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With the increasing need for computer systems in business environments across Eastern Europe, IBM is stepping up to the plate. Microsoft is already vying for contracts with established institutions, so IBM has teamed up with local software and hardware providers to offer Microsoft-free PCs.

Unlike when IBM owned its own PC division, the company outsourced the manufacturing to other vendors. Austrian company VDEL will supply the Red Hat Linux operating system, LX Polska will supply a range of services, and IBM will provide Lotus Symphony software. Hardware for the collaboration will come from companies that work with VDEL and LX Polska.

The aim is to provide individual users and businesses with lower cost, usable machines. The decision by IBM to undertake the project was also encouraged from organizations in Russia, requesting an Open Source PC be released in the region. These included the Ministry of Defence, Aeroflot, and Alfa Bank.

The range of Open Source PCs will be released under the name Open Referent.

Read more at Reuters.

Matthew’s Opinion

With developing markets, there needs to be a presence early if Open Source solutions are going to be taken seriously. Imagine Microsoft turns up offering all the hardware and software you need at a reduced price with no viable alternative available locally. Would you take their goods if it allowed children in a school to learn how to use them, or allowed your organization to function better as a business? It would be very hard to turn down.

By introducing an Open Source alternative, IBM is allowing competition early on. This will stimulate the market and keep prices low, hopefully making it even easier for people to get the technology they need. It also means individuals and organizations have a choice going forward and don’t have to be tied to one solution.

I hope this practice is copied in other developing regions, so Microsoft does not dominate by default. If there is competition and the company still dominates, then well done for it.

Posted Mar 5th 2008 4:25AM by Nilay Patel
Filed under: Misc. gadgetsPrinted solar cell tech keeps getting closer and closer to reality, with a Massuchssetts company called Konarka Technologies today announcing that it’s now able to manufacture solar cells using inkjet printing. There’s not a ton of information available about the process, but Konarka’s already demonstrated it and published details in a trade journal called Advanced Materials — which sounds like scintillating reading, if you ask us. Konarka says the process makes fabbing solar panels extremely easy, since it doesn’t require a clean room, and the resulting cost reductions could lead to an increased number of applications for solar power. Of course, the economics of inkjet printing have lured more than one company to the dark side — we wonder if Konarka is eventually going to start selling solar ink cartridges for more than the printers themselves?

[Via The Raw Feed]

Sierra Wireless has announced the Compass 597 USB modem, which according to them “is smaller than any EV-DO Rev A USB modem in the market today.” Which I suppose as with anything mobile, a smaller size should be greatly appreciated. Less bulk to carry around and when it comes to a modem, its also less to protrude from your laptop and possibly get caught and damaged.

The Sierra Wireless Compass 597 USB modem may be small in size, but still has a full range of solid specs. The Compass 597 will offer speeds up to 3.1 Mbps down and 1.8 Mbps up, has a built-in microSD card slot for additional storage and features TRU-install automatic software which should make installation and use very simple. The Compass 597 also features Data Antenna, A-GPS, Data Traffic and PowerSave which offers power management. The Compass 597 will be available beginning in Q2 2008, no word yet on pricing.

Read [Sierra Wireless]

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Dell will be rolling out a new projector in the forseeable future - the M209X. This ultraportable projector weighs a mere 2.6 lbs, which is very, very light by any standards (just don’t compare it to those cell phone projectors). Features include 200 ANSI lumens, BrilliantColor technology, VGA, S-Video, composite, and HDMI inputs. Word has it that the M209X will oust the current ultraportable king from Dell, the 3400MP. It ought to hit Dell’s online stores for $999 in a couple of weeks’ time.

Oil spills are major environmental disasters, and key to containing its deadly effects would be to clean up the spill as soon as possible. This Herculean effort would work even better with the help of robots that do not fatigue and tire like humans do. Known as the OSP, designer Ji-hoon Kim claims that this concept robot witll work autonomously together by surrounding an oil spill with an inflatable barrier. Once the whole spill is contained, clean-up crews can get straight to work, sucking all those crude out. This is one invention I would like to see materialize in my lifetime.

