Latest Inventions

posted by admin on Jun 27

It’s strange. Microsoft, with all it’s power, has been dragging along behind Google for some years now. It was really seen as the poor cousin in internet circles and most “serious” users opted to use Google for all their searches. From my experience the majority of users of Microsoft’s MSN.com or their rebranded Live.com search engine seem to have used it because it was easy - they either had MSN set as their home page or they used Hotmail regularly and so MSN was always to hand.

Personally, I’ve always used Google, primarily because of the quality of their results. A search on MSN or Live was a slow and inaccurate process that inevitably turned up all sorts of poor quality or irrelavent sites.

However Microsoft have recently rebranded their search engine *again* (how many times are they going to do it?!) in the form of Bing.com, which is being backed by a massive advertising campaign to promote the new site.

So, is it actually any good, or is it just MSN by another name?

I recently set out to test the search engine out for size, and I have to admit that Microsoft really have added some neat features.

But before I get to them, it’s worth mentioning that the search results that Bing spits out are far more accurate than before, and in my experience now rival Google’s for quality. So that’s a big move in the right direction.

But there are two other features which really jumped out at me when using Bing, which really add to the useability of the site.

Firstly, down the left hand side of the page, you will find a list of related searches, much like Google shows at the bottom of each page. Having them at the side, however, encourages more searching and, as with all long string keyword searches, will likely lead to more accurate search results.

Secondly, as you move your cursor over the search results, you are followed on the right hand side of the page by a small orange circle which shows a preview of the content on each page listed in the results.

This means you can see a snippet of the text *before* you click through, potentially meaning that you will not only find better sites far quicker than before, but also that junk sites will struggle to attract visitors based only on their search engine rankings.

So better search results, a preview feature and related searches all rolled into one. I personally am therefore quite impressed with Bing and while it will need to go further to beat Google, it is certainly a step in the right direction in my opinion.

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posted by admin on Jun 16

Hello again and welcome to the summer Latest Inventions Carnival.  I have split the articles into  3 groups for this one and they start with Gadgets!

Gadgets: 
Erika Collin kicks things off with 100 Awesome iTunes Feeds for Technology Junkies where you can find out a lot with very little effort.  Sarah Scrafford also saves you a load of time with another ‘100 tips’ in her 100 Apps to Turn Your iPhone into the Ultimate Personal Assistant.

Eric Van Haesendonck tries to make things easier as well with decisions on your next (or first) netbookHow to choose the best netbook computer?

Medical:
Dan offers up a debate on some new medical technology and patenting human body parts in Cancer Genes Patented - What this means for Innovation and Monopoly Power. Mike encourages further debate with a new technology instead with his article on the topic of Brain Stroke Clinical Trial Using Stem Cells

Nancy Miller follows on with a cheeky look at all the applications that can help you get fit! Here is her 50 Awesome iPhone Apps for Serious Athletes!

Eco Friendly:
Harold starts of the eco friendly posts with a way of working out your miles per gallon. We all have the tips for saving fuel and we need to - a car infront of me at the pumps put over twice the amount of fuel I need for a full tank! So he will certainly need the tips given here: What Factors Affect Your Car?s MPG Rating?

Brian young presents Blue-Ray Goes Green: Eco-Friendly Entertainment for the 21st Century. Bearing in mind how they are trying to sell themselves as better than other HD formats - they might just win with these green credentials!

Enjoy and don’t forget to add your feedback!

posted by admin on Jan 30

Is Asus Going Green?

I am getting myself my first netbook this week, and I have been checking out the options - although it seems as though Asus may well have won me over straight away with their new ‘green’ credentials.

Everything they say they are doing might not apply to the actual model that I buy, but I am warming to a company that is at the ‘action’ end of the spectrum when it comes to making technology more efficient and environmentally kinder.

Technology at the moment moves so fast that ‘new’ gadgets are often overtaken in a matter of weeks by the next ‘best thing’ creating a whole heap of waste. I mean, I know several people with a drawer full of spare mobiles and chargers sitting about as they get a new model every time they upgrade their package!

It’s such a waste of resources, so I’m glad to see that Asus are investing effort not only to make their products without damaging chemicals, they are also making them more durable and they have invested in a program to reclaim parts from your old laptops, etc, rather than have them end up in a landfill.

Apparently there is now more gold found in a tonne of modern electrical waste than in 17 tonnes of ore from a gold mine! Think how reusing our technology could save the worlds remaining resources from being destroyed. I can’t believe more companies can’t see the advantages to getting their resources free!

Efficient Running:
Asus claim that their technology can determine when your laptop needs less energy and adjust the flow into your machine. Many machines lose energy as heat when being used and this new technology claims to make them more the 96% power efficient.

