Linux- Join the Movement

In past, i was never a Linux fan..Reasons were many: Win XP had just mesmerized me at that time..it was a Windows era completely in Desktop Computing, then the ease of installation of softwares, and indeed my refusal to acknowledge the power of Linux..

But with time, perceptions do change and now i believe thats Windows has some serious competition lying ahead in very near future. The stage is set where Linus Torvalds mind creation with the support of a large community of hard working Linux developers has reached a position where there is no looking backwards.

Its really astonishing that Linux provides everything for free for which people have to spend quite a bit of money to use one of the most famous OS legally speaking. The extensive set of free software support from a large number of repositories almost provide everything one can dream of. There were some doubts whether Linux would ever catch Windows or Mac in terms of Look and Feel but this doubt is dead now..

The GNOME and KDE desktop environment have come a long way in improving their looks, and with the arrival of Compiz 3D Graphics acceleration package using OpenGL..its a terrific combination. I dont want to go for any comparison but Linux provides a lot of tweaking in terms of effects and Look and Feel, and who is going to complain when one gets splendid effects for free...

So i sincerely believe that now its time for even the die-hard Windows fans to have a decent look towards Linux..it will only make you wonder with the power you will have! !

I hope that in some of my upcoming posts, i will be able to write more about Linux so that i can contribute to this great movement..Thanks alot for reading!!

NEW WORLD OF LCD'S AT IFA,BERLIN

This year IFA, BERLIN - World's largest Consumer Electronics trade fair witnessed a new plethora of quality range products that can be instrumental in changing the perspective of world in the field of entertainment. Various consumer electronics industries have launched their own versions of dynamic LCD televisions. Be it sound quality or Internet Tv or the size and dimensioning or design or any other aspect,these companies are outracing each other.


Here is a look at some of the eye-grabbing LCD products launched at this fair:

1) WORLD'S THINNEST LCD TV
Sony has announced what it claims is the world's thinnest LCD TV – just 9.9mm thick.Engineers have managed to do this by lighting the 40in Bravia ZX1 screen from the side by LEDs rather than the back.It uses Sony's 100Hz Motionflow technology to screen 100 frames per second – double the standard rate.It also supports 60GHz Wireless HD, so that HD pictures can be pumped to it without wires.
It is to bring to Europe for the first time its 11in Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) TV, the XEL-1.
OLED screens have previously been available only in small devices like mobile phones. They generate their own light and are therefore more efficient than standard LCDs, which work by blocking (and thus wasting) light.The XEL-1 is just 3mm thick and has a contrast ratio of more than a million to one.

2) YALOS: Diamond Encrusted LCD TV
Christened as ‘YALOS’ this diamond studded LCD TV is a real beauty unveiled at IFA 2008.
The striking beauty and the richness exuberated by the a white gold plating and no less than 160 diamonds making it to a minimum of 20 carats…makes YALOS a definite luxury gadget of the day. Not only does it shouts luxury from the face, but turn it around and you’ll witness an equally beautiful rear adorned by beautiful silver flowery pattern on a grey background. It comes along with a shining blue remote, beauty of which is accentuated by a diamonte student at the bottom. Though there’s no information about pricing, but it’s definitely going to be real expensive.

3) LCD Bluetoothitised By LG
LG Electronics is on the verge of launching a new range of LCD (liquid crystal display) and plasma TV sets in Europe that feature Bluetooth wireless networking, the company said Wednesday at the IFA electronics show in Berlin.
The feature, which is common on many portable products but hasn't yet caught on in the TV industry, can be used to send audio digitally through the air to a compatible pair of Bluetooth headphones. It also makes it possible to send still images from devices like cell phones to the TV, upon which the set displays the image on the screen.
LG demonstrated the feature at IFA with a 50-inch plasma TV that received and displayed a photo from a camera phone within moments of it being transmitted.
The TV set also has USB sockets into which consumers can connect devices such as USB hard-disk drives or memory cards. Once devices are inserted, the TV can display images as a slideshow and play MP3 audio tracks that are stored on the storage media.

