Google still polishing Chrome OS, postpones debut

SAN FRANCISCO: It's taking longer than Google Inc anticipated to deliver a new operating system designed to make computers run faster.

After more than a year building a much-anticipated system around its Chrome web browser, Google said the first laptops powered by the new software won't hit the stores until the middle of next year.

The revised timetable is about six months behind Google's goal of having the Chrome OS completed in time for it to debut during the current holiday season.

Google's engineers decided they needed more time to fix bugs and fine tune the Chrome OS before the company launches its ambitious challenge to computers running on long-established operating systems made by larger rivals, Microsoft Corp and Apple Inc.

While Google polishes the Chrome OS, it will collect user feedback through a pilot programme allowing a relatively small number of consumers and businesses to test unbranded devices running the software.

Consumers will be invited to receive the test laptops through the Chrome web browser and Google's YouTube video site.

Acer Inc and Samsung Electronics Co will make the first Chrome OS laptops available in stores next year. The prices of the machines will be determined by the manufacturers next year.

The postponement threatens to intensify the competitive challenges facing the Chrome OS machines. More people already are snapping up sleek, touchscreen Tablets such as Apple Inc's iPad to surf the Web and run a variety of applications customised for the devices.

Apple sold about 7.5 million iPads in the first six months after its April debut and the Tablet is expected to be among the top-selling gadgets this holiday season.

The rising popularity of the iPad and an array of copycats has started to undercut sales of lightweight laptops, or "netbooks," according to industry analysts. Even the next version of Google's Android operating system for touchscreen devices is supposed to include more features tailored for Tablets.

The Chrome OS computers will have a 12.1in display screen and standard-sized keyboard, but no hard drive. That means the Chrome OS computers will need online access to run more programs.

Google decided to build its own computer operating system primarily because its views the hundreds of millions of machines powered by Microsoft's dominant Windows software as plodding, cumbersome relics unable to provide speedy web surfing.

The Chrome OS machines are being designed so they're ready to navigate the Internet within a few seconds after hitting the power button, almost as quickly as a TV set is ready for channel surfing.

Developing a Web-based alternative to Windows also realises a long-held goal of Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who had previously clashed with Microsoft as an executive at Sun Microsystems and Novell Inc during the 1990s.

Google's development of the Chrome OS contributed to Schmidt's resignation from Apple's board in 2009. Schmidt stepped down because he increasingly was steering Google into the same markets as Apple, raising potential conflicts of interest.

By making it easier and more appealing for people to spend time online, Google hopes to attract more traffic to its dominant Internet search engine and boost its revenue by selling more of the ads that generate most of its income.

The push for a speedier Web experience, prompted Google to introduce the Chrome browser more than two years ago. Although it still lags behind Microsoft's Internet Explorer and the Mozilla Foundation's Firefox, Chrome has steadily been winning converts.

Google says Chrome now has 120 million active users worldwide today, up from about 30 million at the beginning of the year.

Chrome will soon get even faster by pulling up websites as people type in an address, in the same manner that Google's search engine displays different results with each keystroke. For example, typing "e:" in Chrome's navigation bar display ESPN's site in the browser, if that is a destination that the user frequently visits.

To help whet consumers' appetite for the new Chrome OS machines, Google unveiled a new store that will distribute web applications that offer more features and better graphics than the content found on standard webpages.

The Web apps store is open with about 500 free and for-fee applications, meeting the end-of-the-year deadline Google established when it announced the idea in May. More than 40,000 applications already have been developed specifically for the iPad.

The New York Times Co, Time Warner Inc's Sports Illustrated magazine and videogame maker Electronic Arts Inc are among the major companies already offering applications in the Chrome store.

Internet retailer Amazon.com Inc also previewed an application that for the first time will allow other merchants to sell electronic books for its Kindle reader. The app enables Kindle books to be read through a web browser.

Like programs designed for the iPad and mobile phones, the Chrome applications store could help publishers bring in more revenue from subscriptions and advertising. - AP

Google flashes Chrome notebook

The first generation of Google's Chrome notebook, the Cr-48, is a sleek, black, unbranded web-ready device that boots up in just 10 seconds.

It runs on Google's Chrome operating system - which is essentially just a feature-rich version of Google's existing Chrome browser.

The Cr-48 comes with built-in WiFi and 3G for any time, anywhere web browsing, a webcam, a 12in LCD screen and a full-sized keyboard and over-sized touchpad for comfortable web browsing.

"Chrome notebooks are designed to reach the Web instantly," says Google in a blog post.

They are "easy to share among friends and family, and simply by logging in, all of your apps, bookmarks and other browser settings are there. Setting up a new machine takes less than a minute. And even at this early stage, we feel there is no consumer or business operating system that is more secure."

