It looks like Dell is planning to release a mobile internet device, or a MID. The details are few and far between but the product—code-named Streak—looks like it packs Wi-Fi, 3G and Android 2.0 all into one. It is exactly what Intel has been calling a mobile internet device for the past few years: larger than a smartphone, primarily for accessing the Net, and featuring multimedia and even GPS functionality. The Archos 5 Internet Tablet and the leaked video of the Dell device gives us a better glimpse of what is to come and what it can do. Ironically (and you will see why later), when I watched the video I immediately thought: ah, so Dell wants to make an iPhone with a larger 5-inch screen!
Don’t tell Dell, but Apple also seems to have another mobile internet device brewing in Cupertino. That would be the rumored Apple tablet that is expected to have a larger screen than the iPhone (talk is about 10.2 inches ) and, if you think like an Apple diehard, it will completely change the way we look at the future of the tech universe. Truth is we don’t know what the Apple tablet does or what it looks like. We don’t know a thing about its connectivity or its main purpose, but we do know that, unlike the MIDs that Dell and others are releasing, it won’t try and compete with the iPhone or the iPod Touch, for that matter.
Of course, Apple makes the iPhone and wouldn’t want to compete with its own product but, luckily for the company, there is no need to try and compete with it. The popularity of the latest generation of smartphones, including the iPhone, Palm Pre and now the Motorola Droid, has confirmed that people prefer having a single device – a phone bred with ubiquitous Internet connectivity and applications. Consumers want to be able to get the information they need on-the-go without having to carry multiple devices. We left our PDAs back in the 90s!
As far as I am concerned, people want either a smaller phone or an accompanying device that is more versatile and can be used for the jobs their phones cannot handle. Not tweener devices. This is what netbooks have taught us. And though we don’t know much about Apple’s tablet I am fairly certain it will follow similar thinking. Sure, it won’t be a netbook as we know it today, but it will fill a void between Apple’s iPhone (and Touch) and its Macbook line. The larger screen device will be for content consumption, including the ability to visit Websites and read content. (Rumors are that Apple is teaming up with media organizations and publishers). It will likely run applications, whether on an iPhone OS or a full fledged version of OSX. I suspect that will allow for light content creation and sharing, like editing pictures with multitouch gestures or typing using the virtual keyboard. But this column is about what I think about the Apple will and won’t do.
Funny enough, it has been reported that Dell and Intel were actually working on a similar tablet-like device that would also be focused on digital content and Internet connectivity. While it is too early to say what the core purpose of these tablets will be, they will fill the void between smartphones and laptops much better than the mysterious MIDs. What I know is that Dell, you seem to be on a winning streak with the Dell Adamo XPS. Let’s not mess that up with a losing “Streak” or with a MID that’s reminiscent of the unsuccessful kinds we already have today.
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Update | 11:19 p.m. Made slight clarifications throughout.
Hundreds of daily updates come from friends on Facebook and Twitter, but do people actually feel closer to each other?
It turns out the size of the average American’s social circle is smaller today than 20 years ago, as measured by the number of self-reported confidants in a person’s life. Yet contrary to popular opinion, use of cellphones and the Internet is not to blame, according to a new study released Wednesday by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.
In fact, people who regularly use digital technologies are more social than the average American and more likely to visit parks and cafes, or volunteer for local organizations, according to the study, which was based on telephone interviews with a national sample of 2,512 adults living in the continental United States.
The study found some less-than-social behavior, however. People who use social networks like Facebook or Linkedin are 30 percent less likely to know their neighbors and 26 percent less likely to provide them companionship.
Pew asked questions that would get at the heart of the link between social isolation in America and use of digital technologies, with an eye toward debunking earlier thinking that suggested technology caused people to hole up in their pajamas or lose some friendships.
Two years ago, a General Social Survey hypothesized that the average American was feeling more socially isolated because of the rise of the Internet and cellphones. That study found that from 1985 to 2004, the number of intimate friendships people reported dropped from three to two.
The Pew report confirmed those findings. But it also deflated other data in the previous study that indicated the number of people saying they had no one to confide in had nearly tripled from 1985 to 2004. Pew reported that only 6 percent of the American population fell into that category of isolation — with no significant change over the last 25 years.
The circle of close friends for mobile phone users tends to be 12 percent larger than for nonusers. People who share online photos or instant messages have 9 percent larger social circles than nonusers.
Pew also confirmed that Americans’ social networks were becoming less diverse, defined as relationships with people from different backgrounds. But on average, the social circles of cellphone and instant-message users were more diverse than those of nonusers.
“We identified Internet use, and especially using social networks, contributes to having more diverse social networks,” said Keith Hampton, lead researcher for the report and an assistant professor of communication at the University of Pennsylvania.
The study also found that people still prefer face-to-face communication as the primary means to stay in touch with friends and family (people see loved ones in person an average of 210 days a year). Respondents said that they were in touch via mobile phone an average of 195 days a year.
Corsair revealed their very first PC chassis today at Computex. It’s called the Obsidian Series 800D and it can support a full tower that can hold 5 5.25-inch hard drives and 6 3.5-inch hard drives all within its steel frame.
The chassis itself is finished in matte black and has a brushed aluminum faceplate. There’s support for ATX, Extended ATX and micro ATX as well as hot-swappable SATA bays in the chassis’ tool-less frame.
You can install fans in seven different positions including a 140mm fan that goes in the SATA bay. The power supply also has a dedicated intake and exhaust fan, plus you can place 120mm fans in the ceiling, if you wish. You can get the Obsidian Series 800D from Corsair starting in July for $299.
Boasting a new “intelligent” technology called Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) which can work seamlessly with other entertainment devices. This feature also allows people to share their digital media faster and more conveniently to others. Also included is an Ethernet port which is not a common feature in LCDs. Together, they allow direct MP3 and JPEG playback from a variety of USB devices as well as DLNA-certified media servers in your home network.