4) Philips previews 8mm thick LCD
Philips Research is showing its thinnest 32in lcd at this year’s IFA show in Berlin. Featuring a 1mm light guide, the prototype is just 8mm thick. The ultra thin backlight technology is intended to allow tvs to be hung on walls more readily than they can be today.The approach involves a very thin light guide plate illuminated from the top and bottom by high power energy efficient leds. Using Philips’ patented light in coupling structure and a fine tuned outcoupling pattern, light can be distributed uniformly over the whole display area.

5) Philips launches world's fastest LCD and a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio
Philips released a 42-inch television using an LED backlighting system which boasts 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio and two-millisecond response time.The television, called LED LUX, claims it can deliver blacks that rival the best plasma televisions in the market – traditionally a weakness of LCD technology.
For more :http://www.current.com.au/2008/08/29/article/OOUNQDBBDF.html

6) Samsung Introduces "Seamless Experience"
Several industry leading, cutting edge products have been released at IFA, including a 200Hz LCD TV (40, 46, 52 inch) with Samsung Electronics' advanced LCD technology, a 52 inch ultra slim LCD TV with a thickness of just one inch, a 3,840*2,160 resolution 82-inch QFHD (Quadruple full-high definition) TV, and a 31-inch OLED TV based on Samsung SDI's OLED panel.
A further highlight in the TV lineup was the new Series 9 LCD TVs (46 and 55-inch) which has Smart LED technology and Samsung's Ultra Clear Panel to express perfect blacks and ultimate contrast ratios. The unit's special local dimming feature also dramatically reduces electricity consumption.

7) Sharp Unveils Its Thinnest LCD TVs Yet

Sharp has developed a new range of LCD (liquid crystal display) TVs that are thinner and have larger screens than its previous thinnest televisions.
The Aquos XS1-series is due on the market in Europe in October and measures 23 millimeters at its thinnest point.Sharp managed to slim down its LCD TV by removing the tuner to a stand-alone box and by employing an LED (light emitting diode) backlight system. The panels used in the TV sets have a contrast ratio of 1 million-to-one so black areas of the video image are deep black rather than the grey they sometimes appear on other panels.
The TVs are energy efficient too and reduce power consumption by adjusting screen brightness based on the ambient light where they are being used.

At 23 millimeters the sets aren't nearly as thin as the 9.9 millimeter LCD that Sony launched earlier on Thursday. But Sony's set only comes in a 40-inch screen size while the Sharp sets will be 52-inch and 65-inch models, so they won't be directly competing in the same parts of the TV market.

8) Sharp Shows Carbon-neutral Big-screen TV
If you own a big-screen TV, you may have some inkling about the amount of energy that goes into powering it. And while LCD TV’s use significantly less energy than plasma screens, these power-suckers are still nothing to scoff at.
Well, Sharp is presenting an environmentally friendly way to watch television at this year's IFA electronics show in Berlin.
The company says solar-panel and LCD (liquid crystal display) television technology is at the stage where a single panel can provide enough energy to power the TV for four and a half hours per day with no additional electricity required from the grid.
Sharp is one of the world's largest manufacturers of solar panels for electricity generation and on its stand at IFA it's showing a polycrystalline-type panel that is capable of generating 200kWh (kilowatt hours) per year of electricity. That corresponds to the same amount of energy used by its LC-52XS1E television, a 52-inch model that was introduced at IFA, if it's used 4.5 hours per day, which is the average amount of time a Japanese household spends watching TV each day.


Well, no doubt that there’s a battle of TV thinness going on right now at the world’s largest consumer electronics show, across the pond at IFA in Berlin, where manufacturers continue the war started last January at CES. The idea is, these are called “flat panels” for a reason, and the company whose TV is the flattest wins. Who knows where this flatness level reaches ?

By the way, is there anything left for the Plasmas for their survival ??

Google's Browser Chromatized !!!!

With the launch of Google's Chrome, came new bugs and their corresponding fixes. By the time the browser reaches a standard level enough to gain a user's belief of making it as a default one, the following link is worth mentioning and reading. The latter presents an excellent insider information about how Google Chrome was designed. So, start your chrome experience with this good reader: http://www.google.com/googlebooks/chrome/