NWA-PCUG Newsletter Article, April 2011
The Running of the Nerds
By Lou Torraca, President,
The TUG MOAA Computer User Group, Hawaii
Af06hi (at) gmail.com
(click to email author)

No, I wasn’t in Spain at the Running of the Bulls...I was in Las Vegas to attend the annual Consumer Electronics Show and yes, I was one of the thundering herd going from press event to press event, starting on Tuesday, January 4.

Those of you who remember my last years review will recall that there are a number of events designed to get the media (and now, also, bloggers) together with selected vendors as well as individual press conferences by vendors, some of which began on Tuesday. The big day for press conferences is Wednesday, beginning at 7AM and continuing all day for 45 minutes each, allowing the running to commence before each new conference. The somewhat smaller, but not much, are the Tuesday afternoon, CES Unveiled, Wednesday evening Digital Experience, Thursday and Friday Lunch at Pieros and Thursday evening Showstoppers. The lunches at Pieros are probably the most productive as the number of invitees and vendors is more practical allowing time to find out more from the vendors. This years CES reportedly attracted 140,000 people to browse 2,700 or so booths. BTW, if you are a tablet fan or an iPod owner you had 85 clones to view and evaluate. And it you wanted anything to use with your iPad, there were iPad cases, iPad holders, iPad keyboards, iPad chargers, iPad alarm clocks, and who knows, what all, but of course, no iPad!

Two things that were widely hyped were 3D TV and linking everything! I’m honestly not much of a fan of 3D TV...who wants to buy a box full of glasses so you can invite your 20 buddies to watch the Super Bowl? And no glasses 3D is a loser...you have to sit perfectly in the middle of the screen for it to work. I also don’t care for using a 75" screen to do computer stuff...but maybe that’s just me {:-) Just to put some of this in perspective, there was a press conference by a company that makes high-end 3D glasses that do all sorts of things (and cost $1K or more!)

I attended all of the above, so I’ll give you a quick list of some interesting things I saw and continue with more, the next couple times.

First is in the health category, a big one this year concentrating on linking to many different media and allowing a lot of freedom for those who are getting on and live alone.

Withings is back with another health tracking product. This time, instead of tracking your weight and body fat, it tracks your blood pressure. They call it the Smart Blood Pressure Monitor.

Instant Measurement
Simply connect the Withings monitor to your iOS Device. The Withings application runs automatically and makes the measurement available with a single action.

Clear results
Detailed results are displayed, and the application will indicate the recommended values, using all the display qualities of the iOS Device.

Automatic Saving
All results are saved for a precise monitoring of your health. There’s no need to note down results, calculate averages and transmit them. The Withings monitor does all this for you.

Health monitored from your pocket
Automatically traced curves facilitate the detection of trends in the blink of an eye. Morning/evening values and subsequent average values are clearly displayed for effective monitoring.

Lenovo was showing off a full range of notebooks but the most impressive was the Lenovo U1 notebook/tablet hybrid. Presented was an i5 laptop running Windows 7 with a screen/tablet running Android. The tablet could be removed and replaced in under 5 seconds and without powering off. Currently available overseas, the U1 should be coming to the USA in the coming months.

Kingston Digital, Inc., the Flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, announced the SDHC UHS-I UltimateXX memory cards. The highest speed class available today, the UltimateXX meets standards set by the Secure Digital Association for next level performance in SD card technology.

Shipping later this month, Kingston’s UltimateXX memory cards are ideal for the serious photographer or videographer. Photographers will appreciate the ability to easily capture sequential shots that were once a challenge due to the speed limitations of memory. The UltimateXX also makes it easy to capture HD video. The performance of SDHC UHS-I memory card is optimized when paired with a UHS-I device, although the card is backwards compatible with Class 4, 6 and 10 equipment. “Kingston is pleased to be one of the first manufacturers to offer SDHC UHS-I memory cards to our customers,” said Mike Kuppinger, Flash card product manager, Kingston®. “Being a member of the SD Association enhances our ability to bring new technology to market. As the devices that support SDHC UHS-I become prevalent, our UtilimateXX cards are at the ready.” Kingston’s UltimateXX line meets the SD Association standards for the UHS-1 speed class with speeds up to 60MB/sec, read and 35MB/sec. Write. At this performance level, the write speed of SDHC UHS-I memory cards is more than three times as fast as SDHC Class 10 cards. The UltimateXX product line will offer capabilities of GB, 16GB and 32GB.

Now here is one you weren’t expecting. Laundry pre-treaters will collect dust thanks to the new Maytag® Maxima™ washer. Its Power Wash™ System takes out tough stains and provides better overall cleaning performance while using less detergent. The system’s features include Optimal Dispense which injects detergent intermittently throughout the washer’s fill time and industry-first, Power-Spray, to provide enhanced cleaning by spraying the detergent solution evenly on the washer’s contents.

I have LoJack on my laptop, but since I use the netbook on all my trips, it seemed the smart thing to do to add it to the netbook as well, after my talk with the Absolute Software folks at Lunch at Pieros.

What’s Your Digital Net Worth?
Think about it. How many songs have you downloaded onto your laptop? How many movies? Combined with the initial cost of your computer, most people have a digital net worth that could easily run into thousands of dollars. Not to mention the priceless value of photos, personal information, correspondence, coursework and other irreplaceable items. So what are you doing to protect your investment?

