The future of Mobile, or, not so Mobile Computing is a post from: Universal Ramblings

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Google Buzz is a post from: Universal Ramblings

The advancement in the technology is day to day increasing. In this series of the development in technology, the apple has newly launches its iPad. As the Apple last time launched its iPhone, therefore the expectation of the techno lovers was too high. The iPad has a 9.7 inch LCD touch screen display, which makes the use of the multi-touch technology that was also found in the iPhone.

It also has a finger-friendly OS with an on-screen keyboard and an accelerometer that detects whether the device is in landscape or portrait mode. These features are same as the iPhone and the iPod. The iPad also has s 3-pin dock connector device, a built-in Wi-Fi and a home button to jump back to the main screen of the OS. Just like the iPhone it also has a volume rocker and a mute button.

But as there many reviews show this Apple’s iPad disappointed to its lovers. CNET also reviewed on this iPad. They say that iPad has potential a lot but it still needs some other improvements on the aspect of being it a personal computer. The iPad is actually a product still in search of the market. The iPad has a kind of the poorly implemented features and the poorly articulated according to the market makes it the disappointing gazette for the gazette lovers.

This iPad comes in different memory capacities and the different prices. As this iPad is costly having the range of US$499 to US$966 and having many disappointing features, no one wants to buy them on such prices. CNET gives further reviews about this iPad that this is just a bigger iPhone that can not make a phone call. The Apple’s iPad is still missing a lot of features like multitasking, 16.9 resolution, USB ports, GPS and the SD Card support in it.

What is iPad review CNET? is a post from: Universal Ramblings

Specification and Details for the Apple iPad

• 1.5 lbs.
• 0.5 inch thin
• 9.7 inch display
• 10 hour battery
• Wireless networking (802.11n)
• 16GB, 32GB and 64GB Flash storage
• 1 GHz Apple A4 chip
• Built-in accelerometer, mic, 30-pin connector, 802.11n Wi-Fi, compass, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
• Runs iPhone apps
• Runs iWorks
• 3G service available through AT&T ($14.99 & 29.99 monthly plans); no contract/cancel anytime

Apple iPad Pricing

Software

All the standard apps like the calendar and email apps have been redesigned for the larger screen. The new interface, from what we have seenso far, looks extremely crisp and has been greatly simplified to accommodate the multi-touch interface.

Runs iPhone Apps (with really large text)

According to Apple, almost every current iPhone application will run – unmodified – on the iPad. Judging from the images we have seen so far, however, the iPad just scaled these apps up to the large screen, which doesn’t necessarily look extremely well. Games, though, seem to look extremely well on the large screen. Apple simply scales the graphics up and makes them

Apple plans to release a new SDK today that will make it easy for developers to make use of the large screen.

Apple iPad Specifications and Details is a post from: Universal Ramblings

This one grabs flies, mice or other small creatures, scrapes them into a microbial fuel cell vat of bacteria that breaks down the biological material into pure robot-loving energy. No word on if the vat removes the fibrous material or if it’s dishwasher safe.

But after a string of headlines that labelled the machine a “corpse eater” and “creepy”, the robot’s creators have gone on a PR offensive to extinguish the rumour that their invention will feed on human or animal flesh.

“We completely understand the public’s concern about futuristic robots feeding on the human population, but that is not our mission,” said Harry Schoell, the chief executive of Cyclone Power Technologies, one of the companies behind the machine.

The concept was originally put forward in 2003, and has been pushed forward with money from the US military’s Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), a successor to the organisation that funded early development of the internet.

US officials hope the steam-powered engine can be used by the military to create a self-sufficient robot that could survive on its own for months at a time.

The early version of Eatr runs on twigs, wood chips and other plant-based material. This is fed into an engine that burns it and uses it to create propulsion.

Another of the robot’s inventors, Dr Robert Finkelstein of Robotic Technology Inc (RTI), said that Eatr had built-in systems that would help it determine whether material that it ingested was animal, vegetable or mineral.

“If it’s not on the menu, it’s not going to eat it,” Finkelstein told Fox News.

Eatr can also use more conventional fuels, such as petrol, diesel or cooking oil, to keep going. But the group reiterated that it would be illegal to create a robot that used dead bodies for energy.

