Home | About Us | Suggest this page | Feedback
The new StarBoard FX-Trio by Hitachi is due to be unveiled today at the School Resources Expo in Sydney. The new interactive whiteboard will allow three sets of sticky school aged fingers to work away at one time.
Apple will reportedly introduce full multitasking in version 4.0 of the iPhone OS, due out this summer.
At least that is the latest rumor making the rounds, as reported by the AppleInsider blog. The site attributes the report to "people with a proven track record" in predicting Apple's next moves.
AppleInsider's sources offered no details, however, on how the company will deliver multitasking without compromising battery life, efficient memory usage, and security.
Multitasking Manager
Users will see a multitasking manager that "leverages interface technology" already bundled with the Mac OS X, according to AppleInsider. The site added that the operating system is still early in development and has a "way to go" before its ready for release.
The lack of full multitasking on the iPhone is not strictly a technology problem. The current iPhone 3.x software is a multitasking operating system, but Apple artificially restricts third-party applications from running in the background.
This is an intentional choice Apple made in version 2.x of the software as part of the security model. By cutting off apps when the user hits the hardware button or answers an incoming call, third-party apps cannot run in the background, which effectively eliminates much of the risk of viruses and spyware.
No Background Music
The downside is that users are irritated by the phone's behavior. For instance, users playing music via the Pandora music-streaming app, or listening to audio feeds of baseball games via the MLB.com app -- just the type of content that works best in the background -- cannot switch to games or productivity apps while listening to audio streams.
Other apps that users want to be able to run in the background are instant messaging programs (other...
Verizon will have the first handset running on its Long-Term Evolution 4G network by the middle of next year -- about six months ahead of schedule -- according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. The development of LTE means faster cellular data transfers than the 3G networks now in widespread use by U.S. carriers, though exactly when LTE will become common has long been a source of uncertainty. "Reports have had LTE available by 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and nobody was quite sure when," Chris Nicoll, a research fellow at the Yankee Group, told TechNewsWorld.
That timetable suggests Verizon sees 4G as a significant way to outpace its leading rival, AT&T.
"With AT&T's timetable for 2012 or 2013 and Verizon still on track for next year, that shows a pretty big head start for Big Red," said Ramon Llamas, mobile-devices senior analyst for IDC Research.
Data Cards First
Verizon's LTE will be available to some 4G users via laptop cards before the phones debut, Melone told the Journal. Verizon has reportedly been testing 4G coverage in Boston and Seattle, and LTE is planed for 10 to 30 U.S. markets by the end of next year, an area that includes 100 million people.
In December, Verizon promised that LTE's capabilities "will be unmatched in the marketplace, allowing customers to do things never before possible in a wireless environment" with average data rates per user of five to 12 Mbps for download and two to five Mbps for upload.
That would top the existing 4G network operated by Sprint Nextel, which boasts of 2.4-Mbps downloads and 153-Kbps uploads.
"If you look at Verizon's position on LTE, they are not just planning for smartphones but for other consumer electronics devices," Llamas said. "The usual evolution of things is that when you come out with a faster network, you go to data cards first and then to mobile phones."
AT&T is moving more deliberately to the next generation. The company's CEO, Randall Stephenson, recently told a technology investors' conference, "We're not in a tremendous hurry on LTE," but will instead rely on current technology for...
Sony demonstrated its Move motion controller for the PlayStation 3 console at the 2010 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, following up on its first demo at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles last June. Together with the Move, Sony will release the Move sub-controller, a one-handed controller that's similar to the Nintendo Wii "nunchuck" and is an optional accessory for some games. Sony said the Move and its sub-controller will be launched worldwide this fall. It says 35 game publishers and developers have signed up to support the Move.