Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Wireless Skype Phones
We have all used or heard of Skype one way or another. Headphones and microphones plugged into the soundcard. Then came the headsets. Now, actual phones for use with Skype. Some of these are now wireless, which does not tie us down to our PCs or laptops.
The online retailer Best Skype Phones has three different phones on offer. All connect to the PCs or laptops through the USB port. Very easy to use, just install the software provided with the phone and you are off and away. The wireless skype phone with the USB dongle actually uses wireless technology (WiFi). This gives greater freedom for the user.
I managed to test this phone with MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk and AOL Instant Messenger. Call quality was superb. However, a fast internet connection is recommended.
The online retailer Best Skype Phones has three different phones on offer. All connect to the PCs or laptops through the USB port. Very easy to use, just install the software provided with the phone and you are off and away. The wireless skype phone with the USB dongle actually uses wireless technology (WiFi). This gives greater freedom for the user.
I managed to test this phone with MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk and AOL Instant Messenger. Call quality was superb. However, a fast internet connection is recommended.
Friday, June 02, 2006
Hybrid Hard Drive Aims to Extend Laptop Battery Life
Samsung has built a new hybrid hard disk drive. This new hard disk has a flash memory chip built into the drive. A traditional hard disk will spin once the computer is turned on and will continue to so until the computer is switched off. This causes hard disk drives to be power hungry. In the case of laptops, this eats into the battery life very quickly.
Samsung Electronics is the world leader in advanced memory technology. It's OneNAND flash memory is incorporated into the design of Microsoft's prototype Hybrid Hard Disk Drive. Since 2003, Microsoft and Samsung have been working together to produce ultra-low power disk drives for laptops.
Traditionally, the disks spin whilst data is written to and read from. The flash memory has a write buffer and a boot buffer. Data is written to the flash memory and when the write buffer becomes full the disks are spun and is written to the drive from this buffer. The mechanical drive is spun down and is kept idle whilst data is written to the flash memory. This saves considerable power.
The CPU is able to read from and write to the flash memory at a higher rate. Booting up the computer is a much faster process as the CPU does not need to wait for the drive to be spun up to the optimum speed.
Consumers can expect a considerable power saving by using these hybrid hard disk drives.
Samsung Electronics is the world leader in advanced memory technology. It's OneNAND flash memory is incorporated into the design of Microsoft's prototype Hybrid Hard Disk Drive. Since 2003, Microsoft and Samsung have been working together to produce ultra-low power disk drives for laptops.
Traditionally, the disks spin whilst data is written to and read from. The flash memory has a write buffer and a boot buffer. Data is written to the flash memory and when the write buffer becomes full the disks are spun and is written to the drive from this buffer. The mechanical drive is spun down and is kept idle whilst data is written to the flash memory. This saves considerable power.
The CPU is able to read from and write to the flash memory at a higher rate. Booting up the computer is a much faster process as the CPU does not need to wait for the drive to be spun up to the optimum speed.
Consumers can expect a considerable power saving by using these hybrid hard disk drives.
