Smart Technology Guru: 2009

The future of HDTV... Connected TV with Yahoo TV Widgets

Top HDTV Manufacturers like Sony, Samsung, LG, and Vizio is bringing built-in, interactive entertainment directly to your television.

These HDTV's will integrate their first new networked LCD HDTV models with Internet applications called “widgets” that deliver real-time information, as well as streaming video capability via integrated Internet Video Link capability. These new HDTV models feature an Ethernet connection, allowing the sets to directly access Internet Video content using an existing broadband connection. The service offers one of the largest selections of free and premium movies, TV shows, sports, music and more from an array of partners like Amazon Video on Demand, YouTube®, Yahoo!®, Slacker(sm), and others.

These future HDTV's are powered by the Yahoo! Widget Engine, expand and personalize the TV experience by adding on-screen applications that provide such real-time information as weather reports, stock ticker updates, financial news, Yahoo! Video, Flickr® images, and additional content.

Features of Yahoo! Widget Engine.

TV Widgets change what it means to Watch TV.

TV Widgets give you the best of the Internet in perfect harmony with the simplicity and reliability of your television. They're as rich, varied, and useful as your favorite sites on the Web, reinterpreted for TV. Check out behind-the-scene interviews from popular TV shows, read the blogs on your favorite actors, or catch up on missed episodes. No complexity, no keyboard or mouse. Just lean back and stay connected.

Enjoy Internet content while watching your favorite TV programs.

Interact with content and services that complement your TV viewing with TV Widgets. Press one button on your remote to bring up the TV Widget Dock, select a TV Widget, and view content, designed for your TV screen. Track your favorite sports team, watch financial stocks, share photos with friends and family, go shopping, play games, view movies or web videos while you watch your favorite show.

Personalize your experience with a selection of TV Widgets.

Personalize your viewing experience with TV Widgets from popular online media and Internet services. Select your favorite TV Widget, like eBay®, MySpace®, or CBS Entertainment, from the Widget Gallery, create a “Snippet,” and save it in the Widget Dock—for quick access to the content you want. By pressing your remote, you can view a friend’s new status on MySpace, purchase an item on eBay, or see the latest episode of your favorite CBS TV show.

Enabling The Cinematic Internet™.

The Cinematic Internet is Yahoo!’s vision for the emerging world of Internet-connected TV—combining the Internet’s choice, community, and personalization with the power of television. This combination will transform traditional TV into something bigger, better, and more exciting than ever. Yahoo! and our partners are working on rich TV Widgets that will bring the Cinematic Internet to life.

To ensure that the Cinematic Internet is open and powerful, Yahoo!® is working with the biggest brands in consumer entertainment and internet services to create a vibrant ecosystem. Together with Intel®, Yahoo! is making a Widget Development Kit (WDK) available to the industry. This will enable developers and publishers to continuously change and improve what it means to watch TV.

Media Server enabled Hard Drive from iomega

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Enjoy your digital life! Easily share and access photos, videos and music between your home computers, game station, etc with the Iomega® Home Media Network Hard Drive. This device provides easy-to-use, yet powerful, network storage for the home user and the three step setup is a breeze, even if you've never used a network drive before. Save all your digital files to one central location and share them between computers on your network. Then play back your pictures, videos and music from digital media adapters such as game consoles, digital picture frames or networked TVs. Built-in iTunes support automatically feeds music into iTunes® for easy playback. Easily share one printer over the network. Control which family members have access to certain folders. Plus, secure your memories and backup automatically with award winning EMC® Retrospect® software (PC/Mac) and for extra protection backup online with MozyHome™ Online Backup service with 2GB free.

Features

Simple to use—Three step set-up - simply plug into your router, power on, and install the software CD. Friendly web screens for easy management.
Sharing—Access files from any networked Windows PC or Apple computer for easy file sharing.
High Performance—Gigabit Ethernet connectivity combined with a high performance processor.
UPnP™ AV Media Server—Compatible with DLNA® certified media players, able to stream photos, audio content and videos to a variety of media devices like game consoles, audio bridges, DMAs (digital media adapters), picture frames and more.
iTunes™ Server—Store your audio content in one central location and share it across your iTunes players.
Network File Protocols Supported—CIFS/SMB (Microsoft), AFP (Apple), HTTP 1.1
Expandability—Add storage capacity by connecting external USB Hard Disk Drives. Supports FAT32 and NTFS formatted hard drives.
Network Discovery—Automatic network discovery by Apple Bonjour and Microsoft Windows Rally devices.
Data Protection—Touch-free professional-level backup for all your critical data with EMC® Retrospect HD backup software. Effortlessly back up files on a pre-set schedule.
Print Server—Intelligent network print sharing capability for one USB printer directly attached to the HomeMedia drive