Here’s a tough nut of a tablet PC from MobileDemand, known as the xTablet T8700. You get the following features that will be able to last up to seven hours before the battery requires a trip to the nearest power outlet.

• Intel Core Duo ULV U2500 1.2Hz processor
• 2GB of DDR2 RAM
• 8.4″ daylight-readable touch screen display (800 x 600 resolution)
• 80GB 2.5″ hard drive/Solid-state disks in 8GB/16GB/64GB capacities
• Networking: LAN — Gigabit Ethernet WLAN — 802.11a/b/g PAN — Bluetooth 2.0 (optional)
• Integrated fax/modem with RJ11 connector
• 2 x USB 2.0 host
• 1 x serial port
• Docking connector
• Microphone in and speaker out
• CompactFlash Type II slot
• PC Card slot, CardBus 2.1 compatible

The xTablet T8700 retails for $3,800 and ships with an operating system of your choice - Windows XP tablet pc Edition or Windows Vista Business Edition.

[Microsoft TechFest 2008] Patrick Baudisch gave me a demo of the LucidTouch prototype that he is developing with his colleagues from Microsoft Research. Instead of the regular touch screen experience of the iphone, the LucidTouch enables people to browse a map by touching the back of the device and seeing theirs fingers as a translucent overlay on top of the graphics that they are navigating. It prevents the fingers from occluding the graphic elements users are browsing, it would be useful for small screens.

The prototype (photo) is bulky and not very practical, the Web cam located on the back make it even worse, but we can imagine better designs for future mobile devices using this concept. According to Patrick, a possible application could be a watch that users could browse with one finger touch on the watchband on the other side of the wrist.

The Signal smoke detector concept by Matthew Jobson might look ordinary, but it does boast something standard smoke detectors don’t. Whenever the Signal runs out of batteries, the lid will open to display the housing, giving a visual alert to folks living under its roof that it is time for a battery replacement. In addition, it will come with glow-in-the-dark arrows to make it easier for kids to find their way out of the room in the right direction should the smoke detector go off.

Now here’s a robot that has a lowly occupation (literally) as it scours the depths of your swimming pool in order to rid it of sand, dirt and other undesirable items which will otherwise spoil a fun experience in your pool. The Verro line of pool cleaning robots now welcome the Verro 500 and Verro 100, with the former targeting in-ground pools while the latter was specially designed to clean above ground pools. The Verro 100 and 500 will retail for $399 and $999, respectively, helping you take one more task off the chores list this summer as you lounge around your pool while the Verro does all the dirty work.

At CeBIT 2008, Navigon has announced a few new GPS models to add to their North American GPS lineup. The first of the few that they announced was the 2100 Max. One of the main things the Navigon touts about their 2100 Max is the widescreen display, but other than that, it’s basically your average GPS, coming with all the features you would expect a GPS to come with.

“Navigon is building on the same product strategy that drove our success last year. We are committed to providing GPS systems with features that are relevant to the navigation experience,” said Andreas Hecht, Navigon’s President for the Americas. “We believe we’ve raised the bar with a competitively priced, feature-packed GPS device.”

Basically, the 2100 Max comes with a 4.3-inch touch screen, text-to-speech capabilities and offers “Reality View” like many other Navigon GPS units. Reality View makes the pictures on screen a little bit more life like. Additionally, it offers another service called “Direct Help” which is a safety feature to help you know your current location and the fastest ways to get to hospitals and such. This new service, I think, is really helpful and all GPS units should offer a similar service. The last service/feature that the 2100 Max comes with is something called “Fresh Maps”, which is an optional add-on. For an additional $79, you will get a subscription that will give you 12 map updates over a 3 year period. So, whenever there are new maps or something is updated, it will automatically update the device to show these new maps. Furthermore, it comes with Lane Asssitant, Route Planning, and speed warnings. No word on pricing as of yet.

Via [GPS Review]

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