Newsletter

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October 2018

July 2018 

May 2018

ChromeOS on a Tablet

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Acer are introducing a new Tablet running the Chromebook Operating System. Google have been making the Chromebook Touchscreen friendly for some time but this could be the first ChromeOS to have no keyboard input. Coupled with the ability to run Android Applications, it will be interesting to see if this is a viable product. Priced at US $330 makes it competitive for a 10 inch model. It has a 2048 x 1536 pixel display, 4GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, stereo speakers, a USB 3 port, a microSD card reader, and a headset jack.

Newsletter

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January 2018

March 2018 

MAY 2018 

Video Splicing

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Sometimes a full Video Editing program is not needed to do a simple splice of a video. A small tool is available for cutting part of a video and saving it as a new file. the program is called 'LossLessCut'. It is a free program for Windows, Mac and Linux. It does nothing else than that, but is useful for removing that unwanted false start to a home movie or not ending when it should. Mark the start point and then the end point of the wanted section. Click on the Scissors Icon and the wanted part will be saved while the original video is left unaltered.

Newsletter

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November 2017 

Googles 'Nest' cameras come to NZ

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Nest is a company owned by Google that produces Indoor and Outdoor Cameras, Thermostats, Smoke alarms and other Security related devices. They are designed to connect to mobile phones with intruder alert messaging. They also have integration with Google Home which is a Voice controlled device similar to the Amazon Echo. New Zealand is now one of 18 countries that has full support for these devices.

Newsletter

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October 2017 

September 2017

New life for computers made redundant

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As XP is no longer updated old computers soon become useless. Loading an alternative lightweight Linux system has become increasingly more difficult as the CPU is no longer supported. Greece can no longer afford to buy new computers, especially the young with a 45 percent unemployment rate, so a group of system programmers have come up with a solution called Antix. As Linux is open sourced they have put back the old CPU drivers, used a simple low resourced Desktop. They also added the latest firefox, Youtube viewer, media player and a simplified office suite. The performance is adequate for use as simple home computer, as long as fast action games are not required. Any computer that ran XP should run Antix equally well but without the maintenance worries.

Newsletter

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July 2017

August 2017 

Elementary OS

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As Windows gets more complex with every version as a never ending array of features are added, some of us prefer a simpler system. Elementary OS, aptly named, provides only this. There are no menus, just a Panel similar to the Mac at the bottom and an Icon based dropdown Panel, like Android, from the top. A single click on any Icon launches the Application. There is a repository for a few extra Apps and as the system is maintainance free there is little else to learn about it. China has a few outlets to buy it as a complete Laptop but I suspect these are repurposed unsold Windows 10 machines due to the lack of power. Like the Chromebook these devices need only a minimal specification, and will not slow down with time. Any settings change is done from a control Panel similar to Android.

Samsung's new Desktop

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Samsung's new Smartphone 'S8' has an accessory named 'DEX'. This allows the Phone to sit in a cradle which is connected to a Monitor, Keyboard and Mouse and effectively becoming the Desktop computer. Although it only works on the premium model at the moment, in the next couple of years all mobile phones could follow suit. Android 7 has the ability to run and resize several applications at once making it a good fit as Desktop Operating System. Microsoft wanted to do this with Windows Mobile 10 but as the phone was a failure this never happened.

Windows 10 S

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Noticing the success of the Chromebook in the Education Sector Microsoft is introducing the Windows 10 S to compete, mainly on price. Windows 10 S is a Restricted version of Windows 10 Pro that only allows Windows store software on it. Other caveats are the only Web Browser is the 'Edge' and 'Bing' is locked in as the search engine, not Google. All this is similar to the failed Windows 8 RT. If this is found too limiting a payment of $US 50 will upgrade it to Windows 10 Pro. If the Education Sector don't buy these they will probably end up on the retail shelves as cheap PC's. These are not copies of the Chromebook as both operate and maintain on completely different ideologies.

Android versus Windows

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Android is now the most used Operating System for Internet search usage globally. As Windows does not have any real participation in the mobile computing field the accompanying chart is showing the difference between Laptop and Phone users in the home. Streaming media on a TV, such as 'Netflix' is probably not included in these figures.

