3.0

Waze, one of my favorite free GPS applications on the Android platform, is just a bit older and just a bit better with the version 3.0 update that hit the Android Market today.

New in this version is a complete interface overhaul with a less cluttered design that makes it both easier to look at and easier to use. Also new is an increased emphasis on social network integration, including Yelp and Foursquare search and the ability to check into Foursquare locales from within the app.

But seeing is believing, so check out our Waze 3.0 new feature … Read more

Nearly 18 months ago, One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) laid out plans to introduce a $100, education-focused tablet. While the design and features of that original mockup have changed, at CES 2012, OLPC and Marvell finally introduced a working model, the X0 3.0.

We briefly covered the announcement during CES week, but in getting some hands-on time with the device and speaking with the developers of this unique tablet, it got me thinking. With its low-power, low-cost approach to tablets, is there anything useful the XO 3.0 can teach consumer tablet manufacturers?

Honestly, to avoid burying the lede too much here, I'll say that I'm not sure it can. What sets the XO 3.0 apart from consumer tablets is that consumers won't actually have access to it.… Read more

Intel will have to slog through a tough 2012 before it sees any real windfall from Windows 8, according to investment bank Piper Jaffray.

"We believe CY12 (calendar year 2012) is shaping up to be a difficult year for Intel.... We expect 2H12 (second half 2012) to be weak ahead of the launch of Windows 8, the most significant upgrade to the operating system since Windows 3.0," Piper Jaffray analyst Gus Richard wrote in a research note today.

Intel traditionally benefits from Microsoft operating system upgrade cycles as companies and consumers buy new Intel-based PCs along with … Read more

Dillo is a fast, free, cross-platform Web browser with a mission to democratize the Internet. To that end, it can run on just about any PC, including any still running Windows 95 (yes, 95, "because we can") and it doesn't support Java or plug-ins by design, to keep it small, fast, and secure. For dial-up connections, older computers, legacy systems, malware recovery kits, and similar uses, it's just about the only choice in an up-to-date browser. But Dillo serves well in the role.

Dillo is portable and so small it fits on a floppy disk, yet … Read more

One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) will show a $100 tablet at CES, a follow-on to the organization's low-cost laptop, which has been distributed to over 2 million children globally.

OLPC's mission is to provide one connected laptop or tablet to children who have little or no access to education because of insufficient resources.

"We're proud to introduce the XO 3.0 tablet, showcasing the design, durability and performance features that make it a natural successor for our current laptops, which have been distributed to more than 2.4 million children in 42 countries and in 25 languages," said Edward McNierney, chief technology officer of One Laptop per Child, in a statement. … Read more

Toshiba will introduce new USB 3.0 flash drives next week at the Consumer Electronics Show next week in Las Vegas, as products using the faster USB interface begin to trickle out.

"SuperSpeed" USB 3.0 is about 10 times faster than current USB technology and will become standard in virtually all laptops when Intel's Ivy Bridge silicon begins shipping this spring.

Toshiba says its TransMemory-EX flash drive will deliver speeds up to 22 times faster than previous models. That's read and write speeds of 220 megabytes per second (MB/s) and 94 MB/s, respectively. … Read more

USB 3.0 has gotten the green light for becoming a standard offering on Intel-based Windows PCs next year.

The USB Implementers Forum announced this week that the upcoming "Ivy Bridge" 7 Series Chipset and other Intel chipsets have achieved USB 3.0 certification. Chipsets are support silicon that work in tandem with the main processor.

USB 3.0, aka SuperSpeed USB, delivers up to 10 times the data transfer rate of USB 2.0, as well as improved power efficiency.

Intel's Ivy Bridge silicon, due to ship in Windows PCs in the April-June time frame, will … Read more

Sick of living in the cloud?

The new Pogoplug Series 4 is a device that looks to take the best of cloud computing and home network-attached storage and combine the two into a seamless experience. Available today, it certainly seems like a perfectly timed idea in the wake of seemingly daily frustrations with services like Apple's own iCloud and iTunes Match.

Maybe the fourth time's a charm: I've reviewed multiple Pogoplugs before, but none of them came close to what this new version offers. The Pogoplug is a NAS drive without the complications, and it's finally hit a sweet spot for price, size, and feature set. The newly released Pogoplug Series 4 is a latecomer to the holiday shopping season, but if you're getting fed up with iCloud and what other cloud services have to offer, then this $99 device might be what you're looking for.… Read more

As we near the one-year anniversary of Honeycomb tablets, you might assume that Android 3.0 has led to a proliferation of devices and sales.

After all, considering it was written specifically with large displays in mind, it was sure to revolutionize the tablet industry, right?

Well, not exactly. According to new data from ad network Chitika, Honeycomb only accounts for 1 percent of the Android usage on their system.

Based on data collected from hundreds of millions of ads served over the span of a week, Chitika found that Gingerbread and Froyo still command approximately 95 percent of the … Read more