Google made a big splash when it revealed plans to offer Chromebooks to enterprise and education customers under a subscription model. What’s not clear is how much of a splash it actually made in those markets. While the notion of paying a monthly fee for three years, instead of buying a machine up front sounds like a game changer, some people just like the comfort of the familiar. To that end Google is now offering those same customers the option to purchase a Chromebook (with a year of support included) in one lump sum — $449 for the WiFi model or $519 for the 3G to educational customers, while business are looking at $559 and $639 respectively. After that first year is through, customers have the option to sign up for a monthly support contract, at $5 a month for education and $13 a month for enterprise.

SOURCE via Google

AMD has reportedly made plans to launch the Deccan platform in 2012 followed by the Kerala platform in 2013, both aimed for the ultrabook-like form factor. The company is supposedly looking to increase its current 10-percent share of the global notebook CPU market by jumping into the new ultrabook craze.

According to reports, the company is slated to launch its Deccan platform in June 2012 which will feature 28-nm Krishna and Wichita-based APUs. It will then upgrade to the Kerala platform featuring Kabini-based APUs in 2013. However once AMD upgrades with the latter Kerala platform, the “extraordinary” improvement in overall performance and power consumption will supposedly put the company in a better position to compete with Intel’s Ivy Bridge platform in 2012 and its Haswell platform in 2013.

On the traditional notebook front, the company has already launched its Llano-based Sabine platform to replace Danube. However, due to weak 32-nm yield rates and production issues stemming from Globalfoundaries, supplies of Llano APUs has been limited, which in turn may have an impact AMD’s plans for the notebook market. Still, But AMD is pushing forward nonetheless with its Comal platform featuring Trinity-based APUs in 2012 followed by the Indus platform featuring Kaven-based APUs in 2013.

As for tablets, AMD is attacking the business sector this year with the Brazos platform and Windows 7. However by Q2 2012, AMD will launch the Brazos-T platform featuring Hondo APUs, and then the Samara platform in 2013.

For every Android device sold, Microsoft is earning some bucks at the back. Well, that’s going to be even more right now. Compal has agreed to pay royalties to the software company, which is expected to rake in more than $1 billion from Android phone and tablet makers this year.

Compal is the ninth company to sign a license agreement with Microsoft and is especially significant, as Microsoft now says that it has 55 percent of Android market share under license agreements (53 percent in the U.S.). General counsel Brad Smith noted in a blog post that Microsoft has entered in 1133 license agreements over the past decade, while it spent about $4.5 billion in licensing fees that were paid to other companies.

Of course, Smith did not miss an opportunity to swipe Google: “For those who continue to protest that the smartphone patent thicket is too difficult to navigate, it’s past time to wake up.”

He also indicated that license agreements appear to be taking care of the litigation landscape that has turned the mobile phone market into a mess: “While lawsuits may dominate many of the headlines, these are being overtaken by the number of license agreements being signed. At this point, the fast pace of licensing is reshaping the legal landscape for smartphone patents.”

Monday brought reports of a leaked Microsoft road map revealing an August 2012 commercial launch schedule for Windows 8. Prior to that, the beta will reportedly arrive during CES 2012 this coming January along with the WinStore Beta, an online market <ONM> community technology preview (CTP), and the first “Tango” update for Windows Phone. Windows 9 is even slated for a late 2014 reveal.

According to the roadmap, the Release Candidate for Windows 8 (RC) will roll out at MIX 2012 along with the online market beta and the Kinect commercial SDK — “Apollo” for Windows Phone is also expected to be revealed. By the time E3 2012 rolls around, Microsoft will reportedly unveil the Xbox 360 SDK for creating apps, the Apollo SDK for Windows Phone and third-generation Kinect games. The Windows 8 RTM build is also expected to be released in June 2012.

Once August 2012 arrives, Windows 8, the online market, Windows Phone 8 and the Xbox (App) Store will launch if all goes according to plan. Then in September during BUILD 2012 Microsoft will offer a Windows 8 product upgrade developer preview and announce something called <OSN> along with the XAML+XDE platform.

