silicon.com : Hardware

Photos: Android marches onto even more smartphones

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:27:02 GMT

It's two years since Google announced it was building an open mobile OS platform - and the number of smartphones with Android inside is on the up.

Sony Ericsson's first Android phone is a bit of a looker. The Xperia X10 runs version 1.6 of the Android OS - aka Donut - and is skinned with a propriety UI which the mobile maker says will be used for other Android devices in future.

Windows 7: Over 200 per cent more popular than Vista

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:18:01 GMT

That Windows 7 is more popular than Vista is no surprise - but just how much more love is Microsoft's latest OS getting?

According to research by analyst NPD Group, Windows 7's first week after release blew Vista's out of the water.

Weekend Gadget Watch: Canon PowerShot S90

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:00:00 GMT

Considering hitting the shops at the weekend? Looking for inspiration? Check out the latest in our series of gadget mini-reviews, courtesy of silicon.com's sister site CNET.co.uk, the home of technology reviews. For the full review and details, click on the link below.

What is it:10-megapixel compact with high-end features

Photos: Inside a Microsoft datacentre

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:43:01 GMT

Microsoft recently opened its Chicago datacentre. In its first phase, the ground floor of the facility is designed to hold up to 56 containers, each filled with somewhere between 1,800 to 2,500 servers.

Photo credit: Microsoft

Magic Mouse - Apple's best ever?

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:46:02 GMT

The Apple mouse has long been the weak link in its hardware set-ups. Seb Janacek asks: Can the new Magic Mouse change all that?

I have a dream a dream that Apple finally gets around to creating a really great mouse. A mouse to complement its rather splendid computers and even finer software.

Photos: The Apple mouse through the ages

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:00:00 GMT

Lisa mouseApple's Lisa of the early 1980s was among the first computers to sport a mouse - albeit a boxy and clunky one.

And while the Lisa tanked, most people remember the mouse as a key part of the Macs that followed it.

Maemo and Android: Symbian's open source rivals up the pressure

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:14:01 GMT

While Symbian continues to dominate the smartphone market it could soon be facing increasing competition from a new quarter - Maemo.

There's no debating that the Symbian platform remains the daddy of the smartphone world: one in every two sold today carries the Symbian OS.

Orange unveils iPhone tariffs and launch date

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:15:02 GMT

The iPhone 3G and 3G S will go on sale to Orange customers from 10 November, the operator has revealed today.

Orange has also unveiled its pay monthly, pay-as-you-go and business tariffs for iPhone 3G and 3G S - with the cheapest price plan offering consumers a free iPhone 3G for just under £30 per month on a two-year contract.

Can I use a netbook as my everyday work machine?

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:22:01 GMT

Netbooks have been enjoying the spotlight of late - but are they suitable for the workplace? Bethan Jones puts one to the test.

Recently I was quietly enjoying my skinny hazelnut latte, extra foam, extra hot when my ears pricked up at the conversation at the table next to mine.

Taxman to save £110m by taking an axe to its IT estate

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:09:01 GMT

The taxman will cut £110m from its annual IT bill by trimming its IT infrastructure.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will reduce the £840m it currently spends on IT each year by ditching or shrinking the size of 40 computer systems and shutting down a number of datacentres.

Weekend Gadget Watch: Apple iMac 27-inch, unibody, 2009

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 07:00:00 GMT

What is it: 27-inch, unibody, all-in-one desktop PC

Photos: Ubuntu unleashes the Karmic Koala

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:20:02 GMT

Want to know how Ubuntu 9.10 will look once installed? silicon.com sister site ZDNet Australia takes you through the install.

Once booting from the CD is complete, this is the installation screen that welcomes you. Note the release notes link at the bottom.

Windows 7: Not perfect - but ready for prime time

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:43:02 GMT

While Windows 7 solves most of the qualms about Vista, the new OS still has plenty of room to grow, says Quocirca's Clive Longbottom.

The much vaunted Windows 7 is now among us, and consumer pre-orders look strong.

Photos: Google's Android 2.0 unifies email

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:17:02 GMT

Google this week released screenshots of Eclair, its 2.0 Android update.