What You Get

Iomega® Home Media Network Hard Drive
One Ethernet Cable
External Power Supply
Quick Install Guide
One Iomega StorCenter Network Hard Drive Solutions CD
EMC® Retrospect® Express Backup and Disaster Recovery
Service & Support: one year standard service. Extended Silver service is available

Tech Specs
Basic / Home Premium / Business / Ultimate

Microsoft® Internet Explorer® 6.0, Firefox® 1.5, Netscape® 8.0, or higher required to view user's manual
256MB RAM or higher
CD or DVD drive to install software
Available 10/100/1000 Mbps network Ethernet port
DHCP configured Network (recommended)
Network hub, switch, or router (recommended)

Mac® Users

Mac OS X 10.3x or higher
Apple Safari 1.2 browser or higher to view user manual
128MB RAM or higher
CD or DVD drive to install software
DHCP-configured Network (recommended)
Network hub, switch, or router (recommended)

Specifications

Oxford 810SE chipset with 370MHz CPU and 64MB RAM
One 7200 RPM, SATA II HDD
10/100/1000 Mbps capable Ethernet Connection (RJ-45)
One USB 2.0 port

General
Processor

Oxford 810SE @ 370Mhz

Operating System

EMC® LifeLine™ Home

Device Support

Print server; DMA support: Xbox 360™, PlayStation 3®, ScreenPlay™ Pro HD, iTunes (Firefly); Windows SMB (CIFS); NFS; DLNA® certified/UPnP™ devices

Included Software

EMC® Retrospect® Express HD (Backup and Disaster Recovery) (PC/Mac).
MozyHome™ online service (2GB free)

Storage

One (1) SATA II hard drive.

Physical Dimensions

Width: 4.92 in
Length: 7.83 in
Height: 1.57 in
Weight: 2.45 lbs

Get it now: iomega.com

Microsoft disappoints once again with Windows 7 beta download

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Updated: Jan 9th, 2009 5:48 PM PST

Microsoft has been in the software game long enough to know that when you're announcing a release as big as an operating system to millions of techies, you release it when you say you will and you anticipate that the servers are going to get overloaded. Imagine Microsoft, the world leader in server technology, 24*7 server support, best in class knowledge of how to maintain servers with 0 downtime, etc etc, manage to have their servers down for over 6 hours now.

Wow! What kind of support can Microsoft give others when their servers have been down for hours? Is this what we are supposed to expect with the new Windows OS?

Updated: Jan 9th, 2009 4:42 PM PST (Windows 7 delayed)

Microsoft has delayed the public release of its Windows 7 beta download due to an overwhelming demand that its servers couldn't handle.

Windows 7 Beta Delay

The announcement was made late Friday afternoon in a posting at the official Windows 7 Blog.

"Due to very heavy traffic we're seeing as a result of interest in the Windows 7 Beta, we are adding some additional infrastructure support to the Microsoft.com properties before we post the public beta," the message explains.

The post does not give a definitive time for when the Windows 7 beta will be made available again.

"We want to ensure customers have the best possible experience when downloading the beta, and I'll be posting here again soon once the beta goes live," it says.

Overwhelming Demand

Reports as early as Friday morning indicated that Microsoft's servers were being crushed by the demand for Windows 7, even before the files were initially posted. Microsoft had planned to allow only the first 2.5 million users to download the operating system. The company has indicated it would like to have the software fully tested and ready for its final release by the end of the year.

Windows 7 beta now available for download

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Since Wednesday evening, the beta version of Windows 7 has been available to select groups of developers. This morning, Microsoft opened up the beta to anyone who wants to download it.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced that the beta would be generally available on Friday, but it's still a momentous milestone for the next version of Microsoft's operating system. It will be the only beta of the operating system before its final release.

Much more information on the Windows 7 beta (and how to install it) is available on this page.

I tried to go ahead and download it -- but the page is incredibly slow.

Downloads are limited to 2.5 million, and it will only work until August.

Microsoft copies Apple's Innovation to create Windows 7

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Microsoft Corp.'s next version of the Windows operating system is almost ready for prime time. That's one message Chief Executive Steve Ballmer delivered on the eve of the official opening of the International Consumer Electronics Show.

The new operating system — which could be available for purchase on PCs within a year — uses much of the same underlying technology as its predecessor, the much-maligned Vista. But Windows 7 aims to resolve many problems PC users had with Vista. For instance, Microsoft pledges to make it easier to install peripheral devices and to have the software pump out fewer annoying warnings and notifications.

