Have Laptop Will Travel

OLPC begins “Give One, Get One” project

Originally posted on November 12, 2007 @ 11:48 pm

My favorite social responsibility organization, the One Laptop Per Child initiative, officially started its very useful “Give One, Get One” funding project.

This project essentially gives a computer to the person who purchases the said PC while also funding one other PC that will be given to a child in another country. The said project will last for 15 days. The amount given/donated is 399 dollars. As an additional incentive any participant who lives in the United States will get a free one year access to T-Mobile’s HotSpot broadband service.

The OLPC has said that it is committed to deliver these laptops to children within the holiday season although they also know how daunting this task will get so they have also said that there are no guarantees at this point. Only purchasers who were able to buy the laptops early will be sure of getting their units during the holidays.

As I have previously posted, Quanta Computer will be manufacturing the XO laptops. Mass production of the units actually started last week.

Raketu to employ SMS for its VOIP service

Originally posted on November 8, 2007 @ 11:48 pm

One of the most common uses for laptops in a mobile environment is to use VOIP services. As more and more businesses incorporate the need for constant communications with colleagues in other parts of the country VOIP has become an integral part of effective business functions. Because of this, people are looking for the cheapest means to enjoy VOIP — and it looks like Raketu can provide that value for money proposition.

Raketu’s unique selling point is quite simple, it caters to people who may not have access to a smartphone that has a Skype applet or a laptop that they can lug around. By simply texting a message to an SMS number Raketu will connect the two numbers. The company will also provide PC to PC and PC to phone calling.

The SMS calling function is quite fresh and not many tech outfits have used this technology in partnership with other related technologies. Raketu charges very affordable rates for phone to phone and mobile to landline connections. Expect to see other companies follow this service model once Raketu proves to be viable.

WinXP SP3 can slow Vista adoption

Originally posted on February 20, 2008 @ 10:22 pm

With the release of Service Pack 3 for Windows XP, there is speculation that it will further slow down the public’s adoption of Microsoft’s new Windows Vista.

The new Service Pack 3 Release Candidate 2 was released last Feb. 19 without much fanfare, maybe as a way to not really give too much of the public’s attention to XP at this point when the company is still trying to sell the advantages of upgrading to the Vista OS. The problem is that with SP3, XP has become more stable and reliable and with a larger installed base, this will make it doubly hard for Microsoft to encourage people to go with vista, which is still considered as having many quirks and instabilities. SP3’s introduction has basically brought a Catch 22 situation for Microsoft. And the company’s decision to stop supporting XP in the near future will only further alienate its customers.

Americans are now more “connected”

Originally posted on January 1, 2008 @ 11:42 pm

Looking at all of my new gadgets that my friends and I have acquired this year made me realize how wired and connected we are. We have achieved a level of connectivity with each other and with information that ten years ago we would only think it could happen in science fiction novels. Our laptops, our phones, our desktop computers… heck, even our refrigerators are plugged in and wired to the world wide web.

A new survey done in the United States by Deloitte and Touche shows the level of connectivity that we have and the results have been quite interesting. For example, 38 per cent of US consumers now watch TV shows online, while 36 per cent use their mobile phone as an entertainment device. Also, 45 per cent have made it a habit to make online content for others. This include music, videos, blogs and websites.

The survey confirms that new media is now a legitimate form and advertisers see a more universal strategy as the most effective means of reaching your target audience.

The figures cited have actually increased quite dramatically from the last survey and this is quite telling because it means the level of acceptability and absorption of these devices has also increased. Advertisers should take heed of this new development in making new ad strategies this year. We should also look at this as a sign that society is really becoming more and more connected whether we like it or not.

“I think for advertisers one of the conclusions is you don’t make decisions to advertise either on television or the Internet when you want to hit all the demographics, but rather you need to have a multiplatform strategy,” said Ken August, vice chairman and national sector leader for Deloitte & Touche’s media and entertainment practice, which commissioned the study. “It shouldn’t be an either or proposition.”

Among the study’s other findings:

— 54 percent of consumers said they socialize via social networking sites, chat rooms or message boards, and 45 percent said they maintain a profile on a social networking site.

— 85 percent of consumers still find TV advertising to have the most impact on their buying habits, but online ads are second best, with 65 percent of consumers saying they have the most impact, beating out magazines at 63 percent.

Toshiba to resurrect Satellite Pro line

Originally posted on October 16, 2007 @ 10:03 pm

My wife used to have a very reliable Toshiba Satellite laptop. It conked out after years of service and after shipping it to Singapore (where she bought it) for repairs she found out that the cost is just too much to even warrant getting the laptop back so she just left it there. I still miss that laptop. It was quite sturdy and, for it’s time, was even quite a looker. Over the years though the Satellite line just disappeared from market consciousness with the entry of more affordable and more feature packed units from other companies.

The Satellite line will have a more conspicuous present in the market this year because of Toshiba’s plan to resurrect the Toshiba Satellite Pro line. The line will address the small businesses sector. The new models are designed to squarely meet the needs of business professionals. These units will have multimedia capabilities but will not be priced over $1,000. Good news to AMD faithful, too. The Satellite Pro A210 will have an AMD processor and prices will start at just $699.