1. The new Chromebook, for everyone
As a kid growing up in India, I was fascinated with computers and the endless possibilities they presented. I had to wait until college to finally get my hands on one in the computer lab and since then began dreaming of a world where everyone could have access to one. We’re not quite there yet, but every day we get a bit closer.
A few years ago, we set out on a journey to build a better computer that’s faster, simpler and more secure. When we introduced a few Chromebooks into the market, many of you early adopters joined us on this journey. For folks living entirely in the cloud, the Chromebook is now a primary computer.
Many people use the Chromebook today as the perfect additional computer for their home. For families, it’s easy to use and share: for kids doing homework on the couch, parents catching up on emails at the kitchen counter and grandparents staying connected on video chat. There’s no need to worry about security updates and maintenance is easy; all you need to do is charge the battery. It just works.
This gets to the heart of the Chromebook vision. In order to have one, two or more computers around the house, they need to be easy to use and much more affordable. So together with Samsung, we designed a new laptop—the new Samsung Chromebook for $249—the computer for everyone.
The new Chromebook is a great computer at any price, but it’s an incredible computer at $249. It’s one of the lightest laptops on the market. You can easily carry it around all day—it’s 2.5 pounds, a mere 0.8 inches thick, with more than 6 hours of battery life for the typical user. And with 100 GB of free storage on Google Drive*, you can get to all of your stuff anytime, anywhere.
Even with its compact design, it’s packed with performance—it boots up in less than 10 seconds and resumes instantly. High-resolution videos (in 1080p) are beautiful to watch and when using the touchpad, you’ll notice smooth scrolling due to a hardware-accelerated user interface. And as you‘d expect from a Chromebook, it’s easy to share with others. Everyone—mom, dad, grandparents, tech lovers, tech haters—can have separate accounts where all of their stuff is kept safe. Finally, if you’re an active Google user of products like Gmail, Drive, Search, Maps, YouTube, Play or Google+ Hangouts, everything just works seamlessly.
Starting today, the new Samsung Chromebook is available for pre-order online from Amazon, Best Buy, PC World and other retailers. Next week it will be available for sale from these same online retailers as well as the Google Play store. You can also buy them at over 500 Best Buy stores across the U.S and over 30 PC World and Currys stores in the U.K.
So if you ever felt it was too complicated and too expensive to have an additional computer (or two), we hope you (and the entire family) will give the new Chromebook a try.
2. Google’s data centers: an inside look
Very few people have stepped inside Google’s data centers, and for good reason: our first priority is the privacy and security of your data, and we go to great lengths to protect it, keeping our sites under close guard. While we’ve shared many of our designs and best practices, and we’ve been publishing our efficiency data since 2008, only a small set of employees have access to the server floor itself.
Today, for the first time, you can see inside our data centers and pay them a virtual visit. On Where the Internet lives, our new site featuring beautiful photographs by Connie Zhou, you’ll get a never-before-seen look at the technology, the people and the places that keep Google running.
In addition, you can now explore our Lenoir, NC data center at your own pace in Street View. Walk in the front door, head up the stairs, turn right at the ping-pong table and head down the hall to the data center floor. Or take a stroll around the exterior of the facility to see our energy-efficient cooling infrastructure. You can also watch a video tour to learn more about what you're viewing in Street View and see some of our equipment in action.
Finally, we invited author and WIRED reporter Steven Levy to talk to the architects of our infrastructure and get an unprecedented look at its inner workings. His new story is an exploration of the history and evolution of our infrastructure, with a first-time-ever report from the floor of a Google data center.
Fourteen years ago, back when Google was a student research project, Larry and Sergey powered their new search engine using a few cheap, off-the-shelf servers stacked in creative ways. We’ve grown a bit since then, and we hope you enjoy this glimpse at what we’ve built. In the coming days we’ll share a series of posts on theGoogle Green Blog that explore some of the photographs in more detail, so stay tuned for more!
3. New Apple iMac 2012 Meta Hands-On: People Are Psyched
.jpg)
One of the happy surprises from Apple’s event today was the new iMac. Now that the dust has settled people are putting their grubby blogger-paws all over that shiny, pristine monolith. Guess what, it’s like, suuuuper thin!
