Internet retailer Amazon.com (AMZN) may need to write a new chapter for the Kindle in the face of fierce competition from Apple's iPad.
Since Apple (AAPL) announced on Jan. 27 that it would sell a versatile tablet computer that lets users read electronic books and perform a range of other computing tasks, analysts have said the iPad would likely take a bite out of sales of dedicated e-book readers such as Amazon's popular Kindle. In light of Apple's Apr. 8 announcement that it sold 450,000 iPads in less than a week, Wall Street analysts are already slicing their forecasts for Kindle sales.
Charlie Wolf, a senior analyst at Needham & Co. who has a "buy" rating on Apple shares, on Apr. 9 cut his forecast for Kindle sales this year, settling on a range from 2.5 million to 3 million units, in place of a previous forecast of 3.6 million units. Wolf estimates that Amazon sold 2.2 million Kindles in 2009. "It's not a compelling product," he says of the Kindle, because Apple's iPad offers more features, such as the ability to play video, plus a more compelling design.
Piper Jaffray (PJC) analyst Gene Munster, who has an "overweight" rating on Amazon shares, cut his 2010 forecast for Kindle sales by 400,000 units, to 3.45 million. Amazon's top-of-the-line Kindle DX, which is designed to let users read e-books on a black-and-white screen, is selling for $489, just $10 less than Apple's least-expensive iPad.
The iPad starts at $499 for a model with 16 gigabytes of storage, a color touchscreen, and a library of 60,000 e-books. It also affords users the ability to watch videos, listen to music, and run a wide variety of applications. "No one in their right mind is going to buy a Kindle DX," says Munster.
consumers dumping Kindles for iPads
To keep pace with consumers' heightened expectations about what a tablet-style computer should do, Amazon may need to lower the Kindle's price or introduce such new features as a color screen to make the device more compelling, analysts say.
Many iPad buyers seem poised to use them as e-reader replacements. On Apr. 3, the day the tablet went on sale, Piper Jaffray surveyed 448 customers in line at Apple's New York and Minneapolis stores. Ten percent of prospective buyers said they had considered a Kindle but decided instead to buy an iPad. And 58% of the respondents who already owned Kindles said they planned to stop using them in light of their iPad purchase.
Munster recommends that Amazon drop prices by $100 on its smaller Kindle reader, which costs $259 and sports a 6-in. screen, as well as on the Kindle DX, which has a 9.7-in. screen. "If they lower the Kindle's price, it'll survive," says Munster. "If they don't, it won't."
Susan Kevorkian, an analyst at market researcher IDC, says Amazon needs to update the Kindle with a color screen and replace its buttons with touchscreen capabilities. "They absolutely need a color screen—the sooner the better," she says. Earlier this year, Amazon acquired Touchco, a company that makes touchscreen technology.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
A Milestone for Cheaper Solar
A Milestone for Cheaper Solar
1366 Technologies demonstrates its efficient process for making solar cell wafers.
By Kevin Bullis
President Barack Obama wants the United States to develop a solar industry, but it's tough for new solar companies to compete against established players in China and Europe, which have already invested in manufacturing equipment and found ways to drive down costs. One away to get around this could be to invent new, and far cheaper manufacturing methods. Now one start-up, 1366 Technologies, has demonstrated just such a process to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, in Golden, CO.
Solar cell manufacturing today is a slow and convoluted process. First you use extremely expensive processing techniques to produce ultra-pure ingots of silicon, then you saw the ingots up into extremely thin wafers. In the process you throw out half of the silicon you took all that trouble to purify as sawdust. 1366 is developing a way to take the ultra pure silicon and make wafers without any sawing. It wastes less of the pricey material, and it's potentially much faster than other methods. This can increase the amount of solar cells you can make (which reduces overall costs). They're cagey about the details, but it seems to involve pouring out molten silicon.
About six months ago, NREL gave 1366 Technologies $500,000 to try to demonstrate the process. At the time, all they'd done is show that the technique works with tin. They were given a year to prove it worked with silicon, but they've already finished, demonstrating that the process can make small, 1-inch silicon wafers, which were used to fabricate solar cells that are more efficient than many of the solar cells currently on the market (so-called thin-film cells made of CdTe or amorphous silicon). The company is now scaling up the process to make 6-inch wafers, and working to improve the efficiency to about 16 percent, which would be competitive with crystalline solar cells from established manufacturers.
The technology is the invention of Emanuel Sachs, a professor of mechanical engineering at MIT. He previously came up with a technique for making wafers without sawing, but that process was much slower than the new one, and wasn't compatible with conventional solar cell fabrication equipment. The new process is compatible, and promises to be faster. It could reduce the cost of making wafers by over 70 percent, says Frank van Mierlo, the CEO of 1366.