Ballmer also pledged that Windows 7 will boot faster and drain laptop batteries more slowly.

Sometime in October 2008 At PDC, Microsoft gave the first public demonstration of Windows 7. Until then, the company had been uncharacteristically secretive about its new OS; over the past few months, Microsoft has let on that the taskbar will undergo a number of changes, and that many bundled applications would be unbundled and shipped with Windows Live instead. There have also been occasional screenshots of some of the new applets like Calculator and Paint. Now that the covers are finally off, the scale of the new OS becomes clear. The user interface has undergone the most radical overhaul and update since the introduction of Windows 95 thirteen years ago.
These UI changes represent a brave move by the company. The new UI takes the concepts that Windows users have been using for the last 13 years and extends them in new and exciting ways... More towards the User Interface as on a Mac with a OS X Lepoard. Windows 7 may not change much under the hood, but the extent of these interface changes makes it clear that this is very much a major release.

User Interface Changes

See how the new features/changes resemble more like what's on a Mac OS these days.

Improved taskbar and full-screen previews

Windows:
The taskbar at the bottom of your screen is what you use to switch between the applications you've got open. In Windows 7 you can set the order in which the icons appear and they'll stay put. They're easier to see, too. Click once on the new large icons or bigger preview thumbnails and you're ready to go. You can even see a full screen preview before switching to the window.

Mac:
Apple Mac users can instantly relate this new taskbar of Windows to the existing Dock in Mac OS X Leopard. The Dock in Mac OS delivers a single, simple mechanism for launching apps, storing minimized open windows out of the way, and providing fast access to files and folders. The Dock gives users an obvious location for dropping anything: apps, files, folders, and open windows: the right end of the Dock. The Dock displays a subtle indicator which looks like a glowing blue LED to denoting running applications. Users can rearrange Dock items using drag-and-drop, dropping new items into it, and dragging unwanted items out.

On a Mac if you want to see previews of all open windows of the same application, just click the Finder's (Mac App) icon in the dock, or just click on one window to bring it forward, and then double-tap F10. When you do, all Finder windows will open shrinking their appearance so they all fit on a single screen.

New ways to work with Windows

Windows:
To see all your desktop gadgets, just drag your mouse to the lower right corner of your desktop. That'll make all the open Windows transparent—making your desktop, and the gadgets on it, immediately visible. Want to minimize all your windows? One click and it's done.

Mac:
On a Mac, you can set keyboard shortcuts (Assuming F12) to allow the user to see the Widgets (Gadgets) instantly. Once set, you don't need to drag your mouse anywhere, just hit F12 and viola, all the current windows will move off the screen and your Dashboard which holds the Widgets (Gadgets) will be displayed.

You can also set screen hotspots (left, right, top, and bottom corners of the screen) to allow the user to see the Widgets (Gadgets) instantly. Once set, you just move your mouse to one of the configured corners, and viola your Dashboard which holds the Widgets (Gadgets) will be displayed.

Want to minimize all your windows on a Mac? Just set a Keyboard shortcut or a Screen Hotspot and poof, there goes all your windows in an instant. The feature moves all windows off the screen, with just the edges of the windows visible at the side of the screen, giving the user clear access to the desktop. (In the default preferences, this can be activated using the F11 key or by pressing Command F3 on newer Apple aluminum keyboards and the Macbook keyboard.)

Extended battery life

Windows:

Performance improvements are about more than speed. For example, your laptop battery lasts longer with power-saving features, such as adaptive display brightness, which dims the display if you haven't used your PC for a while.

Mac:

Adaptive display brightness! Now where have I heard that? Hmmm. oh yes, on my MacBook Pro. You can adjust the system to have the display dimmed after the system has been idle for some time. Microsoft... is this what you mean by adaptive display brightness which dims the display if the PC has been idle for a while? Any news about adaptive display brightness using ambient light sensors?

My MacBook Pro includes an ambient light sensor using which, the screen automatically changes brightness according to the light falling on the computer. In the screenshot above you can see I enabled this option below the brightness slider. In fact, with the ambient light sensor enabled, the dot on the brightness slider pulsates gently as a subtle reminder that brightness will change automatically. Kinda like on the iPhone. Microsoft should copy this feature too.

Windows Touch

Windows:

While great for a lot of tasks, using a keyboard and mouse is not always the easiest way to do things. If you've got a touch-screen monitor, you can just touch your computer screen for a more direct and natural way to work. Use your fingers to scroll, resize windows, play media, and pan and zoom. Large touch-sensitive areas on the Start menu and the taskbar make it easy to use.