On the Windows 9 front, a developer preview is expected to go live during BUILD 2013 followed by a Beta during CES 2014. A Release Candidate is slated to arrive during MIX 2014 followed by the RTM build with Internet Explorer 12 during BUILD 2014. It also looks like Windows 9 Mobile will also make its debut, as both the desktop and mobile versions will go commercial in November 2014.

To see the full roadmap, head here. As always, take this forecast with a grain of salt because (1) things change and (2) there’s no official confirmation from Microsoft.

SOURCE via Tumblr

Intel has updated its processor price list once again, this time to add the already leaked Core i7-2700K and to reflect the lowered price tag of the Core i3-2120 and of the Pentium G850 and G630.

The i7-2700K is now the performance king on the LGA-1155 platform (until the release of the Ivy Bridge processors), replacing the i7-2600K. The i7-2700K is clocked at 3.5 GHz (100 MHz higher than the 2600K), has four cores (8 threads), 8MB of L3 cache, a TDP of 95W, and integrated Intel HD 3000 graphics. The release cost is $332, which $15 more than the i7-2600K (based on 1,000 units).

Besides the Core i7-2700K, Intel has also adjusted the prices of the Core i3-2120, Pentium G850 and G630 by roughly 15% across the board.

SOURCE via CPU World

Steve Jobs authorized biography by Walter Isaacson is officially available today in bookstores as well as in digital form. Isaacson was granted unprecedented access to Jobs, which allowed for some never-before-revealed aspects and attitudes of the late Apple founder.

It would make sense for Steve Jobs to look at Android with some contempt. After all, Android has surpassed iOS long ago in terms of mobile OS adoption. What’s a bit startling, though, is just how much Jobs hated Android. Jobs felt that HTC’s implementation of Android, in particular, was “grand theft” of iOS.

“I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple’s $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong,” Jobs said. “I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product. I’m willing to go thermonuclear war on this.”

Apple sued HTC over its use of Android. Jobs even told Google’s then-CEO Eric Schmidt that he wasn’t interested in settling the lawsuit.

“I don’t want your money. If you offer me $5 billion, I won’t want it. I’ve got plenty of money. I want you to stop using our ideas in Android, that’s all I want,” Jobs told Schmidt.

The BBC is reporting on a fascinating development with repercussions for everything from medicine to video game plotlines. A team at the Joseph Fourier University of Grenoble, led by Dr. Serge Cosnier has developed a working biofuel cell that draws power from glucose and oxygen at levels also found in the human body. Their battery was first implanted in a living rat in 2010; after 40 days, it continued to generate a consistent electric current with no measurable psychological or physiological side effects for the rat. It was developed thanks to the recent discovery that the enzyme glucose oxidase is “very efficient at generating electrons,” and to the greater availability of carbon nanotubes, allotropes of carbon that demonstrate enormous thermal conductivity.

Though the science behind it is very complex, the battery itself is relatively simple; The team created a paste of two carbon nanotubes, one mixed with glucose oxidase and the other with glucose and polyphenol oxidase (which, oddly enough, is the enzyme responsible for browning in plant life). The current is delivered to the battery’s circuit via a platinum wire inserted into the paste, and the battery is wrapped in materials that prevent the components from leaking into the host body, and the host’s immune system from rejecting it. If a working biofuel battery could be developed for human use, it would profoundly affect the use of artificial organs and prosthetics. Such devices are currently be powered by bulky batteries that must be replaced periodically. A biofuel cell could be powered by the patient’s own body, reducing further need for invasive surgery and offering potentially cost-saving as well.

The technology could have tremendous nonmedical benefits as well. Dr Cosnier made the point that “If you were in a country without electricity, and needed to re-charge a bio fuel cell, all you would have to do is add sugar and water.” However, before we get too excited about our cybernetic destiny, it must be noted that direct benefits for humans are still years away. Given the size of the host, the battery used in the rat was quite small and very weak; the team now plans to test a much more powerful batter on cattle, with the eventual goal of creating one suitable for human use. Eventual volunteers are not advised to join Sarif Industries’ security team.