1366 Technologies demonstrates its efficient process for making solar cell wafers.
By Kevin Bullis
President Barack Obama wants the United States to develop a solar industry, but it's tough for new solar companies to compete against established players in China and Europe, which have already invested in manufacturing equipment and found ways to drive down costs. One away to get around this could be to invent new, and far cheaper manufacturing methods. Now one start-up, 1366 Technologies, has demonstrated just such a process to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, in Golden, CO.
Solar cell manufacturing today is a slow and convoluted process. First you use extremely expensive processing techniques to produce ultra-pure ingots of silicon, then you saw the ingots up into extremely thin wafers. In the process you throw out half of the silicon you took all that trouble to purify as sawdust. 1366 is developing a way to take the ultra pure silicon and make wafers without any sawing. It wastes less of the pricey material, and it's potentially much faster than other methods. This can increase the amount of solar cells you can make (which reduces overall costs). They're cagey about the details, but it seems to involve pouring out molten silicon.
About six months ago, NREL gave 1366 Technologies $500,000 to try to demonstrate the process. At the time, all they'd done is show that the technique works with tin. They were given a year to prove it worked with silicon, but they've already finished, demonstrating that the process can make small, 1-inch silicon wafers, which were used to fabricate solar cells that are more efficient than many of the solar cells currently on the market (so-called thin-film cells made of CdTe or amorphous silicon). The company is now scaling up the process to make 6-inch wafers, and working to improve the efficiency to about 16 percent, which would be competitive with crystalline solar cells from established manufacturers.
The technology is the invention of Emanuel Sachs, a professor of mechanical engineering at MIT. He previously came up with a technique for making wafers without sawing, but that process was much slower than the new one, and wasn't compatible with conventional solar cell fabrication equipment. The new process is compatible, and promises to be faster. It could reduce the cost of making wafers by over 70 percent, says Frank van Mierlo, the CEO of 1366.
GM Still Waiting for the Volt's EPA Rating
The decision could be key to consumer acceptance.
GM provided an update to its Volt program today. Everything is on track to start selling the first of these electric vehicles by the end of the year, but the big remaining question is how the EPA will label the vehicle's fuel economy.
Engineers are still tweaking elements of the design, such as the aerodynamics, and finalizing the manufacturing process, both for the car and for the battery pack, which GM has decided to make itself.
One of the first test vehicles has over 20,000 miles on it, and the battery system seems to be working fine--with about a 20 percent variation on vehicle range depending on driving conditions. In nice weather and on flat ground, drivers can expect to get slightly more than the 40 mile electric range GM is promising (the car also has an on-board gasoline generator that extends the range once the battery is depleted). In bad weather, or while driving up steep hills, they will get considerably less--according to GM, heating the vehicle can take just as much energy as propelling it down the road. This summer 300 GM employees will test-drive the cars to find glitches that haven't shown themselves so far in the testing process.
The EPA has yet to label the vehicle's fuel economy though. Last year the company announced that the Volt will get 230 miles per gallon, an all but meaningless figure Since, for the first 40 miles, the car does doesn't use any gasoline at all. As long as you can recharge the battery every 40 miles, you can skip the gas station entirely.
After you run out of charge, however, the car becomes a hybrid, something more like the Toyota Prius, using the battery to store power captured during braking and to help the gas generator operate more efficiently. (Unlike the Prius, however, the wheels are always powered by electricity--after 40 miles, the electricity comes from the gasoline generator rather than energy stored in the battery.) In this mode, the fuel economy is going to be something like 50 miles per gallon. The 230 mpg figure was calculated by guessing how much drivers were likely to exceed the 40-mile, battery range.
The EPA is still trying to figure out how best to label the car. Andrew Farah, the Volt's chief engineer says that what the agency decides could be key to how consumers accept the vehicle. "They have to know what they're getting," he says.
GM provided an update to its Volt program today. Everything is on track to start selling the first of these electric vehicles by the end of the year, but the big remaining question is how the EPA will label the vehicle's fuel economy.
Engineers are still tweaking elements of the design, such as the aerodynamics, and finalizing the manufacturing process, both for the car and for the battery pack, which GM has decided to make itself.
One of the first test vehicles has over 20,000 miles on it, and the battery system seems to be working fine--with about a 20 percent variation on vehicle range depending on driving conditions. In nice weather and on flat ground, drivers can expect to get slightly more than the 40 mile electric range GM is promising (the car also has an on-board gasoline generator that extends the range once the battery is depleted). In bad weather, or while driving up steep hills, they will get considerably less--according to GM, heating the vehicle can take just as much energy as propelling it down the road. This summer 300 GM employees will test-drive the cars to find glitches that haven't shown themselves so far in the testing process.