In Google's vision of the future, laptops (and people) will live on the Web. There will be no need for desktop applications because it will be much easier to complete your computing tasks using online web apps.

"Last year, we announced our effort to design an operating system that is built and optimised for the Web. Many people already spend all their time in a web browser, and by building an operating system that is essentially a browser, we can make computers faster, much simpler and fundamentally more secure," says Google.

In 2011 users can expect to be inundated with a new range of design conscious, web-centric computers that compromise storage space and superfluous features for portability and connectivity as more users convert to web-based applications and cloud-based storage.

Apple has already given the trend a nod with its latest MacBook Air laptops.

The Google Cr-48 is currently only available to a select group of beta-testers in Google's Pilot program but both Acer and Samsung will have Google Chrome notebooks available for sale within the first half of 2011. No details about pricing have been announced. - Relaxnews 2010

Technology that can track your cellphone

PETALING JAYA: "Big Brother" is watching you, but sometimes that may not be such a bad thing, and especially when it has to do with keeping us safe.

A company called TruePosition is shopping around a technology that can effectively track mobile phones with an accuracy of within 50m - whether the phone has a GPS chip or not. Wherever there's a cellphone signal, TruePosition's technology can track a phone or any number of phones.

This handphone-location technology works in a similar manner to GPS (global positioning system), in that it relies on multilateration, which figures out where the device is by how proximate the device is to several known points - but in this case, instead of using GPS satellites, TruePosition relies on cellular service towers.

Using what's known as Uplink Time Difference of Arrival (U-TDOA), the TruePosition system measures how long it takes the signal emitted by the mobile phone to reach a cell tower. With this distance information obtained from several towers, a very high level of accuracy can be obtained to pinpoint the location of the cellphone in question.

"In my presentations I always bring up the movie, The Bourne Ultimatum, where cellphone location is used. This isn't science fiction but actually works," said Brian Varano, director of marketing for TruePositon.

While this may sound ominous to some (including privacy advocates), the technology actually has applications in search and rescue operations, as well as national security applications.

For example, in the case of an earthquake, search and rescue teams can use the technology to find the locations of victims trapped under rubble, if they have their mobile phones switched on and with them.

VARANO: "In my presentations I always bring up the movie, The Bourne Ultimatum, where cellphone location is used. This isn't science fiction but actually works."

In the case of kidnapping victims, the police could track down the location of the kidnappers if they make ransom calls from a cellphone.

According to Varano, the technology has wide applications in "homeland security" (or national security as we call it here), where the company's tracking technology could be used to identify and track a group of terrorists engaged in criminal activity.

"Cellphones are now one of the main methods terrorists use for communication with each other. Cellphones can even be used as remote detonators for bombs as well," said Varano.

In such a case, governments utilising the technology can also monitor cellphones for certain keywords and once those turn up, can track the phone using TruePosition's technology.

Each call made from the phone links the caller to another person and from there to another and another -- in this way, a terrorist cell could be identified, Varano said.

Apart from the tracking of handphones, the technology can be used to set up what's called a "geofence," where a certain building - or area around a building - is outlined with a virtual fence that only allows those with known, registered phones to enter.

Those with unregistred phones who enter this area will immediately set off a security alert, or be flagged by a computer system.

Besides protecting high-security buildings, Varano said the system is also being used to enhance border-security systems in remote areas.

TruePosition's technology can track particular mobile phones based on the IMSI (or the International Mobile Subscriber Identity) information stored on the SIM card, or the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) information stored on the phone's hardware.

For the location technology to work, Varano said, specialised equipment needs to be installed at each cellular service tower - many countries, such as the United States and Spain, already have such equipment installed.

Varano added that no Asian countries currently utilise TruePosition's technology, although several nations in the region are looking into it.

For more information, check out TruePosition's website at trueposition.com.

Watch your baby wirelessly

THE upcoming Philips Avent SCD 600 is a wireless baby monitoring system packed with the latest technologies to ensure that your precious one is safe and secure.

It's made of two parts - a 0.1-megapixel camera to monitor the baby and a rechargeable 2.4in colour QVGA display which you can take with you.

The camera has a ball-joint that makes it easy to swivel it into the best position to monitor the child. The device transmits video in real-time to the portable display unit.

It can transmit up to a distance of 150m via a secured 2.4Ghz frequency band.

The camera also has a night vision function to view your baby in the dark. To lull the baby to sleep, the camera comes with a night light and can play soothing lullabies.

To save power, the video display switches off if it doesn't detect any sound for 30 seconds.

The display unit also has a status indicator that can alert the parent with a sound when the connection goes down.

The Avent SCD 600 is expected to be available next month. The price has yet to be announced.