4. What Is Apple Fusion Drive?
While introducing the new ridiculously thin iMac, Apple also revealed the new Fusion Drive. What is it? It’s a new storage system that supposedly combines the best of SSD and HDD. Basically, the speed of a SSD with the storage space of a big, spinning HDD.
5. Deducing details about Apple's A6X processor
As usual, Apple didn't share many specifics about its new A6 "Extreme" (A6X) processor, which powers the fourth-generation iPad. However, by looking at Apple's claims that it's "twice as fast" as the A5X-powered third-gen iPad, it may be possible to deduce what's inside.
According to Apple, the A6X processor "delivers up to twice the CPU and graphics performance of the A5X chip." In other words, the dual-core CPU can process data twice as fast as the dual-core 1GHz, Cortex A9-based A5X. It can also churn through OpenGL triangles and textures at twice the rate of the PowerVR SGX543MP4 in the A5X. So how did Apple do that?
Looking at CPU power for the moment, we already know that Apple designed a custom ARM-based core for the A6. Running at 1.2GHz in the iPhone 5, two A6 cores run twice as fast as two 800MHz A5 cores in an iPhone 4S.
6. Hands-on with the thumb-able iPad mini and the ultrathin iMac
We're sure you're aware of the new iPad mini that Apple introduced in San Jose on Tuesday. The device sports a 7.9" screen and starts at $329 for the 16GB Wi-Fi version—about $129 more than competing 7" Android tablets. Apple claims it didn't want to just shrink down the full-sized iPad, though; instead, it started over and designed a new, smaller iPad from scratch.
Ars went hands-on with the device after Tuesday's event.
Indeed, it's a smaller version of the iPad, but in use, the iPad mini doesn't "seem" significantly smaller. Apple claims you can hold the device with one hand, which may be technically true for some of our larger-handed readers. For me, it was just barely doable, but still possible.
7. Tablet wars! Google's Nexus 10 Could Break the 300 PPI Barrier
Apple's rumored to release an iPad mini today. Microsoft's Surface RT ships on Friday. Does Google have an uber-tablet waiting in the wings that will trump both of them? Rumors point to yes.
As a kid growing up in India, I was fascinated with computers and the endless possibilities they presented. I had to wait until college to finally get my hands on one in the computer lab and since then began dreaming of a world where everyone could have access to one. We’re not quite there yet, but every day we get a bit closer.
A few years ago, we set out on a journey to build a better computer that’s faster, simpler and more secure. When we introduced a few Chromebooks into the market, many of you early adopters joined us on this journey. For folks living entirely in the cloud, the Chromebook is now a primary computer.
Many people use the Chromebook today as the perfect additional computer for their home. For families, it’s easy to use and share: for kids doing homework on the couch, parents catching up on emails at the kitchen counter and grandparents staying connected on video chat. There’s no need to worry about security updates and maintenance is easy; all you need to do is charge the battery. It just works.
This gets to the heart of the Chromebook vision. In order to have one, two or more computers around the house, they need to be easy to use and much more affordable. So together with Samsung, we designed a new laptop—the new Samsung Chromebook for $249—the computer for everyone.
The new Chromebook is a great computer at any price, but it’s an incredible computer at $249. It’s one of the lightest laptops on the market. You can easily carry it around all day—it’s 2.5 pounds, a mere 0.8 inches thick, with more than 6 hours of battery life for the typical user. And with 100 GB of free storage on Google Drive*, you can get to all of your stuff anytime, anywhere.
Even with its compact design, it’s packed with performance—it boots up in less than 10 seconds and resumes instantly. High-resolution videos (in 1080p) are beautiful to watch and when using the touchpad, you’ll notice smooth scrolling due to a hardware-accelerated user interface. And as you‘d expect from a Chromebook, it’s easy to share with others. Everyone—mom, dad, grandparents, tech lovers, tech haters—can have separate accounts where all of their stuff is kept safe. Finally, if you’re an active Google user of products like Gmail, Drive, Search, Maps, YouTube, Play or Google+ Hangouts, everything just works seamlessly.
Starting today, the new Samsung Chromebook is available for pre-order online from Amazon, Best Buy, PC World and other retailers. Next week it will be available for sale from these same online retailers as well as the Google Play store. You can also buy them at over 500 Best Buy stores across the U.S and over 30 PC World and Currys stores in the U.K.
