Computers and hardware

Using a dairy farm to power your server farm

What do 10,000 cows and diesel generators have in common?

Both have the ability to power a 1-megawatt data center. Diesel generators are already used for this purpose at some data center sites, though the energy source is not very environmentally friendly. On the other hand, 10,000 cows grazing a dairy farm produce 20,000 metric tons of manure each year that can be turned into methane gas and eventually electrical power.

That's according to researchers from HP Labs, who are presenting a paper on these findings at the ASME International Conference on Energy Sustainability in Phoenix … Read more

HP: WebOS headed to Internet-connected printers

When Hewlett-Packard announced its intentions to acquire Palm for $1.2 billion a few weeks ago, the company had big things in mind for Palm's WebOS. On Tuesday during the conference call for HP's second-quarter 2010 earnings, CEO Mark Hurd revealed some additional detail on the company's plans for the mobile OS.

HP will acquire Palm "in order to enhance our intellectual property...in the connected-mobility space. We expect to leverage WebOS into a variety of form factors, including slates and Web-connected printers," Hurd said Tuesday.

"With a whole series of Web-connected printers, as … Read more

Acer: No Chrome OS device from us at Computex

It's going to be a bit longer until we see a major PC maker using Google's operating system.

Last week VentureBeat reported that Acer would show a device running Chrome OS at Computex, the big Taipei, Taiwan, IT show, and cited multiple sources. It seemed on track with the company chairman's predictions from late last year. But then on Monday, Acer refuted the story.

Acer released a statement that it "has no short-term plans for such a product." It added that "Acer is naturally interested in any product or service that enhances the overall … Read more

RIM tablet said to be 'companion device'

So that RIM tablet? It's not going to be a tablet in the standard sense.

Boy Genius Report said on Thursday that it confirmed with multiple sources that the upcoming Research In Motion tablet will be a "companion device." Where have you heard that before? Oh right: The ill-fated Palm Foleo. The "best idea" Palm founder Jeff Hawkins' ever had that was canceled after its announcement but before a single product was ever shipped.

Why did Palm cancel the Foleo? For the same reason RIM will find out soon enough: companion devices don't really … Read more

Report: Acer's Chrome OS device ready for Computex

The first Chrome OS-based device will be introduced by Acer in two weeks, according to a report by VentureBeat Thursday.

The tech blog cites "multiple sources" saying that Acer will show Chrome OS "devices" at Computex Taipei, a yearly computer and electronics show, which opens June 1. The report doesn't specify what kind of devices.

But Chrome OS, which was introduced by Google last year, is designed to work on Netbooks, smartbooks, and tablets. Acer said in December that it would have a Chrome OS Netbook ready for mid-2010, so VentureBeat's report certainly tracks … Read more

HP Labs sees a great future in plastics

Hewlett-Packard makes 65 million devices every year that sport a glass display.

That--the glass part, at least--is coming to an end in the next decade, according to Carl Taussig, the head of HP Labs' Information Surfaces Lab.

"In 10 years, glass will be as much a memory of displays as cathode ray tubes (CRTs) are today," Taussig said during a tour of his lab Friday.

So why plastic? Because plastic substrates--and their manufacturing process--are cheaper than the glass substrates currently used to make your laptop display or monitor. The thin films of plastic they're using are 40 … Read more

Make your own keyboard shortcuts

Little-known keyboard shortcuts boost Word productivity

Whenever two or more people work on the same Microsoft Word document, there are bound to be formatting conflicts. This is especially true in organizations attempting to apply singular style conventions. Most of us rely on a mouse to make format changes in Word, but we can reformat Word docs just as easily using some of the program's more obscure keyboard shortcuts.

Back in 2008, I described how to copy and paste only a paragraph's formatting, not its text. Allen Wyatt's WordTips site provides a great list of keyboard shortcuts for altering a paragraph's spacing (Ctrl+… Read more

With Palm, HP reboots mobile strategy

With its purchase of Palm, Hewlett-Packard acquired more than just a smartphone maker. It also picked up a whole new strategy for its mobile devices.

HP said Wednesday it plans to acquire Palm for $1.2 billion, or $5.70 per share, which amounts to a 23 percent premium over Palm's actual stock price at the end of the day. But for a leading technology company like HP with almost zero mobile phone presence and $13.5 billion in cash, picking up a company with a fully developed mobile operating system, a decent lineup of devices, and trove of … Read more

HP buying Palm for $1.2 billion

Palm, the company that invented the PDA but has struggled to stay relevant in recent years, will be acquired by computing giant Hewlett-Packard.

Palm's history The company, which took the handheld computer into the mainstream, has traveled a bumpy road. Date Event November 1998 Jeff Hawkins and Donna Dubinsky leave Palm to start Handspring February 1999 Palm introduces the slimmer Palm V November 2001 Palm announces plans to split into two public companies June 2003 Palm buys Handspring Sept. 2005 Palm introduces its first Windows-based Treo June 2007 Palm introduces the ill-fated Foleo June 2007 Palm announces it is … Read more