WebOS is a mobile operating system developed by Palm in the last years before its collapse. It was sold to HP, who did very little with it. And despite a lot of rabid fans of the software, most people would tell you it was abandoned as iOS and Android swept the market. Instead, it was
sold to LG .
Smart Company reports
Palm's WebOS rides again as the software interface to a new wave of LG smart TVs . Over a million units have been sold so far, and LG research shows the market is in favor of the approach.
In-kyu Lee, vice president and head of LG Electronics' TV division, says the choice of webOS was driven by a choice of simplicity over "continuing to add more and more functions into our smart TVs that few people will ever use. Consumers seem to share our view that this is the right direction for the evolution of smart TVs going forward," Lee says.
Things are heating up at the high end again - a good thing, considering the growing need of supercomputers for intense number crunching in climate simulation, financial processing, and more.
Hewlett-Packard is taking on IBM in high-end supercomputers , the latest sign that H-P is doubling down on technology hardware while IBM pulls back from the market.
That's a big surprise coming from HP, whose recent financial tribulations have led some to wonder if
they'll even pull out of hardware all together .
Instead, HP is releasing two big systems: the Apollo 6000, consisting of a network of small machines, and the bigger, water-cooled Apollo 8000, which will compete with IBM and Cray for the prize. Whoever takes the prize, it will permit this latest round of super-charged computing power to allow guys
like this one to use research computers to mine bitcoin. Brilliant, dude.
Greetings - I'm one of the volunteer editors, and thought I'd take the liberty*** to poll readers
on what kind of articles we all find interesting . It's an "approval method" poll, so tick the box on any of the multiple subjects that interest you, and leave blank the ones you dislike. We'll see which topics rise to the surface (and which ones sink!)
The more I use the Pipedot interface the more I love it, especially given the competition. But a site like this is most interesting if it posts articles readers are interested in and that generate interesting and useful conversation (otherwise, what's the point?).
If you don't see a topic you'd like to discuss, just add it in the comments. Let's make Pipedot the first site you read in the morning. Having a better sense of what's interesting will help volunteer editors prioritize the best articles for submission. Thanks!
***"Take the liberty" means "didn't bother to ask Bryan." :)
Smart watches are evolving. After a somewhat inauspicious start and some missteps, manufacturers and designers are getting a better handle on what the market wants. Or what
I want, anyway.
Have a look at this new wristwatch from a company called Kairos . The Verge is reviewing it, and while it's not on the market yet, the combination of classic, mechanical wristwatch with a smart screen overlay looks phenomenal. The Verge points out Kairos is a start-up. Can they succeed where the big guns have failed?
One thing is certain about Android phones and tablets: it keeps getting cheaper to have one. HP has thrown itself into the fray with a
$99 tablet boasting some mediocre specs and a great price tag:
The tablet rocks specs not that much better than HP's ill-fated Palm TouchPad. The 7-inch screen has a resolution of 1024 x 600 and the package is powered by an Allwinner Technology A31 SoC that features four Cortex A7 cores clocked at 1 GHz along with a Power VR SGX544MP2 GPU and 1GB of RAM. But it's only $99.
Get one now for cheap, so when they release Android 5 ("Lollipop") you can cash in on all the rumored
new features , like fitness links, upgrades to security, audio, and video, and
Project Hera , "Google's effort to unify the Chrome browser with Android and Search."
May 18th is international
Bitcoin Pizza Day . From ABC:
The first Bitcoin transaction, according to Internet lore, was for two Papa John's pizzas delivered to a guy in Florida named Laszlo Hanyecz, who ponied up 10,000 bitcoin (about $30) in exchange for the pies.
"It was a good pizza," Hanyecz, 32, told ABC News today.
More than one company is now trying to
make a big deal out of Bitcoin Pizza Day to drum up some business, increase demand for Bitcoins, and sell pizza. Eat a nice, cheesy slice while you ponder the ramifications of
Gitchain , the "unholy matrimony of Bitcoin and Github." With weird science like this,
Cthulhu can only be days away ...
Hey, what the heck? There aren't enough submissions in the Pipedot queue? I'm outta here! (storms out of the room) #iamgoogle This is a lesson in how to make a hashtag out of yourself (and make a fool of yourself, too). Read the NYPost article and find descriptions of this guy that include "boor, mean, inconsiderate, smug, self-important, jerk, hissy-fit, and of course, douchenozzle.
Nice work, Scott Jenson, Google executive.
If you haven't heard of Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, before today then you have potentially not been reading the news. The New York Times published an introspective yesterday and the blogosphere has caught fire speculating on the implications of Cook's less hands-on approach to management , if his leadership of Apple will return the company to the hyper-growth the investors are all hoping for, and lastly, if and when Apple will produce an iWatch .