We are Geeks!
Forrester: The adoption of technologies was limited to a subculture but is going mainstream now; http://bit.ly/4BBatq
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Gerrit Eicker
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Gerrit Eicker
PR for Startups
While PR is just one arrow in the marketing quiver, it plays an especially crucial role for startups; http://tr.im/qWtV
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Gerrit Eicker
Crunchpad Inc.
Arrington announced the formation of Crunchpad Inc., a startup company with 14 employees in Singapore; http://tr.im/qN0n
Gerrit Eicker
gdgt
http://gdgt.com, the place for you, me, and all the gadgets we know, launches; http://tr.im/qAkH
Gerrit Eicker
Standardised Chargers (in Europe at least)
That is one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind: Gadget makers standardise their chargers; http://tr.im/qgAO
Gerrit Eicker
CrunchPad Final Design
The CrunchPad final design: screen is now flush with the aluminum case, decreased thickness; http://tr.im/nvcJ
Gerrit Eicker
AI
Today, AI – artificial intelligence, is back in fashion and getting serious attention; http://tr.im/mf0S
Gerrit Eicker
Apple Inside?
WSJ: Apple is building a significant capability to design its own computer chips; http://tr.im/k52c
Gerrit Eicker
GE: 100 DVDs on 1 Disc
GE says it has achieved a breakthrough in digital storage: 100 DVDs on 1 disc! – http://tr.im/jNeW
Gerrit Eicker
CrunchPad
TechCrunch Tablet makes an early debut: the current prototype – CrunchPad – looks pretty attractive; http://tr.im/iyfX
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Gerrit Eicker
Arrington: “Think laptop without a keyboard and a touchscreen that only boots to a browser.”
Arrington: “Its a prototype. not reality. just pretty case with cool computer and some slick software. 4 of them. not ready yet.”
Arrington: “The key uses: Internet consumption. The virtual keyboard will make data entry a pain other than for entering credentials, quick searches and maybe light emails. This machine isn’t for data entry. But it is for reading emails and the news, watching videos on Hulu, YouTube, etc., listening to streaming music on MySpace Music and imeem, and doing video chat via tokbox. … Price? it can be built for less than $250, including packaging. Add in fixed costs and other stuff you have to deal with (like returns), and you can sell it for $300 and probably not go out of business. Physical design is important, and the software is the key to winning. – We stumbled through an initial prototype that barely booted, but we finished it in a month. Prototype B was much more impressive and usable. That effort was led by Louis Monier, with software developed by Singapore-based Fusion Garage and industrial design work by by David Yarnell and Greg Lalier from Dynacept. … Ok, so now that what’s done is done, where do things stand? Well, I’m not ready to say yet. But one thing I’ve learned about hardware in the last year is that you need partners to actually make things happen, and the credit for what we saw today goes entirely to the Fusion Garage team. Those guys are rock stars.”
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Gerrit Eicker
Wired: “The fact that a Web 2.0 media mogul can turn into a hardware entrepreneur in mere months confirms that the time is ripe for hardware startups, as Wired.com reported recently. The combination of easily outsourced industrial design, overseas manufacturing and accessible online distribution means that it costs surprisingly little to create a new hardware product than it did before.”
cnet: “The question naturally arises – in a world filled with $229 iPod Touches and $349 Netbooks, is there room for a $300 product that is essentially a hybrid of the two? The touch screen is an important feature for a portable device to have, but the lack of a HDD or software other than a Web browser makes this essentially a thin client that surfs the Web and does little else (and without a mobile broadband option, it can only do that when in range of an accessible Wi-Fi signal). – Then again, small devices like this are made or broken based on their ease of use and design (see: iPhone versus Blackberry Storm), so if Arrington and his partners somehow manage to nail the user interface and physical package, they could have a very desirable product on their hands. “
WSJ: “In one sign of the new focus, Apple recently hired Raja Koduri, who was formerly the chief technology officer of the graphics products group at chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Mr. Koduri started at Apple this week, following in the footsteps of Bob Drebin, who had held the same title at AMD and is also now working for Apple. … Apple’s strategy also marks a break from a long-term trend among most big electronics companies to outsource the development of chips and other components to external suppliers.”
VB: “So if there are big chip makers that could do this for Apple, why is it taking on the task itself? The reason is that Steve Jobs probably wants to make a clean break from those who are trying to clone the iPhone and the iPod. If he can design chips that no one else can use, it will be much harder to knock off his signature devices. – Apple is believed to have a license from ARM Ltd. to make low-power microprocessors based on the ARM architecture. In using ARM as the foundation, Apple’s engineers don’t have to reinvent a lot of chip design, testing and software creation tools. … If Apple pulls this off, it could declare independence from Intel, Samsung, and other chip makers in a way that no system vendor has been able to do in many years.”
CG: “In the cellphone world, a chip is a chip. Most of them are ARM-based but there are a few outliers. Most importantly, however, each has a similar power profile. Therefore, by controlling the entire chip themselves, Apple can handle its own graphics, video, and audio output as well optimize for power control – a huge concern with devices like the iPhone.”