Saturday, July 04, 2009

Upgrading the SSD in a Netbook Makes a Difference [Storage]

Upgrading the SSD in a Netbook Makes a Difference [Storage]

Netbooks are netbooks. Usually based on Intel's Atom chipset, and generally not that fast. What you gonna do? Well, I upgraded the SSD in my Hackintosh. Not just to bump the drive from 32 to 128GB, but for SPEED.

The drive is one of few things easily upgradable on these devices. On the Dell Mini 9, its a matter of removing two screws on the back plate, and two screws that hold the drive in place (which, if you've never seen a netbook SSD drive before, looks more like a RAM module.) The 64 and 128MB modules take up the space reserved for the WWAN card, so don't go that route if you have WWAN.

While I was able to restore my Mac OS X Time Capsule backup, it wouldn't boot til I used the DellEFIbootmaker (allows you to boot into the drive you just restored) and then ran DellEFI to restore the partition to a bootable condition. Oh, the Leopard install process which you use to restore won't read off of a Time Capsule, so you have to copy the restore file to a USB drive before hand. Anyhow, none of this is the point.

Look at how much faster the writes are, especially the random ones. The only sacrifice you end up with is a bit of big block read performance.

It's a bit of a shame the stock SSDs h! ad these compromises in the first place, though. If you're buying a netbook, its worth checking the forums for results like these on the models you're interested in, and perhaps buying a low capacity stock model, and upgrading to an aftermarket drive later. (The Super Talent drive I tested wasn't cheap, though, at $200 for the 64GB model and $380 for 128GBs.) Kind of ridiculous next to the cost of a $200-$300 netbook, I admit. *shame*

One other thing to consider: The runcore SSD upgrades for netbooks have little microUSB ports on them, so you can load up and back up files/images from another machine. Handy for Hackintoshing, for sure, but I think they top out at 64GB, taking up only a single wide form factor.
[Super Talent Dell Mini 9 SSD]

Should We Be Excited About the Archos9 Windows 7 Tablet Netbook? [Tablets]

Should We Be Excited About the Archos9 Windows 7 Tablet Netbook? [Tablets]

We already knew pretty much everything about the Archos9 tablet netbook running Windows 7, but with nobody sure what kind of touchscreen the thing uses, we're left to wonder if we'd want anything to do with a resistive-touchscreen tablet.

Crave got a little hands-on with the svelte Atom-powered Archos9, and without even thinking about it, published their post calling it a fairly accurate capacitive touchscreen. That makes us happy: Tablets, especially a little guy like this 9-incher, need as accurate tracking as they can muster. Archos's previous "tablets," the Archos 5 and 7, used mushy resistive touchscreens that worked okay but are firmly last-gen right now, and we're excited to see a slick capacitive interface with the highly-touchable Windows 7 OS.

Yet in Archos's press release for the Archos9, they list the screen as resistive. Now we trust Crave, and we believe that they (like the rest of us) can tell the difference with each finger press. So what's the story here? Crave doesn't seem to have any idea; all the documentation says resistive, but it certainly didn't feel that way to them. This may seem like nitpicking, but it might be a dealbreaker for us. Handwriting recognition is far worse with resistive screens, they can only pick up one signal at a time (so multitouch is out), and the screens thems! elves ar e often much muddier or washed-out looking than capacitive.

So help us out, Archos. We want to like this thing, we really do, but we'd like to know what we're dealing with first. Anyway, full presser below. [Crave]

ARCHOS REDEFINES MOBILE COMPUTING WITH ITS TABLET PC

New Ultra-Thin and Ultra-Fast ARCHOS 9 PCtablet Delivers Full PC Computing, Video Conferencing and Access to Media on a Full Touch Screen Handheld Device.

DENVER, CO – July 2, 200Your browser may not support display of this image. 9 ARCHOS is leading the innovation charge in the MiniPC market with the introduction of the ARCHOS 9 PCtablet. This new PCtablet combines the performance of a high-end PC with breathtaking design, excellent ergonomics and an astonishing touch interface. It gives PC users an entirely new way to work, stay connected and enjoy the Web and digital media on an ultra-thin and extremely fast full touch-screen tablet.

The ARCHOS 9 PCtablet is the ultra portable PC; extremely thin, just 0.63", and ultra lightweight, less than 22.29 oz. The ARCHOS 9 pushes the boundaries of style and function.

