We already had a pretty good idea of what’s inside the Kindle Fire — basically, the same thing that was inside the BlackBerry PlayBook. But of course we’re still fans of seeing all the circuits and components that make up a modern gadget, and that’s why we love iFixit so much. With gentle touches and tiny tools the disembodied hands here split Amazon’s new hotness in twain and then started pulling out silicon and copper with wild abandon. Click on through to see the rest!
A patent for Microsoft’s ReadyBoost technology, which surfaced first in Windows Vista was recently resubmitted by Microsoft for approval by the USPTO.
The document indicates that Microsoft filed the patent application initially on October 21, 2004 and followed up on February 5, 2009 and May 6, 2010. The most recent continuation was submitted by Microsoft in July of this year in what appears to be an ongoing process to get the invention approved.
Described as “using external memory devices to improve system performance”, the document relates to a feature that was heavily marketed during the launch of Windows Vista and is still available, but is largely forgotten by mainstream users today. According to the patent application, the invention covers external memory storage devices that integrate volatile or non-volatile solid-state memory. The idea is to use such a drive “to cache sectors from the hard disk (i.e., disk sectors) and/or slower memory components to improve system performance.”
According to the data published, Microsoft found that data read times could be accelerated by more than 60 percent in some circumstances with this technology.
Apple has just announced some changes to its board of directors, including the appointment of a new non-executive chairman: Arthur D. Levinson. Currently Chairman of Genentech Inc., Levinson has been a co-director of Apple’s board since 2005, having first joined the board in 2000. He’ll be welcoming new board member Robert A. Iger, who you may know as the President and CEO of The Walt Disney Company. In a statement, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that Levinson “has made enormous contributions to Apple since he joined the board in 2000,” and that his “insight and leadership are incredibly valuable to Apple, our employees and our shareholders.”
On Iger, Cook said: “Bob and I have gotten to know one another very well over the past few years and on behalf of the entire board, we think he is going to make an extraordinary addition to our already very strong board,” further noting that “his strategic vision for Disney is based on three fundamentals: generating the best creative content possible, fostering innovation and utilizing the latest technology, and expanding into new markets around the world which makes him a great fit for Apple.”
Has offensive material appeared in your Facebook news feed over the last twenty-four hours? If so, you’re not alone, as security firm Sophos has confirmed the sudden-yet-offensive problem.
According to reports made by Facebook users, news feed content and personal messages now include explicit hardcore porn images, Photoshopped photos of celebrities in sexual situations, pictures of extreme violence and a photograph of an abused dog. That said, workers may need to get their Facebook fill at home rather than on the job until the porn flood has been contained… unless you work within the porn industry, that is.
Oh, what a big difference punctuation makes. Speaking at the company’s shareholders’ meeting earlier today, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer made a remark that set more than a few geek hearts aflutter. According to various reports, he said “We’ve got broad Windows initiatives driving Windows down to the phone with Windows 8.”
Turns out, that’s not how he said it. A Microsoft rep confirmed to us that if transcribed correctly, Ballmer’s remarks (documented in the recording below) should read, “We’ve got broad Windows initiatives driving Windows down to the phone. With Windows 8, you’ll…” By “Windows,” then, he meant the overarching family of software bearing the Windows name, and not Windows 8 specifically. Says Redmond’s PR team:
“He was making a statement along the lines of what we’ve already publicly stated around providing a consistent experience across various devices but all carrying the Windows name.”
Makes sense to us, seeing as how Windows 8 already makes good use of WP7′s Metro UI. Still, we’ll be curious to see how Windows 8 influences Windows Phone once Win 8 gets the final seal of approval, likely sometime next year.
Compared to the gamut of conversational languages, the programming variety shifts at lightning-fast speed. And next year, a new language will get the official nod from Google, which first introduced Go in 2009. With its new language, Mountain View set out to create a programming environment that’s easier and faster to use, without sacrificing efficiency. Programmers may need to wait until early 2012 for Go to launch out of experimental status, but you can buy that cute Gopher mascot (in furry plush form) over at the Google Store today.
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