The EPA has yet to label the vehicle's fuel economy though. Last year the company announced that the Volt will get 230 miles per gallon, an all but meaningless figure Since, for the first 40 miles, the car does doesn't use any gasoline at all. As long as you can recharge the battery every 40 miles, you can skip the gas station entirely.
After you run out of charge, however, the car becomes a hybrid, something more like the Toyota Prius, using the battery to store power captured during braking and to help the gas generator operate more efficiently. (Unlike the Prius, however, the wheels are always powered by electricity--after 40 miles, the electricity comes from the gasoline generator rather than energy stored in the battery.) In this mode, the fuel economy is going to be something like 50 miles per gallon. The 230 mpg figure was calculated by guessing how much drivers were likely to exceed the 40-mile, battery range.
The EPA is still trying to figure out how best to label the car. Andrew Farah, the Volt's chief engineer says that what the agency decides could be key to how consumers accept the vehicle. "They have to know what they're getting," he says.
Information technology
Information technology (IT) is "the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware", according to the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA).[1] IT deals with the use of electronic computers and computer software to convert, store, protect, process, transmit, and securely retrieve information.
Today, the term information has ballooned to encompass many aspects of computing and technology, and the term has become very recognizable. IT professionals perform a variety of duties that range from installing applications to designing complex computer networks and information databases. A few of the duties that IT professionals perform may include data management, networking, engineering computer hardware, database and software design, as well as the management and administration of entire systems. Information technology is starting to spread farther than the conventional personal computer and network technology, and more into integrations of other technologies such as the use of cell phones, televisions, automobiles, and more, which is increasing the demand for such jobs.
When computer and communications technologies are combined, the result is information technology, or "infotech". Information technology is a general term that describes any technology that helps to produce, manipulate, store, communicate, and/or disseminate information.
In recent days ABET and the ACM have collaborated to form accreditation and curriculum standards[2] for degrees in Information Technology as a distinct field of study separate from both Computer Science and Information Systems. SIGITE[3] is the ACM working group for defining these standards.
Today, the term information has ballooned to encompass many aspects of computing and technology, and the term has become very recognizable. IT professionals perform a variety of duties that range from installing applications to designing complex computer networks and information databases. A few of the duties that IT professionals perform may include data management, networking, engineering computer hardware, database and software design, as well as the management and administration of entire systems. Information technology is starting to spread farther than the conventional personal computer and network technology, and more into integrations of other technologies such as the use of cell phones, televisions, automobiles, and more, which is increasing the demand for such jobs.
When computer and communications technologies are combined, the result is information technology, or "infotech". Information technology is a general term that describes any technology that helps to produce, manipulate, store, communicate, and/or disseminate information.
In recent days ABET and the ACM have collaborated to form accreditation and curriculum standards[2] for degrees in Information Technology as a distinct field of study separate from both Computer Science and Information Systems. SIGITE[3] is the ACM working group for defining these standards.
History of software
History of software
A simple question: "What is software?" A very simple answer is: Hardware you can touch, software you can't. But that is too simple indeed.
But when talking about software you talk about programming and programming languages. But about producing and selling the products made by programming (languages) as well.
There are over 300 different ("common") computer languages in existence, apart from the various dialects stemming from one of them. Most of them can be classified in definable groups, but others don’t belong to anything. Some because they are rather new or the use of them was or is never wide spread and only used by a small specialized professionals or groups of scientists requiring these dialects. This is often the case with a specific language that was designed for just one purpose, e.g. telecommunication or supercomputing.
Some languages are even dead languages, some others are revived and expanded upon again, and there are ones that constantly rejuvenate. In the latter case a programmer is sometimes wondering whether he or she is not just upgrading to a newer version but instead learning a complete new language.
A simple question: "What is software?" A very simple answer is: Hardware you can touch, software you can't. But that is too simple indeed.
But when talking about software you talk about programming and programming languages. But about producing and selling the products made by programming (languages) as well.
There are over 300 different ("common") computer languages in existence, apart from the various dialects stemming from one of them. Most of them can be classified in definable groups, but others don’t belong to anything. Some because they are rather new or the use of them was or is never wide spread and only used by a small specialized professionals or groups of scientists requiring these dialects. This is often the case with a specific language that was designed for just one purpose, e.g. telecommunication or supercomputing.
Some languages are even dead languages, some others are revived and expanded upon again, and there are ones that constantly rejuvenate. In the latter case a programmer is sometimes wondering whether he or she is not just upgrading to a newer version but instead learning a complete new language.
