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"hardware systems" news, interviews, and features

Features about hardware systems

  • Apple and Samsung: What's behind the patent fight

    Samsung took a step toward finding a kind of "pax tabletica" with arch-foe Apple in an Australian court last week, offering to remove features from its Galaxy Tab to avoid a court ban on sales of the device in that country. But what's really interesting about the case isn't the technical litigation, but the underlying attempt to define how much of a product's design is actually protected under existing, fragmented international laws.

  • FIRST LOOK : Sony Tablet S - Tablet that goes beyond basics

    Sony has finally revealed all on its Android-based Tablet S, announcing the slate - with a 9.4-inch display - will ship in late September with a starting price of $US500 for a 16GB model and $US600 for the 32GB unit. . You'd be wrong to think Sony's Tablet S is a run-of-the-mill iPad lookalike tablet to ignore. Sony's Tablet S shows the consumer electronics giant has not lost its design mojo over the years, and with this first tablet offering Sony infuses originality and flare into a tablet market that desperately needs it. Pre-sale of the Tablet S begins today.

  • How the iPad will change IT forever

    When evaluating the adoption of mobile enterprise applications, it's important to understand the overall trends driving the adoption of the iPad within the enterprise. As I worked on the book, iPad in the Enterprise: Developing and Deploying Business Applications, I spoke to, interviewed, and received feedback from dozens of technology authors, industry analysts, enterprise software executives, Fortune 1000 CIOs, and other visionaries of enterprise IT. I felt that the best way to explore this concept was to hear from those industry leaders directly.

  • The best office alternatives for Android tablets

    If you fantasize about a life on the road unencumbered by laptops, their accompanying power bricks, and other heavy business gear, you're not alone. And now that a tsunami of tablets is flooding the market with models running a variety of operating systems, that fantasy is starting to look very plausible indeed. Mobile productivity suites bring the document-editing features of desktop suites like Microsoft Office onto the tablet, but are they ready for serious business? I tried four top options to find out.

  • Tablet or netbook? How to choose the right mobile tech

    Tablets, netbooks, smartphones--these days, you can't buy a microwave without being upsold on the touchscreen, app-store model. But when you're picking out your preferred mobile tech for work (or even for play), you can't rely on a features chart or a list of specs to tell you what you should buy.

  • Four reasons why you don't really need a tablet PC

    Tablet PCs are the in thing right now. In fact, you'd be hard put to walk into any sort of electronics store today and not be bombarded with displays for the latest and greatest tablet. But are tablets all they're cracked up to be? Or has Apple and its uber popular iPad duped consumers into tablet envy, and its competitors into a mad scramble to develop their own "iPad rivals?"

  • Apple iOS: Why it's the most secure OS, period

    In June 2007, Apple released the iPhone, and the device quickly took off to become a major brand in the smartphone market. Yet when the iPhone shipped, security on the mobile operating system was nearly nonexistent. Missing from the initial iOS (then called iPhone OS) were many of the security features that modern-day desktop software has as a matter of course, such as data-execution protection (DEP) and address-space layout randomization (ASLR). Apple's cachet lured security researchers to test the platform, and in less than a month, a trio had released details on the first vulnerability: an exploitable flaw in the mobile Safari browser.

  • Why BlackBerry PlayBook is an ideal tablet for business

    The BlackBerry PlayBook is available for pre-order, and will be on the street in a matter of weeks. I am not sure the RIM tablet will see much consumer success, but then consumers have never been RIM's primary market. Consumer tablets aside, the PlayBook has some unique features that make it an ideal tablet from a business or IT admin perspective.

  • Hands-on review: Xoom battles iPad 2 to a draw

    We got our hands on the two hottest products in the tablet computing market -- the Motorola Xoom and the iPad 2 and put them to the test. This was a 15-round heavyweight fight and in the end, the Xoom stood toe to toe with the reigning champ, iPad 2.

  • Tablet deathmatch: Apple iPad 2 vs. Motorola Xoom

    Let's cut to the chase -- the iPad 2 that Apple just released pulls further ahead in the battle with the only real competitor on the market: the Android OS 3.0 "Honeycomb" Xoom tablet from Motorola Mobility. In our previous comparison of the first-gen iPad and the Xoom, the Xoom showed its mettle as a serious contender, beating the iPad in areas such as its inclusion of cameras and ability to mirror its video display.

  • Rackspace, Dell push OpenStack cloud OS

    Rackspace will help enterprises build private clouds using the OpenStack cloud operating system, the company announced Tuesday. Meanwhile, Dell is seeking enterprises and service providers for proof-of-concept OpenStack trials with its Dell PowerEdge C family of servers.

  • Why Apple's iPad 2 will be another hit

    Apple's iPad 2, unveiled by CEO Steve Jobs in a surprise appearance Wednesday at an invitation-only media event, is thinner, lighter, faster and more full-featured, and incorporates enough changes and updates to maintain Apple's strong sales in the tablet market.