With a full touch-sensitive 9" screen, users can enjoy a comfortable computing experience. The resistive screen allows emails and documents to be composed easily via a built-in virtual keyboard. The innovative optical trackball and buttons allows easy navigation on screen, and provides an uncompromised PC experience.

The ARCHOS 9 features the new Z515 Intel® processor, Microsoft Windows 7® Operating system and an integrated multimedia platform that uses WiFi 802.11b/g connection and Bluetooth 2.1 for extremely fast computing anywhere, anytime.

Additional software includes Microsoft Office®, Web TV & Radio, video conference, antivirus, parental control, photos and movies edition applications and more.

The ARCHOS 9 PCtablet will be available this fall, 2009.

Friday, July 03, 2009

LG Making iPhone Competitor, Android Phone and Prada III [Lg]

LG Making iPhone Competitor, Android Phone and Prada III [Lg]

It would be amazing if LG could make an iPhone competitor, an Android device and a Prada III that's one single device, but somehow I don't think that's what LG's president means.

In an interview for a Korean news agency, Ahn Seung-kwon says (besides the details above) that LG will make another luxury phone (unrelated to the Prada) that will be similar to Nokia's crazy overpriced Vertu. He also said that they aim to be the number two cellphone maker in the world by 2012. The current #2? Samsung. So it's like Predator vs. Aliens, except instead of Predator and Aliens, you have a bunch of Koreans. [Unwired View via Boy Genius]

Archos 9 Windows 7 tablet does a little hands-on time

Archos 9 Windows 7 tablet does a little hands-on time

Looks like the Archos 9 Windows 7 tablet has made it out of the labs (and controlled show floor settings) and into the hands of Crave UK, where that seemingly-amazing resistive touchscreen continues to impress -- so much so that they initially thought it was a capacitive unit. We actually pinged Crave ed Nate Lanxon to find out what was up, and the real story appears to be a mystery -- either Archos PR is mistaken in telling everyone that it's a resistive screen, or the company has somehow improved the tech to the point where it's virtually indistinguishable from a capacitive display. Given our experience with previous Archos resistive touchscreen devices that felt like mush, we've got to say we're going with Occam's Razor on this and that it's really capacitive, but we're definitely ready to be proven wrong -- hey Archos, you feel like sending us a new toy to play with?

Filed under: Tablet PCs

Archos 9 Windows 7 tablet does a little hands-on time originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thursday, July 02, 2009

Cannes Swept by PR, Integrated, Internet Winners Ad Age Is Over -- or, at Least, It's Evolved to Higher Plane - http://ping.fm/EhjwG

Sonos Remote Goes Touchscreen; New System Bundle On Its Way [Sonos]

Sonos Remote Goes Touchscreen; New System Bundle On Its Way [Sonos]

It's fair to say that everyone would've loved it if the last remote for the Sonos wireless media systems, the $400 C100, had a touchscreen. It didn't. Years later, the CR200 does, but it might be a bit late.

Oddly enough, this is Sonos' fault in every possible way. We don't have any specs, price or features, but given how close to perfect the free iPhone app for Sonos is, this wireless controller may have a hard time competing as an add-on product, especially if it's priced above the $229 baseline iPod Touch. In bundles, I suppose it'll do fine.

Speaking of which! Automated Home says the CR200 will be part of a spruced up Sonos system bundle:

The BU150 now changes to the BU250 which includes the CR200. There also is a slight colour change with the zoneplayers hardware to match the new controller but there are no technical changes & will still be named the ZP120 & ZP90

If that means anything to you, you probably know that this is a good thing. If not, then it's time to read up. [Automated Home via Engadget]

Cheap, Thin Laptops Suffering From Cheapness, Thinness [Notebooks]

Cheap, Thin Laptops Suffering From Cheapness, Thinness [Notebooks]

The new litter of thin, cheap laptops, as we've seen from Lenovo and Dell, is inherently charming, making the experience of using a cheap, portable laptop bearable for people put off by netbook tininess. There's just one problem.

CNET caught up with Doug Freedman, an analyst for AmTech who has been speaking to device manufacturers:

Early production units being built in plastic, with the bottom case being plastic, are cracking...So, to get that really thin form factor that they're after, they're probably going to have to go with a metal case.

The obvious issue here is that they can't go with a metal case, or else they'll almost certainly cease to be "budget" laptops. As Mark noted in his review, the MSI X340—on the high end of this particular category already—suffered from an alarming flimsiness. Switching the case to aluminum would solve this problem; it would also push the laptop's price even closer to the MacBook Air, effectively eliminating its entire reason for existence.