Flesh Eating Robots Are Vegetarian. Huh ? is a post from: Universal Ramblings

Rentometer is a good place to compare what rental rates are going for in the area that you have your property at. They mainly focus on apartments vs. rental of houses but at least this gives you an idea. I use this to check out rent comps for my condos and then also increase the rent 10%-20% if it’s a single family house and depending on it’s amenities.

It’s easy to use Rentometer. They only have four required fields:

1. “I am” field, you choose you are a landlord from a drop down menu.

2. “City & State, or Zip” field, you will need the zip. If you don’t know the zip code you can Google the address.

3. “Current Monthly Rent” field, type in what you are currently renting the property for.

4. “Bedrooms” field, use the drop down menu to select, Studio, 1-bedroom, etc.

5. Click Analyze My Apartment.

Rentometer will then tell you if your rent is too high, too low, of just about right. Then comes a sentence chock-full of valuable information: “About 11% listings are higher priced,” for example.

If you click “Explain” you get more insight. If you click “Try by Zip Code” Rentometer checks again results based on 1,000 properties within a few miles from your location.

Rentometer is FREE to use and it will give you a gauge if your rent is high, low, or just right. Remember, Rentometer auto calculates this information, so until you drive by these properties, there may be other amenities (location, view, etc.) that Rentometer does not take into account.

Keep in mind, if you are on the higher end of the rent gauge, it will take longer to rent out your property than if you are on the lower end. So the question is, how long do you want it vacant and how aggressive is your marketing? Rentometer will help you with your parameters to get started.

Is My Rent Too High ? Try Rentometer is a post from: Universal Ramblings

Rich Skrenta had a good take on Google:

Google is a company that has built a single very large, custom computer. It’s running their own cluster operating system. They make their big computer even bigger and faster each month, while lowering the cost of CPU cycles. It’s looking more like a general purpose platform than a cluster optimized for a single application.

While competitors are targeting the individual applications Google has deployed, Google is building a massive, general purpose computing platform for web-scale programming.

This computer is running the world’s top search engine, a social networking service, a shopping price comparison engine, a new email service, and a local search/yellow pages engine. What will they do next with the world’s biggest computer and most advanced operating system?

As people use more and more web applications, the operating system becomes less important and it makes no sense to pay for it. The desktop mail client could be replaced by Gmail, the calendaring application could be replaced by Google Calendar, the office suite has lightweight alternatives: Google Docs and Zoho, it makes more sense to use an online feed reader like Google Reader, your scientific calculator is less powerful than Wolfram Alpha and you’ll rarely need a video player when you have YouTube, Hulu and other video sites.

“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,” Sundar Pichai, vice president of product management, and Linus Upson, engineering director, said in the blog post.

Google Chrome Operating System, is initially intended for use in the tiny, low-cost portable computers known as netbooks, which have been selling quickly even as demand for other PCs has plummeted. Google said it believed the software would also be able to power full-size PCs.

Google’s plans for the new operating system fit its Internet-centric vision of computing. Google believes that software delivered over the Web will play an increasingly central role, replacing software programs that run on the desktop. In that world, applications run directly inside an Internet browser, rather than atop an operating system, the standard software that controls most of the operations of a PC.

Google has already developed an open-source operating system called Android that is used in mobile phones. The software is also being built into netbooks by several manufacturers.

Google OS: What a Surprise…NOT! (Call it Chrome OS or Google OS) is a post from: Universal Ramblings

ToneMatrix

If that sounds complex, then go ahead and click here, then draw something on the grid. It’s far easier to understand if you just give it a try.

There’s a sophisticated synth running in the background. It’s possible to make loops that sound pretty awesome. What would be even more awesome is if you could adjust the BPM on the fly.

Its got ‘iPhone App’ written all over it ! Oh wait! There is an Iphone Tonematrix app already…Soundmatrix!

John Holdsworth’s SoundMatrix (App Store link) is a free iPhone version of the ToneMatrix Flash Application, by Andre Michelle, that allows you to create music sequences on your iPhone.

SoundMatrix builds on ToneMatrix, though, letting you  email your creations to your friends or submit them to an online gallery.

If you give SoundMatrix a try, leave a comment here with your thoughts!