Desktop & Laptop Computers
Desktop Computers
Desktop computers or personal computers (PC) are intended for home or office use. Personal computers or PCs are a mainstay in today's society. Desktops, as they are popularly known, can be used for various purposes like document processing, playing PC games, Email and browsing the Internet. Business applications can range from process management applications, desktop publishing, graphic design to software and web development. The desktop computer comprises of an externally attached computer keyboard, mouse, computer monitor and a processor unit called CPU. The desktop themes, wallpapers, backgrounds and desktop virtual pets are quiet popular and can give a more personalized touch to the personal computers.
History of Laptop Computers
It is a little hard to determine what was the first portable or laptop computer, the first portable computers did not look like the book-sized and folding laptops that we are familiar with today, however, they were both portable and lapable, and lead to the development of notebook style laptops.
Desktop computers or personal computers (PC) are intended for home or office use. Personal computers or PCs are a mainstay in today's society. Desktops, as they are popularly known, can be used for various purposes like document processing, playing PC games, Email and browsing the Internet. Business applications can range from process management applications, desktop publishing, graphic design to software and web development. The desktop computer comprises of an externally attached computer keyboard, mouse, computer monitor and a processor unit called CPU. The desktop themes, wallpapers, backgrounds and desktop virtual pets are quiet popular and can give a more personalized touch to the personal computers.
History of Laptop Computers
It is a little hard to determine what was the first portable or laptop computer, the first portable computers did not look like the book-sized and folding laptops that we are familiar with today, however, they were both portable and lapable, and lead to the development of notebook style laptops.
Pentium Microprocessor
Pentium Microprocessor
A 32-bit microprocessor introduced by Intel in 1993. It contains 3.3 million transistors, nearly triple the number contained in its predecessor, the 80486 chip. Though still in production, the Pentium processor has been superseded by the Pentium Pro and Pentium II microprocessors. Since 1993, Intel has developed the Pentium III and more recently the Pentium 4 microprocessors.
Choosing a microprocessor
The microprocessor or central processing unit (CPU) is the most important part of your computer. If you are building or upgrading your personal computer (PC), then follow these steps to help you choose the best microprocessor for your needs.
Instructions
Things You'll Need:
* Microprocessor specifications
* Motherboard specifications
Step 1
Evaluate how you plan to use your computer. A computer used primarily for surfing the Internet and homework does not need the processing speed or power that a gaming or multimedia computer does.
Step 2
Consult your budget. Intel-brand microprocessors are more expensive than AMD microprocessors.
Step 3
Compare microprocessor clock speeds. The clock speed determines how fast your computer will run. The Intel Pentium 4 and AMD Athlon microprocessors have speeds averaging 2.0 gigahertz. The Intel Celeron and AMD Duron operate at lower speeds.
Step 4
Compare microprocessor cache memory. Cache memory keeps data readily available for when the CPU needs it. A larger cache size stores more data.
Step 5
Pay attention to the bus speeds. A higher bus speed allows your microprocessor to communicate with the rest of your computer faster.
Step 6
Make sure the microprocessor's slot or socket size matches that of your computer's motherboard. You can't use a microprocessor that does not fit in your computer.
A 32-bit microprocessor introduced by Intel in 1993. It contains 3.3 million transistors, nearly triple the number contained in its predecessor, the 80486 chip. Though still in production, the Pentium processor has been superseded by the Pentium Pro and Pentium II microprocessors. Since 1993, Intel has developed the Pentium III and more recently the Pentium 4 microprocessors.
Choosing a microprocessor
The microprocessor or central processing unit (CPU) is the most important part of your computer. If you are building or upgrading your personal computer (PC), then follow these steps to help you choose the best microprocessor for your needs.
Instructions
Things You'll Need:
* Microprocessor specifications
* Motherboard specifications
Step 1
Evaluate how you plan to use your computer. A computer used primarily for surfing the Internet and homework does not need the processing speed or power that a gaming or multimedia computer does.
Step 2
Consult your budget. Intel-brand microprocessors are more expensive than AMD microprocessors.
Step 3
Compare microprocessor clock speeds. The clock speed determines how fast your computer will run. The Intel Pentium 4 and AMD Athlon microprocessors have speeds averaging 2.0 gigahertz. The Intel Celeron and AMD Duron operate at lower speeds.
Step 4
Compare microprocessor cache memory. Cache memory keeps data readily available for when the CPU needs it. A larger cache size stores more data.
Step 5
Pay attention to the bus speeds. A higher bus speed allows your microprocessor to communicate with the rest of your computer faster.
Step 6
Make sure the microprocessor's slot or socket size matches that of your computer's motherboard. You can't use a microprocessor that does not fit in your computer.
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