To be fair, most of the laptops announced in the category haven't even started shipping yet, and problems like this could conceivably be conquered with some clever industrial design wizardry. Sometimes, though, there's a reason a pa! rticular product niche—especially an obvious one like this—hasn't been cracked before. [CNET]

AMD's RS880 integrated graphics chip could make netbooks usable

AMD's RS880 integrated graphics chip could make netbooks usable

Tired of hearing that your next favorite netbook / nettop is hamstrung with one of those woefully underpowered GMA950 graphics chipsets? Eager to see what all AMD is going to do about it? If The Inquirer is to be believed, an up and coming integrated chipset should elevate the multimedia prowess of low-end machines, as the RS880 would actually be based around the new Radeon HD 4200 core. In theory, at least, this chip would be around 15 percent faster than similar alternatives out there now, giving future netbooks just enough power to churn through 720p video without st, st, stuttering. Needless to say, the suits are refusing to comment on the matter, but we're definitely holding out hope for this one.

Filed under: Peripherals

AMD's RS880 integrated graphics chip could make netbooks usable originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Integrated Marketing and Digital Strategy Articles on Clickz

Augustine Fou

Dr. Augustine Fou is group chief digital officer of Omnicom's healthcare consultancy group, specializing in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. Fou helps clients develop digital marketing programs or improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness existing campaigns via advanced analytics, social marketing, and digital strategy. You can follow him on Twitter @acfou. He has over 12 years of Internet strategy consulting experience and client service. Fou completed his PhD at MIT at the age of 23 and served with the New York office of McKinsey & Company. He is an adjunct professor at New York University in the Integrated Marketing Department of the School for Continuing and Professional Studies.

Advertising Does Not Create Demand, But... It may help fulfill demand. Understand the difference. Jul 2, 2009
Consumers Have Changed, So Should Advertisers Five ways that consumers have irreversibly altered their expectations online and offline. Jun 4, 2009
Social Media Benchmarks: Realities and Myths Benchmarks to avoid and others to embrace. May 7, 2009
The ROI for Social Media Is Zero If social marketing's done right, the potential ROI could be infinite. Five tips to get you started.Apr 9, 2009
How to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising Planning an awareness campaign in TV or other media? Advertisers can now correlate money spent on that campaign to a lift in sales -- and estimate the return on investment. Mar 12, 2009
Social Intensity: A New Measure for Campaign Success? A look at two metrics that online marketers should pay attention to today. And they are not frequency and reach. Feb 12, 2009
Beyond Targeting in the Age of the Modern Consumer Three tips for using "missing link" marketing to solve targeting's shortcomings. Jan 15, 2009
Experiential Marketing Consumers are savvy and informed; they won't just take your word on a product. Experiencing the product is more important than ever. Dec 18, 2008
Search Improves All Marketing Aspects Search is much more than just an opportunity for marketers to push out another message. Nov 20, 2008
Social Commerce: In Friends We Trust How to integrate social networks into your marketing plan. Nov 6, 2008
Make Digital Work for Your Customers During these tough economic times, here are three ways advertisers can integrate digital into the marketing mix. Oct 23, 2008

Zen Audi

Zen Audi

When I first learned to ride a horse, I was told that I needed to move with the horse, as if of one mind. I was bucked off twice before I finally let go and learned to let go and move with “Davis” the horse, as opposed to trying to force her to bend to my will. That lesson seems to be apparent in Designer Andrea Mocellin’s latest “EXO- AUDI” concept. Andrea feels that the best way to drive is to be at one with your machine.

By “Taking advantage of the exoskeleton and nanotechnology evolution, we can create a potential energy source and produce a new generation of human powered vehicles: faster and stronger.” Inspired by sports equipment, footwear design and human instinct, this design uses the owners own kinetic energy to power your way down the street. Though it is not quite clear if Andrea is talking about pedal power or full body motion, this design not only re-imagines power train options but also makes us look deeper into the obvious inefficiency of modern human conveyance systems. No wonder GM is having a hard time finding a buyer for HUMMER.

