Touch Book Tablet Netbook Launched at DEMO 09

Always Innovating unveiled the Touch Book today during the DEMO 09 conference, a new device that works as both a netbook and a tablet thanks to a detachable keyboard and a 3D touchscreen user interface.

Here are the complete specs of the Touch Book:

8.9″ display screen @ 1024×600 pixels
ARM Texas Instruments OMAP3 chip
8GB micro SD card
WiFi 802.11b/g/n
Bluetooth 2.0
6 x USB 2.0

Thanks to its design, apart from serving as both a netbook and a Tablet PC, Always Innovating also claim that their Tough Book can also be utilised as a ‘a hand-held game device, or a video player. You can even reverse the keyboard to prop it up on a table in an inverted ‘V’. Finally, because it is magnetic, you can remove the keyboard and put the tablet on the fridge to serve as a kitchen computer or digital frame.’

Interestingly, as a direct consequence of opting to use an ARM processor from Texas Instruments - incidentally the Touch Book is the first netbook to employ this particular processor - Always Innovating claim a battery life of between 10 and 15 hours during normal operation which, all said and done, is extremely impressive in offering around three times the endurance offered by comparable Atom powered netbooks. What’s most surprising is that they’re offering this at a starting price of only $299. You can show your Early Adopter skills by pre-ordering the Touch Book now on the Always Innovating site.

How to Upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7

It's quite difficult but doable. We all know that Microsoft seems to tell us that a Windows 7 upgrade is will only work from Windows Vista-based computers. Is this some kind of strategy Microsoft's playing on us loyal Windows XP users to purchase Vista before upgrading to Windows 7? I hope not. But if you're running XP, you may not be out of options.

Can we get around without purchasing and activating Windows Vista before upgrading to Windows 7? Yes we can. We have tried upgrading one old Windows XP machine over the weekend to Windows 7 Build 7000. It took us from morning till evening to wrap up the upgrade. But it's all worth it. We had the machine running Windows 7 without a glitch, at least until now.

We got a copy of a Vista promo installer to upgrade our Windows XP SP1 (yes SP1, we specifically want to try it on the earliest XP release, but should at least have Office 2007 on it). We were able to install Vista without entering any serial number. Afterwhich we installed the latest Windows 7 public beta, after waiting through a long installation process... It went in without any problem. We entered a legit serial number and activated it, crossing our fingers, it did. Everything's running without a hitch including Office 2007.

But then, this may not guarantee that everyone can have the same system installation experience when upgrading XP to Windows 7, most particularly with the final Windows 7 release. But this experience will at least tell us, at the very least that inspite of a difficult long process, Windows XP users can get their system upgraded to Windows 7 without the extra cost of purchasing a Windows Vista.

Google-Android Samsung Phones Due Later This Year

According to Robert X. Cringely, Samsung is readying not one, but two separate Android-based phones, one of which is due in September, with another model following around Christmas (I'm readying my Android Christmas wrappers ready!). According to sources, these phones will not be labeled Samsung, rather they will be released as Google-branded gPhones. The model released in the Fall will be a "higher-end" model which apparently looks "somewhat like a Blackberry Pearl" but with a screen that flips and "a keyboard for texting" (makes sense, as the Pearl has a keyboard). The second device will be a cheaper model (under $100), and will likely be released after the holidays. Of course, right now this is just speculation -- given the large gap of time between now and September, these plans could be completely rearranged or nixed altogether... even if they are accurate.

What is Android?

You've probably heard about Android and thought it was something like a cyborg from a science fiction book or film. The latest Android I'm talking about is the latest wireless technology also knowned as The Open Handset Alliance, developed by a group of more than 30 technology and mobile companies lead by Google Inc, T-Mobile, Intel, HTC, Qualcomm and Motorola. They developed Android: the first complete, open, and free mobile platform.

The Open Handset Alliance's common goal is to foster and develop a new breed of innovation for mobile devices allowing a far better user experience than today's current mobile platforms. The OHA will provide a far greater degree of openess that will enable developers to work and collaborate in ways never before seen, Android will greatly improve and speed up the process in which new and innovative mobile services are development and made available to the end user.

