|
TECHBITS: PC in the PC, Vocal Joystick, Photobucket Tags, Faster Internet
By The Associated Press
The Associated Press
Tired of Windows? The next generation of laptops may let you jump from one operating system to another to play movies, surf the Web or read e-mail.
Phoenix Technologies Ltd. (News - Alert), a leading maker of the software that controls Windows computers most basic workings, announced this week that it will offer a feature it calls HyperSpace to laptop manufacturers.
Woody Hobbs, the Milpitas, Calif.-based company's chief executive, said the first application of the technology probably will show up next summer in the shape of laptops that can play DVDs outside Windows.
User will be able to boot in a few seconds straight into the DVD player, skipping the longer Windows startup, or switch to the DVD player from Windows. If Windows is running at the same time, it can be put in sleep mode, prolonging battery life.
Laptops with a media player separate from Windows already exist, but the players don't run parallel to Windows (you have to boot into the player, then shut it down and boot into Windows to switch tasks).
Laptops with HyperSpace would likely have a separate button that instantly switches away from Windows.
In a second phase, Hobbs sees things like Web browsers, e-mail programs and Web conferencing software like Skype (News - Alert) being built into HyperSpace. Computer management functions like antivirus scanning could also be performed outside Windows, improving security, Hobbs said.
The technology would move PCs closer to being appliances -- always on and available -- and give computer manufacturers a chance to differentiate themselves in what is in many respects a commodity business, by pre-loading different applications.
The HyperSpace environment would be based on Linux, giving the freely distributed operating system what could be its biggest break yet in the struggle to gain traction against Windows on PCs.
_ Peter Svensson, AP Technology Writer
___
On the Net:
http://www.phoenix.com
___
U of Washington researchers make PC mouse move with 'ee's and oo's
SEATTLE (AP) -- A mouse that can move accurately in response to sounds could mean the difference between dependence and independence for someone with motor impairments.
A University of Washington researcher with a specialty in speech recognition is putting his skills to use teaching computers to do just that.
Jeff Bilmes, the associate professor of engineering leading a team creating the Vocal Joystick with a grant from the National Science Foundation, said most existing controllers are far from ideal.
Some are controlled by the breath or the tongue, but then users can't talk while operating their PC, and if the device falls out, someone else has to put it back in.
"The one last bit of independence that such individuals have has been lost," Bilmes said.
Other solutions, like sensors implanted under the skin or eye-movement trackers, can be invasive or expensive, he noted. Vocal Joystick is neither.
Bilmes said he was inspired by "beatboxers," people who make a wide array of percussive noises with their mouth.
"The human voice can do much more than what's typically done for a standard language," said Bilmes, who presented Vocal Joystick at a National Academy of Engineering meeting this week.
His team assigned vowel sounds to correspond to mouse movements: Up is "a" as in cat, right is "aw" as in "Aw, shucks." There are sounds for more complex movements -- "down and to the right" is "oh" as in bold -- and sliding sounds together sends the mouse on smooth curves around the screen.
Vocal Joystick also gives computer users control over the mouse pointer's speed. A very quiet "ee" as in beet will move the cursor slowly to the right; a loud "oo" as in boot sends it plunging downward.
Once users are accustomed to the commands, they can do sophisticated on-screen work, such as illustration or digital photo restoration.
When he first started thinking about it, Bilmes wondered if people would feel too silly making all the ooooeeeeeuuuuuaahh's for Vocal Joystick to be useful.
"As soon as we built the first prototype and I tried it, I immediately forgot that I was making sounds," he said. "As soon as you start doing it, and see it respond to your voice, something amazing happens."
_ Jessica Mintz, AP Technology Writer
___
On the Net:
The Vocal Joystick team plans to make the free program available at:
http://ssli.ee.washington.edu/vj/
___
Photobucket advances tagging concept with labeling of specific faces, objects
NEW YORK (AP) -- The media-sharing site Photobucket is introducing a search mechanism that lets users append labels to specific faces and objects in photos.
The new "tagging" feature, expected to launch Thursday, also lets users easily link to external sites such as online references on a landmark photographed.
Tagging represents a way to organize photos, video and other information with multiple descriptive words. On Google Inc.'s YouTube (News - Alert), for instance, video of a python attacking rabbit gets tags that include "python, snake, rabbit, reptile, eat, devour, food, chain," helping to guide people who search the site looking for any of those things.
Until now Photobucket, a unit of News Corp.'s Fox Interactive Media, enabled searches of photo headlines. But someone searching for "bridge" wouldn't find a photo called "View of Golden Gate." Tagging allows people to attach both "bridge" and "Golden Gate" to their photos.
And users will be able to specify where in the photo the bridge is located. Likewise, tags can be attached to specific faces in a group photo.
With rival Flickr from Yahoo Inc., users must list every name as a tag for the entire photo, though Photobucket's new feature is like Flickr's "Notes," which lets users attach a non-searchable note to part of a photo.
Alex Welch, co-founder of Photobucket, said he had been skeptical of tagging because many users add scores of meaningless descriptors in hopes of drawing more visitors. He said Photobucket was waiting for technology that gave tags more meaning.
When users embed Photobucket photos into other sites -- such as personal profile pages at its sister site MySpace (News - Alert) -- the tags and attached links will follow them there.
_ Anick Jesdanun, AP Internet Writer
___
Merger talks ended for ultra-fast, next-generation Internet networks
NEW YORK (AP) -- The on-again, off-again talks to merge two ultra-fast nonprofit Internet networks have ended again -- for good this time, it appears.
Internet2 and National LambdaRail serve many of the nation's universities and research institutions by offering fast Internet connections that physicists, astronomers and other researchers need to exchange large amounts of data.
The two next-generation networks began with separate missions, but their technologies and services converged over the years. And Jeff Lehman, chairman of Internet2's board, said their clients backed the merger because the organizations largely served the same community.
Talks resumed this year, and a committee with top leaders from each network worked out a compromise in August.
Internet2's board approved it, despite misgivings by some of its board members, but LambdaRail's board sought more concessions. And last week, both sides called it quits.
"A lot of us are disappointed," said Internet2's Lehman, a member of the merger committee. "We knew it was a challenge, and we were hopeful that we would find a way to get to the end this time."
Many LambdaRail participants felt they had invested into the system and wanted greater returns, Lehman said. He said Internet2 offered as much financial benefits as it could.
LambdaRail Chairman Erv Blythe, in a statement, described his organization as an atypical nonprofit, one that tracked how much individual members gave and received. He said LambdaRail needed additional concessions to satisfy its obligations to contributing members.
"Under the circumstances, we agree that our respective organizations have no choice but to move forward independently," Lehman and Blythe said in a joint statement.
_ Anick Jesdanun, AP Internet Writer
[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
|
INDUSTRIES
Activate Email 
Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO East, January 20-22, 2010. Miami, FL.