Description:

SoundMatrix is a 16 note sine wave sequencer. There is also a two track drum kit to bring your compositions to life.

Tap on the display to add notes to the sequence. For Best results add individual notes gradually to build your composition. Tap undo remove the last notes added or clear to start again. To save a composition use the email button to send it to yourself for posterity.

If you name your composition it can also be uploaded to the public gallery for rating.

Tonematrix: The Online Boredom Killer App is a post from: Universal Ramblings

“Microsoft Hohm is a free online beta application that helps you save energy and money. With Microsoft Hohm you can better understand your home energy usage, get recommendations to conserve energy and start saving. As with any recommendation engine, Hohm will provide increasingly more accurate and relevant suggestions for energy conservation as its users contribute home energy input and feedback. One of the objectives during our beta period is to refine our tool and further increase the value our product can offer to you.”

Hohm works by tracking one’s energy consumption and providing some optimization advices, based on the information that is provided by the user, or by sensors. Hohm will provide an estimation of the savings induced by a proposed change (use different light bulb, choose a different time to plug your electric car ) and will track the actual results after you follow the advice. Hohm will constantly refine its data to provide ever more pertinent advices.

The good thing about Hohm is that there is a path that is completely data-entry free. Microsoft has built APIs that let utility companies upload your energy consumption data (with your permission), just like Quicken gets your banking information directly. This could be automated to the point that you don’t have to take care of it. That’s great. However, right now, only a handful of companies will support the direct communication with Hohm.

Microsoft and other home energy monitoring companies plan to work with device manufacturers to get energy information from thermostats and “smart plugs.” That would allow a person to attach a smart plug to a refrigerator or dishwasher to get usage information in real time to a home network or Web application. Over time, those appliances could be controlled to dial down usage during peak times.

Hohm is Microsoft’s response to Google’s PowerMeter and similar services. Hohm is dedicated to giving consumer’s information about potential energy savings, while at the same time connecting those consumers whose energy providers already use smart meter technology with real-time information about their own energy consumption at home.

It’s also noteworthy that Hohm was developed on top of Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform.

For more details, you can visit http://microsoft-hohm.com and learn more about the product. We think that the ease of tracking one’s power consumption and the option of having cheap smart plugs all over the house is a winning combination, but remember, the smart plugs are not required. If it works as advertised, and if users enroll in mass, Hohm’s greatest impact in the short term will be to raise awareness. We think that “if it can be measured, it will be improved”, and Hohm seems to be a great tool for that.

Hohm: Microsoft’s Venture in Energy business is a post from: Universal Ramblings

This shouldn’t come as a great surprise: Microsoft stopped updating its financial management software in 2008 and hasn’t released a new version in nearly two years.

If you’re already a Money/Money Plus user, bear in mind that Microsoft’s move will affect you, possibly with considerable trouble: Already-installed Money applications will continue to work, but after January 31, 2011, you will no longer be able to activate Microsoft Money Plus on your computer. That means if your computer crashes after that date, you won’t be able to reinstall the software (and will likely lose whatever data you’re storing in the Money Plus app). Older versions of the Money app (those without the “Plus” and dated 2007 or earlier) should still be able to be installed since they don’t include product activation. If you’re using Money 2007 (or earlier), you’re advised not to upgrade.

All online services included in the MS Money app will end on by January 31, 2011, as well, though the actual date depends on when your software was activated. Tax updates and integrated bill payment services will obviously be discontinued, too, by that date.

ENTER Quicken

Intuit said it is offering the discounts on Quicken products through the end of July to all users, not just the Money users left in the lurch.

Specifically, Intuit said that it is offering $20 off on Quicken Deluxe (now $39.99) and $30 off Quicken Premier (now $59.99). It is also chopping $30 off its Home & Business product and $50 off its Rental Property Manager product. The company is also touting its free Quicken Online product.

Although Quicken is already the market leader in the personal finance space, Intuit clearly sees a chance to move in for the kill now that Microsoft is exiting the space.

Intuit also reiterated that it is working with Microsoft to try to improve Quicken’s ability to import large amounts of data stored in MS Money.

Here is a good article on how to import a Microsoft Money file into Quicken.

To All Microsoft Money Users, Quicken wants your business is a post from: Universal Ramblings