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IT and ICT

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Gartner Analysts Share Bleak Outlook On Vista
By Doug Caverly - Fri, 04/11/2008 - 9:33am.
Windows as a whole in serious trouble, too
Vista is crap, according to a number of users; Google gives over 20,000 results for that exact phrase. And thanks to Vista, two Gartner analysts have gone so far as to say that Windows is collapsing.
"For Microsoft, its ecosystem and its customers, the situation is untenable," stated Michael A. Silver and Neil MacDonald at a recent conference. "Windows as we know it must be replaced." The next version of Windows is already being discussed, of course, but its release is probably two or more years away.
In the meantime, Microsoft's stuck. Adoption of Vista has, from any sane point of view, lingered somewhere between "embarrassing" and "terrible." Numerous pushes to keep XP alive haven't made the situation any better.

Mobility White Paper
The Age of the Wireless LAN
Exclusive for Networking Exchange members. Executive Summary
Because they free users from the need to be cabled to a physical network, wireless LANs are being used as an access vehicle to help businesses better collaborate. Wireless LANs can improve business process efficiencies, provide scalability, improve infrastructure costs, contribute to customer and employee satisfaction, and help resolve business continuity issues. 
When considering a wireless LAN implementation, users should address security, bandwidth, roaming, and interference issues. Getting the most value with the least risk means engaging a partner with real field experience in WLAN design and installation.
Download White Paper [PDF, 339KB]

US Broadband Users Want More Zip
MARCH 6, 2008
How fast is fast enough?
US Internet users are consuming more online video, playing more video games and generally doing more of the things that eat bandwidth.
As a result, fiber-to-the-home and faster cable modem technologies are fueling a new round of bandwidth envy
"Many consumers are actively looking for a broadband service that will increase the amount of bandwidth that they can use," said Mike Paxton, an analyst at In-Stat
Nearly 33 million US households will have broadband services with speeds of 10 Mbps or higher by 2012, up from 5.7 million at the end of 2007, according to a March 2008 report by Parks Associates.
That is fast enough to stream high-definition video.

Vodafone Shows Image Search for Mobile Phones
By MIKAEL RICKNÄS, IDG News Service\Stockholm bureau, IDG
Published: March 3, 2008
Search isn't just about text anymore. At the Cebit trade show in Germany, Vodafone is demonstrating Otello, a search engine that uses images as input. Instead of entering a word or phrase users send pictures via MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) from their mobile phones.
The picture can be anything from a historical building to a CD cover, according to Vodafone. Otello then returns information relevant to the picture to the mobile phone, just like a normal search engine.Vodafone's reasoning behind image search is that it's more convenient to take a picture than to enter search terms with a phone that lacks a normal keyboard.

Android-based phones draw crowds at conference
Vodafone CEO would like to see fewer operating systems for phones
By Aude Lagorce, MarketWatch . Last update: 8:41 a.m. EST Feb. 12, 2008
BARCELONA (MarketWatch) -- Google's Android software for phones debuted this week in Barcelona, with several chipmakers demonstrating how the software would look on prototypes at Mobile World Congress, the telecom industry's largest annual gathering

Research In Motion (RIM) is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including email, phone, text messaging (SMS and MMS), Internet and intranet-based applications.

King Algorithm - An Oracle for Our Time, Part Man, Part Machine
By GEORGE JOHNSON - Published: September 23, 2007
When the human brain mates with the computer’s, we get the automation of judgment

SURFnet6 is de naam van het nieuwe SURFnet-netwerk dat in het kader van GigaPort is gebouwd. Dit netwerk omarmt een nieuwe visie op techniek en architectuur. Het biedt de naast het steeds toenemende 'gewone' internetverkeer ook ruimte aan de groeiende, veelal wetenschappelijke, extreem grote verkeerstromen tussen vaste punten in het netwerk, zonder dat deze verschillende vormen hinder van elkaar ondervinden. SURFnet6 wordt daarmee een hybride netwerk, een combinatie van een traditioneel IP-netwerk met optische technieken. Het normale internetverkeer wordt afgehandeld door een nieuw state-of-the-art IP-netwerk, terwijl grote verkeersstromen via zogenaamde lichtpaden, optische punt-punt verbindingen, verlopen. In een hybride netwerk wordt een combinatie van technologieen of topologieen toegepast. Bijvoorbeeld, het SURFnet6 netwerk is een combinatie van pakket-geschakelde IP technieken en optische technieken in één netwerk.

Chip Makers Add Cores, but Software Isn't Keeping Up - by John Martellaro, 2:30 PM EDT, July 23rd, 2007
Chip makers are racing to add cores to their microprocessors, and they create some buzz with the technology. Software developers, however, are being hard pressed to exploit these multi-core CPUs, and if they don't learn how to do it routinely, fast, and soon, there could be trouble in the industry, according to Jordan Robertson of the Associated Press on Sunday.

The Great Divide: Rural Areas Continue To Face Limited Access To Broadband Services 28% of Internet users are still using slow dialup connections. Rural areas have limited access to high-speed broadband services. New technology and government initiatives could change that--though probably not anytime soon.

Navizon Peer-to-Peer Wireless Positioning -In early 2005, a small group of hardcore GPS geeks (who were tired of their GPS devices not working in dense cities, urban canyons, indoors, etc) got together to come up with a solution that would enhance the performance of their GPS equipment and applications. Our goal was to find a way to make our own GPS devices work in difficult, if not IMPOSSIBLE situations.
The result was Navizon Pocket PC Client Software.

Texting Growing More Common BOOMERS TXT 2
More than two-thirds of US adult mobile users can send and receive text messages, according to InsightExpress.
The company found that while Gen Y texts the most, three-quarters of 45-to-54-year-olds can also text.
"Mobile technology is pervasive, impacting the lives of consumers across generations," said Joy Liuzzo, director of mobile research at InsightExpress, in a statement. "This widespread acceptance and appeal is precisely what makes the mobile market attractive to both B2B and B2C businesses."

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