So if you ever felt it was too complicated and too expensive to have an additional computer (or two), we hope you (and the entire family) will give the new Chromebook a try.
2. Google’s data centers: an inside look
Very few people have stepped inside Google’s data centers, and for good reason: our first priority is the privacy and security of your data, and we go to great lengths to protect it, keeping our sites under close guard. While we’ve shared many of our designs and best practices, and we’ve been publishing our efficiency data since 2008, only a small set of employees have access to the server floor itself.
Today, for the first time, you can see inside our data centers and pay them a virtual visit. On Where the Internet lives, our new site featuring beautiful photographs by Connie Zhou, you’ll get a never-before-seen look at the technology, the people and the places that keep Google running.
The server floor in Council Bluffs, Iowa
Night falls over our Lenoir, North Carolina data center
In addition, you can now explore our Lenoir, NC data center at your own pace in Street View. Walk in the front door, head up the stairs, turn right at the ping-pong table and head down the hall to the data center floor. Or take a stroll around the exterior of the facility to see our energy-efficient cooling infrastructure. You can also watch a video tour to learn more about what you're viewing in Street View and see some of our equipment in action.
Finally, we invited author and WIRED reporter Steven Levy to talk to the architects of our infrastructure and get an unprecedented look at its inner workings. His new story is an exploration of the history and evolution of our infrastructure, with a first-time-ever report from the floor of a Google data center.
Fourteen years ago, back when Google was a student research project, Larry and Sergey powered their new search engine using a few cheap, off-the-shelf servers stacked in creative ways. We’ve grown a bit since then, and we hope you enjoy this glimpse at what we’ve built. In the coming days we’ll share a series of posts on theGoogle Green Blog that explore some of the photographs in more detail, so stay tuned for more!
3. New Apple iMac 2012 Meta Hands-On: People Are Psyched
.jpg)
One of the happy surprises from Apple’s event today was the new iMac. Now that the dust has settled people are putting their grubby blogger-paws all over that shiny, pristine monolith. Guess what, it’s like, suuuuper thin!
4. What Is Apple Fusion Drive?
While introducing the new ridiculously thin iMac, Apple also revealed the new Fusion Drive. What is it? It’s a new storage system that supposedly combines the best of SSD and HDD. Basically, the speed of a SSD with the storage space of a big, spinning HDD.
5. Deducing details about Apple's A6X processor
As usual, Apple didn't share many specifics about its new A6 "Extreme" (A6X) processor, which powers the fourth-generation iPad. However, by looking at Apple's claims that it's "twice as fast" as the A5X-powered third-gen iPad, it may be possible to deduce what's inside.
According to Apple, the A6X processor "delivers up to twice the CPU and graphics performance of the A5X chip." In other words, the dual-core CPU can process data twice as fast as the dual-core 1GHz, Cortex A9-based A5X. It can also churn through OpenGL triangles and textures at twice the rate of the PowerVR SGX543MP4 in the A5X. So how did Apple do that?
Looking at CPU power for the moment, we already know that Apple designed a custom ARM-based core for the A6. Running at 1.2GHz in the iPhone 5, two A6 cores run twice as fast as two 800MHz A5 cores in an iPhone 4S.
6. Hands-on with the thumb-able iPad mini and the ultrathin iMac
We're sure you're aware of the new iPad mini that Apple introduced in San Jose on Tuesday. The device sports a 7.9" screen and starts at $329 for the 16GB Wi-Fi version—about $129 more than competing 7" Android tablets. Apple claims it didn't want to just shrink down the full-sized iPad, though; instead, it started over and designed a new, smaller iPad from scratch.
Ars went hands-on with the device after Tuesday's event.
Indeed, it's a smaller version of the iPad, but in use, the iPad mini doesn't "seem" significantly smaller. Apple claims you can hold the device with one hand, which may be technically true for some of our larger-handed readers. For me, it was just barely doable, but still possible.
7. Tablet wars! Google's Nexus 10 Could Break the 300 PPI Barrier
Apple's rumored to release an iPad mini today. Microsoft's Surface RT ships on Friday. Does Google have an uber-tablet waiting in the wings that will trump both of them? Rumors point to yes.
thanks for sharing...
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome...
ReplyDelete