When your laptop is stolen, you can feel powerless. But you don’t have to. LoJack® for Laptops by Absolute Software is a computer theft recovery service with remote device and data security features. If your laptop is stolen or missing, you’ve got the power to remotely block access to it and the personal data it contains, while their dedicated Theft Recovery Team works to recover it for you.

Now for you 4G fans...Motorola has a really neat combo. The Atrix...a phone and a laptop, except it’s not really a laptop. You have to snap the phone into this really good looking, sleek, thin and light (2.4 lbs) laptop/dock. The phone provides the processor, memory, Internet connection and, all your photos, videos, music and files. Whatever was on the phone’s screen is now on the laptop, plus you gain a trackpad and full keyboard. No synch is necessary, it’s all on the phone.

As a user of an ASUS Netbook, I was pleased to receive an invitation to the ASUS press conference on Jan 4. The following are my best picks:

ASUS Eee Pad Slider
Mobile users who want the best of both tablet and traditional notebook worlds will be well served by the Eee Pad Slider. This pad computer not only features a 10.1” IPS touch-screen for finger-friendly use, but also a slide-out QWERTY keyboard for comfortable, use-anywhere typing. It is powered by the NVIDIA® Tegra™ 2, the world’s most advanced mobile processor with a dual-core CPU and NVIDIA® GeForce® GPU for never-before-seen experiences on a mobile device. Built-in digital cameras on the front (1.2MP) and rear (5MP) of the Slider allow for easy video chat and digital photography while the Android® 3.0 operating system makes sharing photos by internet, email and social media sites a breeze. The intuitive interface provides user-friendly control via the capacitive touch-screen and optional onboard 3G allows for go-anywhere internet access, making the Slider the ideal device for mobile professionals with work-oriented needs.

ASUS Eee Pad Transformer
With a slim lightweight design and 10.1” capacitive touch-screen, the versatile Eee Pad Transformer is the perfect pad computer for people who want to enjoy multimedia on the move, but still wish to have easy access to the web, email and other productivity applications. A custom user interface provides easy access to the many features of the Android® 3.0 operating system, while the NVIDIA® Tegra™ 2 chipset provides full support for Adobe Flash, smooth HD video conferencing and playback, a lightning fast web experience and incredible mobile gaming performance. An optional docking station turns the Transformer into a full-fledged notebook with a QWERTY keyboard for desktop use, while extending battery life up to 16 hours. As with the Slider, front (1.2MP) and rear (5MP) digital cameras make for easy video chat and digital photography, while a built-in mini-HDMI port makes for easy connections to external displays showing off full 1080p HD video playback.

ASUS Eee Pad MeMO
The Eee Pad MeMO provides the ultimate in mobile flexibility. Its 7.1” capacitive touch-screen makes it small enough to slip into a jacket pocket, yet still perfect for taking handwritten notes using the supplied stylus pen. The Android® 3.0 operating system offers a wide range of productivity and entertainment software, while a Micro HDMI port means the MeMO can even connect to an external display for full 1080p HD video playback.

ASUS Eee Slate EP121
The Eee Slate EP121 is designed for users who require a highly portable handheld device that can also run standard office software while multitasking with other applications. Powered with an Intel® Core™ i5 dual-core processor, the Eee Slate features a 12.1” LED-backlit display with a 1280 x 800 resolution and a wide 178° viewing angle, making it perfectly suited for both productivity applications and multimedia entertainment. Windows® 7 Home Premium ensures full compatibility with a wide range of popular applications controlled by flexible input options thanks to the Eee Slate.

The capacitive touch-screen responds instantly to fingertip control for day-to-day use, while the capacitive stylus offers fine precision input and control. An on-screen keyboard is also complimented by support for an external Bluetooth keyboard for traditional desktop use. The Eee Slate is available with 32GB or 64GB of SSD storage (expandable via SDXC), and up to 4GB of DDR3 RAM. All models have 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, a 2-megapixel camera, plus two USB 2.0 ports that provide full support for a wide range of standard PC peripherals, along with a mini-HDMI port that is ideal for connecting to external displays.

Finally, my fav…and in the interest of full disclosure, I have to tell u I now own a 2011 Ford Fiesta that looks just like the one above and I do really enjoy it and am still learning all the details of my Sync. Ford showed off the newest update for Sync at CES 2011. The update adds a new feature called AppLink to sync. Installing AppLink to your Fiesta is done just like applying any update. You log into Syncmyride, download the file with the update to a flash drive and then plug the flash drive into your car's USB port. Once the update is done, you can hit the voice button, say "Mobile applications", and then tell sync what app to launch. The AppLink update will work with the iPhone, Android devices, and Blackberry smartphones. No apps for the iPhone are offered right now, but there will be support in early 2011 according to Ford. The first apps for the iPhone and the other two devices are Pandora, Stitcher, and OpenBeak for Blackberry devices only.

With Pandora, the driver will be able to launch the app with their voice, tune to specific stations using their voice and rate songs using their voice and more. This is a really cool new feature and Ford will be rolling the app out to other Sync cars in 2011.

So there u have a few things to ponder…stay tuned for more in my next columns. Be safe out there in the www and remember to be careful.

Aloha, Lou

You can read Lou’s monthly column at http://www.aroundhawaii.com/technology_in_plain_english.html / http://bit.ly/f3TQ5t

Click here to return to top



==================================================================