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Look and listen: Moblin's built-in media player worked extremely well in our tests.
John Brandon
The Moblin V2 user interface is built on Clutter, an open-source software library that provides easy access to several Web services. This means that it's possible to update your Twitter status or send instant messages directly from the desktop. Moblin also has a browser built on Google Chrome, plus a rudimentary music, photo, and video player.
The user interface still needs some work, though. One glitch is that, whenever a tool with a data-entry field was started, the cursor did not automatically move to that field--the user had to click it first. The Web browser also crashed repeatedly on all three systems and could not process a script in Gmail, which would sometimes cause an all-out system failure. On the Acer AspireOne, there was another problem: the netbook just could not resume after going into a sleep state. The screen would flash and appear for a moment but then go blank again.
The desktop shows a network icon in a drop-down task bar so that a user can select between a wired or wireless network connection. For some reason, Moblin did not support Wi-Fi on the Lenovo S10. (Intel says that the company is investigating the matter.) None of the Moblin installs on the three systems could recognize its built-in webcam, but audio, photo, and video playback worked flawlessly on all three systems.
Moblin supports a data-sync service; you can use Funambol, Memotoo, ScheduleWorld, or Synthesis to back up data, sync your calendar, and store contacts. Moblin V2 beta also includes three simple games (none of which use 3-D graphics), a calculator, a file browser, a terminal app, and a text editor.
There are a few oddities that might surprise Windows users. For example, in Moblin you can't just minimize a window. Instead, a user has to move apps to "zones" and switch between them.
But despite a few quirks and issues, the beta shows great promise. It's extremely fast, and it's one of the most up-to-date Linux distributions out there. It's certainly a good match for the netbook market, and it could yet become a popular OS.
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>>> very interesting OS for netbooks but not sure about its commercial future >>>
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the Windows-replacement OS for netbooks like Moblin or Android look very interesting but their commercial future is uncertain, since:
1. the price of a netbook with zero-price OS did not differ so much from an XP or Win 7 based netbook
2. the Linux-derived OS like Moblin or Android can't run 99% of the most popular commercial and free software that need Windows
3. the early Linux-based netbooks have ALREADY failed to win the battle against XP that, now, is installed on over 96% of the netbooks sold
4. the new Windows 7 starter version for netbooks will enlarge the gap with Linux netbook giving to all users the Vista features with the Linux speed and boot time
however, the Moblin and Android netbooks could have some commercial success if made with these specs:
- multicore ARM processors
- low cost SSD
- 9" display
- smaller dimension and weight
- very long battery time (at least 8 hours)
- and (very very important) a target price under $150 in USA and under EUR 100 in Europe
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the "news of the day" is the Microsoft Bing that's online two days before than planned
about Bing, I believe that Microsoft can't beat Google with it, so, MS will soon buy Yahoo! to do a "BingHOO!":
http://newgoos.blogspot.com/2009/05/why-bing-will-be-sold-for-1-in-2012.html
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Manufacturing in the United States is in trouble. That's bad news not just for the country's economy but for the future of innovation.
This document is part of the “How-To Guide for Most Common Measurements” centralized resource portal. This tutorial provides a detailed guide for measurement and device considerations to take temperature measurements using thermocouples. Get an introduction to thermocouples, which are inexpensive sensing devices widely used with PC-based data acquisition systems. Also review some specific thermocouple examples and learn how thermocouples work and ways to integrate them into a data acquisition measurement system.
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georgelu
1 Comment
Is there really necessary for netbook
The notion between mobile phone and computer, especially the laptop, will become vague in next several years.
As I see it, the netbook only is a temporary substitute for people who want easy access to Internet and easy-usage features.
The mobile phone is ultimately the trend.
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