Eclair update will add a unified email inbox. On previous Android phones, users have complained about the disparate experience between the various email apps.

Server virtualisation: Why CIOs should start small but think big

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:19:01 GMT

It might not currently be as widespread as industry hype might have it - but server virtualisation is poised to grow rapidly as smaller businesses catch on to the benefits.

Server virtualisation allows multiple instances of an operating system to run simultaneously within one physical server, cutting the amount of hardware organisations have to buy and manage. And because fewer physical servers are required, virtualisation also helps to cut energy costs: no small thing for CIOs and CFOs after a recent study found that, thanks to rocketing energy prices, it now costs more to power some servers than to buy them in the first place.

Photos: Top iPhone apps for business

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:45:01 GMT

Apple's iPhone might be seen by many as largely a consumer device, with games and media apps regularly topping the 'What's Hot' list on iTunes.

However, the App Store currently stocks more than 2,000 business apps and, with the iPhone currently dominating around 13 per cent of the smartphone market, the device's potential as a business tool can no longer be ignored. Here we take a look at some of the best business apps that can help turn your iPhone into a portable office.

Amazon's Kindle ignites legal upheaval

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:10:01 GMT

Amazon's Kindle e-book and Google's Book Search will change the way we read books forever. And that will keep the lawyers plenty busy, says Callum Sinclair.

The internet, as the daddy of all disruptive technologies, heralded a new era of litigation. Now with Amazon's Kindle e-book reader available internationally - in the UK and some 100 other countries - and all the controversy over the Google Book Search settlement, it looks like e-book readers are the next space for legislative upheaval.

Augmented reality's time is coming thanks to smarter smartphones

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:11:01 GMT

Today's increasingly feature-packed smartphones are likely to propel the use of augmented reality into the mainstream in the coming years.

Augmented reality - the process of superimposing digital information or objects onto real-time video streams in order to create the illusion that they are part of the physical scene - will be pulling in revenues of more than $350m by 2014, up from $6m in 2008, according to analyst ABI Research.

How Google Apps helped Jaguar Land Rover keep motoring after Ford sale

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:45:02 GMT

Following its sale by parent company Ford last year, car maker Jaguar Land Rover has had to face the thorny problem of cutting itself loose from Ford's web of business applications.

JLR is spending £200m separating its IT operations from Ford, largely on carrying out the painstaking process of copying and cloning more than 1,600 business applications.

Photos: Windows 7 - the latest PCs from Acer to Samsung

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:07:02 GMT

The official release of Windows 7 last week has seen the debut of a slew of hardware sporting the OS.

New touchscreen desktop panels and laptops designed to take advantage of Windows 7's touch-sensitive capabilities have appeared, while existing netbooks and laptops have also been kitted out with the OS to get a performance boost from its more modest system requirements compared to Vista.

Photos: Apple unveils latest 27-inch iMac

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:19:01 GMT

Apple's new 27-inch iMac features edge-to-edge display glass, a LED-backlit screen, and 2,560 x 1,440 display resolution. The $1,699 starting model has a 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, 4GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive.

Photo credit: CNET/Sarah Tew

Weekend Gadget Watch: HTC Tattoo

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 08:24:00 GMT

What is it: Budget touchscreen smartphone running Android

The top 10 technologies you need to plan for next year

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:46:02 GMT

2009 may not be over yet but analysts have already revealed the top 10 strategic techs that CIOs should be looking at next year.

According to Gartner, the 10 strategic technologies will have an impact on the enterprise over the next three years, with IT chiefs encouraged to make decisions on them within the next two.

Photos: New Apple MacBook learns lessons from the Pro

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:57:02 GMT

Apple updated its MacBook line-up this week.

Here's a closer look at the revamped unibody polycarbonate MacBook.

Keeping IT green in tough times

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:00:02 GMT

It's never been easy being green, especially when it comes to electricity-hungry IT infrastructure.

And in the midst of a recession, with cost cutting a priority, it's easy to let slide worthy targets such as becoming carbon neutral - especially if the choice is between a project to shrink the carbon footprint of IT and one that could ensure the company makes a profit in these difficult times.