Practical Technology

for practical people.

March 10, 2009
by sjvn01
3 Comments

Get over it! There’s no Apple netbook

There is nothing, I repeat nothing to the rumor that Apple is going to release a netbook. There may be a tablet-sized iPhone/iTouch, but that’s an entirely different kettle of fish.

Why not? First, there’s no proof what-so-ever that Apple is planning any kind of netbook. Yes, I know you read a story somewhere saying that it was on its way. You know what? Every last, lousy one of those so-called news stories trace back to one (1) story in the Taiwanese Chinese-language newspaper, Commercial Times .

You know what that story actually says? The DigiTimes’ English translation, reads, “Wintek [a display panel vendor] revealed that it is currently working with Apple to develop some new products, but it said it does not know what applications the new products are for. Wintek added that no shipment schedule has been worked out yet, but shipments are likely to begin in the second half of the year.”

That’s it. Everything else, and I mean everything, has been spinning off this solitary story. And, this doesn’t even directly hint that Apple is working on a netbook.

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March 9, 2009
by sjvn01
1 Comment

Google’s Android OS is coming to the desktop this year

It’s not news that Microsoft will get Windows 7 out as fast as possible this year. Vista has been a complete dog, so Microsoft will rush to deliver what is essentially a cleaned-up, lightweight version. What is news is that Google will have its own contender for desktop operating system king: Android.

Android, you ask? What would a Linux-based phone operating system be doing on the desktop? Running it, perhaps. You see, Matthäus Krzykowski and Daniel Hartmann, founders of start-up Mobile-facts, discovered late last year that Android has two product policies in its code. Product policies, they explained, are instructions in an operating system aimed at specific uses. Android’s two policies are phones and MIDs (mobile Internet devices). You probably know MIDs by their more popular name: netbooks.

The light begins to dawn, doesn’t it? But just because a program says it can do a job doesn’t mean it can actually deliver the goods. Recall, for example, just how well Vista ran on “Vista Capable” PCs.

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March 9, 2009
by sjvn01
0 comments

Novell’s SUSE Linux futures

Novell is in trouble. As Novell CFO Dana Russell said during the recent earnings call, “Our Linux business is dependent on large deals, which may result in some fluctuations of our quarterly invoicing. This quarter, we did not sign any large deals, many of which have been historically fulfilled by Microsoft certificates.”

Novell first partnered up with Microsoft to boost its Linux business. Now, it appears Novell needs Microsoft to keep its head above water. Still, Novell delivered more of a profit than the analysts had expected, 7 cents per share instead of 6 cents per share, and its open platform sales, aka Linux, totaled $35 million, up 24 percent from a year ago.

Moving ahead, Novell plans on reducing the prices of its products and pushing out the next versions of its commercial Linux: SLES (SUSE Linux Enterprise Server) and SLED (SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop) 11. To do this, according to sources at Novell, the company does not plan on having any more layoffs.

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March 7, 2009
by sjvn01
2 Comments

Security Certification for Linux job-hunters

Need another arrow in your Linux job-hunting quiver? Then you might want to check out the LPI (Linux Professional Institute), the Linux certification organization has launched its new “Security” exam elective for its top-level LPIC-3 certification program.

The LPI has been working on this security certification option since March 2008. To obtain this certification, roughly equivalent to the RHCE (Red Hat Certified Engineer) or the NCLE (Novell Certified Linux Engineer), a Linux administrator must have already obtained the LPIC-1 and LPIC-2 certifications. In addition, he or she must pass the enterprise-level core certification exam (LPI-301) and a ‘Mixed Environment’ elective (LPI-302). The ‘Security’ elective (LPI-303) is another, potentially valuable mixed Linux and security certification option.

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March 6, 2009
by sjvn01
0 comments

Google CEO hints Google/Linux netbooks may be coming

People have been speculating about Google getting into the desktop business ever since Good OS, an Ubuntu-based Linux built around online Google applications showed up in 2007. Then, the rumor-mill really got churning when it was shown that Google mobile operating system, Android, would work just fine as a desktop operating system. Just because something can be done, though, doesn’t mean a company actually going to do it though. On March 3rd, though, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said, What’s particularly interesting about netbooks is the price point. Eventually, it will make sense for operators and so forth to subsidize the use of netbooks so they can make services revenue and advertising revenue on the consumption. That’s another new model that’s coming.”

Making money from online advertising. Hmm… Now what company, with a name that starts with ‘G’ and ends with ‘e,’ do we know that’s the absolute tip-top at making money from online advertising? Could it be Google!? I think so.

The idea of selling netbooks cheaply with a service contract is already being tried. Dell and AT&T offered a Dell Mini 9 for $99 with an AT&T Data Connect contract. I have no doubt you’ll see similar mobile phone like discount netbook pricing from other PC companies and telecoms soon. Look for these offers to start showing up everywhere later this year or early next year, as high-speed WiMAX networking starts to come into its own.

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March 5, 2009
by sjvn01
0 comments

Linux companies sign Microsoft patent protection pacts

In Microsoft vs. TomTom, Microsoft is suing TomTom in part because the guys from Redmond claim that TomTom’s use of Linux in its navigation devices has violated three of its file-system related patents. One reason why Microsoft feels it can do this is that it already has patent cross licensing agreements covering these patents with other Linux-using companies.

I dug this up during an e-mail discussion with Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft’s corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of intellectual property and licensing, Gutierrez said, “We have a history of licensing the patents in this case through patent cross licensing agreements with other leaders in the car navigation space, including Kenwood, Alpine and Pioneer, and through our FAT LFN (File Allocation Table/Long File Name) patent licensing program, where we have 18 licensees to date.” This is being done under Microsoft’s FAT LFN File System Licensing Program.

When asked specifically if “there are companies using Linux and open-source software, which have signed FAT patent cross-licensing agreements, such as the ones, which TomTom has refused to agree to?” Gutierrez replied, “Yes, other companies have signed FAT patent licenses, both in the context of patent cross licensing agreements and other licensing arrangements.”

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