Designer: Andrea Mocellin

audi_exo_01

audi_exo_02

audi_exo_03

You Sure You're 140? [Sears Tower]

You Sure You're 140? [Sears Tower]

"I don't know Mary. Even though this thing is supposed to hold 5 tons, you could still stand to lose a few pounds. You know, just for health's sake." [Getty Images via Gawker]

The Sears Tower Skydeck is four separate glass retractable "protrusions" that can each hold up to five tons, and is probably the best laxative to be found on the 103rd floor. What's holding you up is three layers of half-inch thick glass (plus whatever joints and connectors they have to connect the glass). The visit is included in the $15 admission. [Sun Times]

DIY HD projector hits the right note, sub-â¬500 price range

DIY HD projector hits the right note, sub-€500 price range

It's really hard to say how much of a value this DIY HD projector is, given we're missing some crucial specs like resolution (gotta be at least 720p, right?), contrast ratio, and luminosity. Still, at €500 (about $708 US) for the whole kit, it's not a bad deal if you planned on spending your weekend doing projects anyway. All the pieces come in four separate bundles -- HD optic, light, housing, and electronics -- and if you need some handholding (it's okay, so do we), there's a German-language instruction manual that's thankfully full of pictures and diagrams, and even more entertaining, we've got a video / picture slideshow of the process done to a playful techno ditty. Check it out after the break.

Update: Yup, it's 1280x768.

[Via Slashgear, thanks Gary K.]

Read - DIY HD projector kit
Read - Instruction manual

Continue reading DIY HD projector hits the right note, sub-€500 price range

Filed under: Home Entertainment

DIY HD projector hits the right note, sub-€500 price range originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Advertising Does Not Create Demand, here's proof -- agree with me, or tell me I'm stupid -- http://ping.fm/2cUIV

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Gizmodo, Engadget Guys Launch GDGT (And Get Crushed By Traffic)

Gizmodo, Engadget Guys Launch GDGT (And Get Crushed By Traffic)

GDGT logo Peter Rojas and Ryan Block are back on the same website.

As a recap, Rojas helped found Nick Denton's Gizmodo, but then left to form Engadget, where he worked with Ryan Block. The fierce competition for scoops between the two sites is legendary. But now Peter and Ryan have launched their new baby, GDGT.

Don't bother clicking on the link right now: The site went down shortly after its launch. The site's Twitter feed is fine though, and currently reads, "So the amount of traffic we're getting is roughly 3-5x our 'even-that-will-never-happen' estimates... doing the best we can!"

Brad Stone at the Times says GDGT, "differs from Engadget or Gizmodo by aspiring to be a gadget-oriented social network. Users of the site can create profiles and specify which consumer electronics devices they have, had or want to buy."

Block says the point of GDGT is to outlive the "lust phase," of users drooling over the latest toys, and instead building a community for users to ogle the gear they already have getting the most out of it until they decide to replace it.

The site is opting out of the review wars that the two founders helped create; they plan to link to the other sites for breaking gadget news and headlines, and instead let their users write most of the news and reviews that runs on their own site. The site will earn money from ads and affiliate programs with online gadget stores. Blackberry parent RIM will be the site's exclusive advertiser for the first month. Apparently RIM's ads look a lot like GDGT content, but are clearly marked as advertising.

Block modestly tells the Times: "This could possibly be the last great gadget site."

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Software Engineer Makes His Own Electric Car

Software Engineer Makes His Own Electric Car

Raul Atkinson, a software engineer, wanted an electric car for himself, but couldn't find one on the market that was affordable or good looking. So did what any reasonable person would do, he built his own.

He calls it the Raptor. And he spent 2,000 of his spare hours building it from a 1965 Shelby Cobra body kit.

NBC(via Jalopnik): The car runs on a 3-phase AC induction motor and is currently powered by 290 nickel metal hydride batteries (Atkinson says the next version will use a lithium ion battery). It can reach speeds up to 100 MPH and can travel from zero to 60 mph in about eight seconds. The time it takes to charge the car is typically three hours, which will allow it to travel up to 80 miles depending on the driving environment.

Atkinson estimates the car cost about $85,000, but for some reason thinks it could be made for cheap as an alternative to the Prius.

Our unsolicited advice to Mr. Atkinson: forget the mass market. Go high end. Think Lamborghini, Porsche. You'll make a profit, and you'll be less susceptible to the rise and fall of gas prices. Rich people don't need to worry about getting hurt at the pump.

Atkinson's tracked the progress of the car at Electric Marin Wheels. Here's a selection of photos that chart his progress as the car went from kit to hot rod.

Start Slideshow →

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