X-bit labs

Friday, February 25, 2005

Perhaps, a Step Closer to Truly All Day Wireless Computing. Millennium Cell to Show Hydrogen-Powered Laptop at Intel Developers Forum

Notebooks have come a long way from being bulky and helpless calculators to desktop replacement computers with long battery life and wireless Internet capability. From the very first to the very latest mobile computers, battery life has always been a significant issue. Loads of logic developers work on reducing power-consumption of chips, another plethora of  developers tend to make batteries more capacious to power notebooks for longer time. One of the opportunities to significantly increase battery life of computers is to use hydrogen power elements. Whether it is really a viable case is another issues, nonetheless.

“The fuel supply is contained in a sealed, single use cartridge similar in size and shape to a traditional battery pack, with the flat-panel passive fuel cell affixing to the back of the PC’s screen,” explains a report at EE Times.

• EE Times: Millennium Cell to Show Hydrogen-powered Laptop at Intel Forum.

iPod Being Tailored for PC, Windows Users. Apple Takes a Step Away From FireWire

Apple Computer, who helped to develop the IEEE1394 interconnection standard known as FireWire by users of Mac computers, is excluding FireWire cable out of the bundle of the popular iPod player. Even though USB connection can satisfy both Mac and PC users, some feel a bit annoyed with the move. Still, the decision indicates growing popularity of the iPod among PC users and shows the company’s commitment to volume customers.

“With the latest crop of iPods, Apple is no longer including a FireWire cable in the box. The music players will still work with FireWire, if a cord is purchased separately, but only a USB 2.0 cable comes with the device. The move is part of a gradual shift on Apple’s part to standardize the iPod on USB, which is far more common in the Windows world,” claims an article at CNET News.com

There is a clear economical reason for Apple to include only USB cable in the product package.

“It’s more cost efficient to ship with one cable rather than two, and USB is more broadly supported on both platforms, FireWire, it ships on some PCs, but not the vast majority,” said IDC analyst Susan Kevorkian.

Not all things came smooth for Apple with its iPod shipment changes.

“Some Mac owners were rankled by the move, saying that as recently as a year or two ago many Macs didn’t include a USB 2.0 port. As of Wednesday night, more than 1,300 people had signed an online petition calling on Apple to again include a FireWire cable with iPods,” continues the article over CNET News.com.

“[I] felt a little betrayed.” explained Gary Reich, an Annapolis, Md.-based boating publication editor and owner of three Macs, who launched the petition.

• CNET News.com: Apple Takes a Step Away From FireWire.