Through the development of Android, developers, manufacturers and operators will be far better positioned to ship out new and innovative products far quicker and far cheaper than todays standards. The Android platform will consist of an operating system, middleware, a user-friendly interface and powerful applications. This fully integrated bundle of software will sgnificantly lower the current costs of developing mobile devices and services.

The Android playform will be licensed under one of the most progressive open-source licenses available giving operators and manufacturers unprecedented freedom to design, build and distribute their own products. The OHA have recently released and early Android Software Development Kit (SDK) which provides current developers with the necessary tools to begin experimenting and creating unique applications for the platform.

Some unique Android features are:

Apps without borders
Apps on Android can access core mobile device functionality through standard APIs. Through intents, apps can announce their capabilities for other apps to use.

Apps are created equal
Any app on the mobile device can be replaced or extended -- even core components such as the dialer or home.

Apps can easily embed the web
Apps can easily embed HTML, Javascript, and style sheets. An app can render web content through a WebView.

Apps can run in parallel
Android is a complete multitasking environment where apps can run in parallel. While running in the background, an app can produce notifications to get attention.

We will feature more Android related news and gadgets here in Technomindz. Do watch out.

Windows 3.1 installed and running on Nokia N95

Total badazz tweak! Polish bulletin board FrazPC last night received a post from developer and writer Marcin-PRV showing that he can successfully run Windows 3.1 simultaneously with Symbian S60 on a Nokia N95.

This feat could not normally be done by the N95's ARM processor, but thanks to an emulator known as DOSBox for Symbian, the ARM chip emulates the x86 architecture...a 486, to be exact, according to Marcin.



Here are some screenshots:


Here's how he did it:

DOWNLOAD DOXBox v0.72 for Symbian by kolijoco:
DOSBox_s60.zip

DOWNLOAD Windows 3.1 for Symbien:
Win3.1-on-s60_v1.1.part1.rar
Win3.1-on-s60_v1.1.part2.rar

INSTALLATION GUIDE v1.1 (ENGLISH)
--------------------------------------------------

I. DOSBox v0.72 for Symbian by kolijoco

1. Unpack 'DOSBox_s60.rar' archiwe to your Memory Card
2. Install ALL aplication from 'Install' directory.
3. Try install DOSBox_Full.sisx
4. If show message: 'Not enought memory' install 'DOSBox_Slim.sisx' and replace previous version.

II. Windows 3.1 for Symbian (included Norton Commander 5)

1. Unpack 'Win3.1-on-s60_v1.1.rar' archive to your Memory Card.
2. Run DOSBox.

III. To switch between Windows 3.1 and Norton Commander 5.

1. Go to 'Data' directory on your Memory Card and find 'dosbox.conf' file.
2. Edit file in notepad.

2.1 To run Windows 3.1
--------------------------------------------------
# Loader 1 -- Windows 3.1
# mount a e:\Data\win31\ (To install more drivers)*
mount c e:\Data\
mount d e:\
c:
c:\Windows\win.com

# Loader 2 -- Norton Commander 5.0
# mount c e:\Data\
# mount d e:\
# c:
# c:\nc\nc.exe

* TO install new drivers you need tu put Windows 3.1 installer files to e:\Data\win31 directory.
Edit 'dosbox.conf' file and remove '#' in 'mount a e:\Data\win31\' line.

2.2 Run Norton Commander 5
--------------------------------------------------
# Loader 1 -- Windows 3.1
# mount a e:\Data\win31\ (To install more drivers)
# mount c e:\Data\
# mount d e:\
# c:
# c:\Windows\win.com

# Loader 2 -- Norton Commander 5.0
mount c e:\Data\
mount d e:\
c:
c:\nc\nc.exe

2.3 Changed
--------------------------------------------------
Added MCGA (320x200) Driver
Added Win32s v1.30c with OLE

IV. Suggestions

1. To switch between the mouse and the keyboard press "Call" key.
2. Turn off automatic screen rotation, it may cause DOSBox close.
3. To change DOSBox allocated 2MB RAM edit line 'memsize=2' in file 'e:\Data\dosbox.conf'.