Raspberry Pi Software for PC's

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Raspberry Pi is a tiny low power single board computer that was designed for students to learn to program. All the software is open source allowing full access to all sections of the computer. Originally only a few thousand would be made but the producers under estimated the demand and after two years 10 million had been sold. Raspbian is the official Operating system and this has now been ported to run on a standard Laptop using a Live CD or bootable thumb drive. As this does not interfere or rely on the main Operating system it is quite safe to use and won't compromise the Laptop's warranty. Raspbian comes with an up to date browser and email client, an office suite, photo viewer and media player as well as several installed programming languages. The image file can be found by Googling Raspbian x86 pixel.

Intel Compute card

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Intel are developing a computer in a card which is designed to be slotted into a PC similar to the way a SD memory card is inserted. The card will hold the processor, memory, graphics, audio and solid state disk drive. The connector at the bottom will be similar to the usb-c allowing media for the screen to be delivered and inputs for the keyboard, mouse and USB ports. Upgrading a computer will happen when a more powerful card is inserted. The case, power supply, screen and keyboard will not need to be changed, removing the built in obsolescence that exists at present. The major PC companies will be begrudgingly producing these this year as they fear that if they don't the phone manufacturers will. The cards are optimized for Windows 10, Windows Embedded, Android and Linux. These cards may well end up as the computer for Smart TV's and other devices. 

Chromebook Pro

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Samsung are introducing a new high-end hybrid laptop running ChromeOs (Chromebook) with a touchscreen and stylus. The stylus is not the same type as used in the troubled Galaxy Note 7. At $500 US this is a high price as most Chromebooks are half that price. The high resolution 12 inch screen, 6 core CPU, running Android Apps and long battery life could help sell this Unit. The Laptop has a 360 degree hinge allowing it to flip over for use as a tablet. Samsung are positioning the Chromebook Pro as a premium device.

Superbook Laptop

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Superbook is a kickstarter project that has attained enough money to start manufacture. It started out as an idea for using a Windows phone as a computer linked by cable to a empty Laptop shell. As the Windows phone was a complete failure the designers switched to Android phones. This will be in time for Android 7 which has been updated to support multi freeform windows, just like a standard Desktop. As the Laptop only has a screen, keyboard and a power supply it should be relatively cheap. The linking cable plugs into the USB port of the phone. The plug that is normally used to charge the phone actually has other another set of connections called MHL (Mobile Hi Definition Link). This supports Video and Audio streams for an HDMI port on a TV or Monitor. The Keyboard and Trackpad can use the bluetooth wireless.

Windows 10 Aniversary Update

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Cortana

Microsoft released the first yearly Update to Win 10 and it is free. There is a 10 day optional Rollback if something fails. The main change is that the Cortana (Digital Assistant) search is now the main way of finding and starting things. The option for switching this off has been removed. It will show notifications more like a phone. Skype will now be part of the operating system and not a stand alone program, and has a new interface. On September 15 Skype will have to be registered as a service to continue using it. This is possibly in response to "Viber" which is what the mobile users prefer. Viber does not require registering but a cellphone number is used as identification even when used on a tablet or PC. Viber has twice the number of users than Skype.

Windows 10 Nag screens

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Microsoft are going full screen in their final bid to push for the Windows 10 free update which finishes at the end of this month. The good news is that the standard "RED X" is going to close the dialogue box instead of going ahead with the installation as in the previous nag screen messages. Changing the definition of a standard function to trick people into install something they did not want can only be classed as malware. The question that has not been answered is how Microsoft is going to make money from the lost revenues by upgrading old computers to Windows 10 for free.

Google moves into the Laptop arena.

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Android is finally coming to the desktop via the Chromebook / Chromebox. Google announced that this month Chromebooks with touchscreens will get Android and all the rest in three months time.The ChromeOS will remain and the Android OS will be run in parallel with it, with both operating systems interconnecting. This will give the Chromebook an estimated one million extra apps, although not all will be useful in a desktop mode. Education is where most Chromebooks are found and these can disable Android to keep the security at a higher level. These will make a great Laptop as Android is already well known as the most popular Mobile phone and Tablet.