provide around 5-10 minutes of talk-time with one-hour of solar charging when the handset is turned off and sunlight has adequate intensity.
"Solar charging can give you enough time to make few important calls when there is no electricity or you are not close to a plug point," said Sunil Dutt, country head of Samsung India.
The battery will attain full power with about 40 hours of solar charging.
"But that is really not the intention behind the launch of this phone. It is to enable customers to make a call when there is no electricity," said Dutt.
The handset, the 11th model in the Guru series, will be in shops by month-end.
The first few batches of Guru E1107 will be imported from South Korea.
Saumsung has already launched about 20 models this year and plans to take this number to about 40 across categories.
Asked whether the company would consider introducing solar charging features in high-end phones, Dutt said: "We would definitely consider doing so."
Samsung, which has invested about $44 million in developing its mobile manufacturing facility in Noida, also has ambitious plans for the huge Indian mobile market.
"Our market share is in the early double digits currently. We plan to increase it by about 5-6 percent this year," said a company official.
The company is also planning to introduce in India its solar-powered touchscreen mobile handset, Blue Earth - unveiled at a technology conference in Barcelona, Spain early this year.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Fujitsu develops world's fastest CPU for 1st time in 10 years
TOKYO: Fujitsu Limited has developed the world's fastest central processing unit, often called the computer's brain, becoming the first Japanese
company in 10 years to claim the top spot.
The new CPU, called Venus, runs 2.5 times faster than its rival Intel Corp.'s product that has taken the lead in speed, according to the officials. In 1999, Fujitsu developed the fastest CPU at the time.
Fujitsu's new CPU may be installed in a next-generation supercomputer which is planned to begin operation at Riken, a science and technology institute in Japan, from next fiscal year, company officials said yesterday.
The product may be utilized in areas such as development of new drugs, which require massive data processing, they said.
company in 10 years to claim the top spot.
The new CPU, called Venus, runs 2.5 times faster than its rival Intel Corp.'s product that has taken the lead in speed, according to the officials. In 1999, Fujitsu developed the fastest CPU at the time.
Fujitsu's new CPU may be installed in a next-generation supercomputer which is planned to begin operation at Riken, a science and technology institute in Japan, from next fiscal year, company officials said yesterday.
The product may be utilized in areas such as development of new drugs, which require massive data processing, they said.
BMW developing cars that 'sense' danger
Munich: BMW is refining a car-to-car communication system that offers more pedestrian protection by "sensing" situations and persons that cannot normally be seen by motorists, according to the car maker.
In a typical situation a child could suddenly jump onto the road from between two parked vehicles. In such a case the moving vehicle would communicate with an electronic transponder carried by the child or cyclist for protection.
The project is part of the AMULETT research project aimed at preventing accidents with sensoring and tracking technology. On board car systems are networked with those of other vehicles or transponders carried by persons. These can be installed in school bags, mobile phones or in a walking stick.
Should the system determine an impending collision or danger situation, the driver is warned with a signal on the head-up display. If he or she does not respond the system automatically triggers a braking procedure.
According to German government accident statistics 48 per cent of child accident victims between the age of six and 14 ran onto the road without observing the traffic. Other research has shown that in 40 per cent of fatal pedestrian accidents, the driver could not react in time.
In a typical situation a child could suddenly jump onto the road from between two parked vehicles. In such a case the moving vehicle would communicate with an electronic transponder carried by the child or cyclist for protection.
The project is part of the AMULETT research project aimed at preventing accidents with sensoring and tracking technology. On board car systems are networked with those of other vehicles or transponders carried by persons. These can be installed in school bags, mobile phones or in a walking stick.
Should the system determine an impending collision or danger situation, the driver is warned with a signal on the head-up display. If he or she does not respond the system automatically triggers a braking procedure.
According to German government accident statistics 48 per cent of child accident victims between the age of six and 14 ran onto the road without observing the traffic. Other research has shown that in 40 per cent of fatal pedestrian accidents, the driver could not react in time.
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