Their Super-Hybrid Engine (SHE) claims to extend battery life by half again - and boost the laptops performance by a further 10% as well. With this in mind - this latest technology can reduce the carbon emissions of one laptop in a year by 12.3kgs.

Reduced Chemicals:
Asus claim that they have identified and removed 37 hazardous chemicals - including mercury and lead - from their products - (the current WEEE directives only ask for 6). They don’t say whether other manufacturers had that many in the first place, but they have also made their factories free of these chemicals too so that can’t be a bad thing for their employees!

They have also just launched their ‘Bamboo’ series of laptops that are coated in natural, sustainable bamboo rather than metal - one of the greenest gadgets in 2009 - further greening up it’s environmental credentials.

Eco Friendly:
They are also making sure that their suppliers are sticking to green methods as well - and they request a list of components and added ‘ingredients’ to make sure that their claims are not being thwarted by others.

Their staff are also getting ‘green training’ in the companies ethics and principles to make sure that everyone involved in the manufacturing process is aware of the how’s and the whys - the Facts.

Recycling:
Apparently they are designed with their dismantling in mind as the company was one of the first (in 2006) to introduce a free recycling service included in the purchase price.

Asus have already collected over 5500 unwanted PCs from customers and have been reusing the parts where possible and reclaiming the precious metals and technology from machines that cannot be repaired.

They also claim to have donated over 1000 usable computers to schools in disadvantaged communities as part of their ‘recycling’ package.

Conclusion:
Seeing as their netbooks, notepads, laptops and PCs have been winning awards all over the place for their usability and incorporated technologies, Asus seemed like a safe bet anyway.

But with their recent take on making their company more environmentally responsible, their products more environmentally friendly and their customers more environmentally aware - while keeping their prices totally competitive (from £149/$220 for the Eee Pc netbook) they are certainly going to be my first choice of laptop next week!

The more people like us that support their efforts - the more of a difference they can make. If other companies start to see their designs out-sold by Asus - they may well start to be more responsible too.

posted by admin on Oct 30

I’d not really heard of this manufacturer until I was looking for notebook computer for my travels, but now I know a bit more about them - I thought I would share it with you.

# Asus won 2,568 independent awards in 2007 - that’s 7 per day for the whole year.
# Asus ranked 4th in the Top Notebook manufacturers listings
# Asus offer a 2 year global warranty
# Asus shipped over 60 million motherboards last year - making 1 in 3 PC’s sold last year.

Here are some of their finest divided into groups.

Ultra Portable Laptops:
Asus offer several designs of notepads to suit your travelling and portable necessities.

Battery life is important in these, so the features you use will need their performance settings and energy-sapping features life BlueTooth switched off when not using them.

Asus U2E:
from £1199 - Steel & Leather outer - 11.1 inch screen (1.25kg)
Runs Genuine Windows Vista Business with 32GB Solid State Disc and Wi-Fi, USB and Bluetooth. It also has fingerprint security!

Asus U6:
from £849 - Stylish metal finish - 12.1 inch screen (1.57kg)
Runs Genuine Windows Vista Business with 4GB of RAM and 320GB hard drive. Has Wi-Fi HSDPA and Bluetooth. It also has fingerprint technology.

Professional Laptops:
With an impressive selection of features in sleek and chic packages - allowing you to work without compromise in any situation.

Asus R1:
from £1119 - Stylish metal finish - 13.3 inch wide-screen (1.98kg)
Runs Genuine Windows XP Tablet Edition with 250GB hard drive and 2GB of memory. With Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity and Intel Core 2 Duo processors.

Asus R50A:
from £899 - Modern palm held office assistant - 5.6 inch screen (520g)
Runs Genuine Windows Vista Business with 32GB hard drive and 1GB memory. With Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3.5g with HSDPA connectivity and built in GPS.

MultiMedia Laptops:
With great images needed and a lot of RAM and storage - these are great finds.

Asus M50:
from £899 - 15.4 inch screen (3.02kg)
With a 500GB HDD and a 4GB memory, you can run the nVidia GeForce 9600 with ease. With HD screen and Blueray drive.

Asus X50:
from $419 - 15.4 inch screen (2.8kg)
With a 250GB HDD and a 2GB memory, you can run the ATI HD3470 graphics easily. With DVD super multi DL drive and photo editing capabilities.

Gaming Laptops:
With exceptional graphics cards and fast action needed, these certainly pack a punch.

Asus G70:
from £1799 - 17 inch wide-screen
With a 640GB HDD and a 4GB memory, running the nVidia GeForce 8700M GT and using Intel Core 2 Duo.

Asus G50:
from £1349 - 17 inch wide-screen
With a 500GB HDD and a 4GB memory, running the nVidia GeForce 9700M GT and using Intel Centrino 2.

Asus are also launching their Asus EPU, a bamboo ecobook!!

Find out more at techinstyle.co.uk.

posted by admin on Oct 19

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