Mac:
Duh! Touch is the feature of an external device. If a screen supports touch, then any Operating System will work in the same way as long as the screen sends the new coordinates to the Operating System. Maybe what Microsoft is trying to say is that it has some cool GUI capability to allow the user to pan and zoom, scroll and resize windows. Guess they must have copied this idea from iPhone's Touch Innovation. Microsoft, any news on Multi-touch technology or pinch and unpinch technology coming for the windows?

Gadget Placement

Windows:

Remember where the Gadgets used to be earlier? yep, the sidebar. Guess what, Microsoft have now scrapped the sidebar and decided to put the Gadgets on the desktop. People are increasingly using laptops, taking up a big chunk of space for the sidebar isn't really viable; hance Microsoft has responded by scrapping the sidebar and putting the gadgets onto the desktop itself.

Mac:

Hmmm, is it just me? Or do i see a snicker on every Mac owners face? Mac has Widgets(Gadgets) on the desktop just like they should have been on Windows in the first place. What's more, Mac gives you easy and instant access to Widgets by hiding all open windows on the click of a button or the move of your mouse into one of the specified hotspots... something which Microsoft could copy for Windows 7.

Windows Explorer & Libraries

Windows:

The other significant part of the Windows UI is Explorer. Windows 7 introduces a new concept named Libraries. Libraries provide a view onto arbitrary parts of the filesystem with organization optimized for different kinds of files. In use, Libraries feel like a kind of WinFS-lite; they don't have the complex database system underneath, but they do retain the idea of a custom view of your files that's independent of where the files are.

Mac:
Does anyone see any similarity between the new Windows Explorer and the existing Mac Finder(Explorer)?

What about similarity between the new Windows Explorer and the existing Mac Finder with Coverflow?

What about similarity between the new Windows Explorer and the existing Mac App iPhoto?

Need I say more?

Social Networking & Multimedia Utilities

Windows:
Windows (Steve Ballmer) also announced major partnerships with Facebook, and Verizon (NYSE:VZ) Wireless, deals that will help Microsoft further its cloud ambitions.

The Facebook-Microsoft deal will let Facebook users feed the digital content they post on Facebook into feeds on Windows Live.

Windows (Steve Ballmer) Ballmer also announced updates to the Windows Live Essentials suite of client applications, which includes Windows Live Mail, Live Messenger, Live Writer, and Live Photo Gallery. Windows Live Movie Maker remains in beta.

Mac:
Guess what? Mac has already come out with built in apps (iPhoto) which links with online social networking site, Facebook. On can directly upload geotagged pictures with Facebook with the click of a button. Sharing on Flickr is just as easy: Just click the Flickr button. When you share your photos on Flickr, the locations you added using Places appear on Flickr photo maps.

What's more, iWeb Site (iLife Suite) allows you to create a website and it will even notify your Facebook friends when you update your site. Simply link any iWeb site to your Facebook account. Following an update, iWeb adds the changes to your profile, alerting your friends and providing them with a handy link.

iMail, iChat, iPhoto, iMovie, Garageband, iWeb... don't they already do what would be included in Windows Live suite of client application like Live Mail, Live Messenger, Live Writer, Live Photo Gallery and Live Movie Maker (Movie Maker is still in beta)?

I guess Microsoft is doing great work out there. They have found innovative ways to copy innovation from their competitor... I.E. Apple. Anyways, tomorrow Microsoft will be releasing a Beta version of Windows 7, and I for one would love to see how many things they have copied from Apple. Let us know if you figure out any....

Should you wait for Windows 7 before buying a new PC?

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Tim Anderson from The Guardian certainly does think so. According to him...

Windows Vista has a mixed reputation at best, whereas Windows 7 is impressive even in its current preview form: the public beta will be made available tomorrow and most observers expect it later this year. Traditionally, canny users hesitate before installing a new version of Windows, preferring to wait until the first service pack. The counter-argument in this case is that Windows 7 is itself a kind of service pack for Vista, adding polish and fixing its more annoying features without changing so much that applications no longer work. Early tests of the just-released Beta 1, as seen in the build leaked on the internet last month, suggest that performance is better than either Vista or XP on the same hardware. Whereas Windows XP is the version that will not die (living on through the explosive growth in netbook sales), Vista will vanish in an instant once 7 is available.

Yet, even though it will pay to wait for Windows 7, Vista is better than its reputation. Windows Server 2008 shares the same kernel as Vista updated to Service Pack 1, and is well liked. Vista's problems began when Microsoft rushed its initial release. Many device drivers were either not ready or poor quality, some launch machines were underspecified ( still the subject of a class action against the company), while others were laden with too much unnecessary third-party software. Two years on, at least the fi rst two of these problems are fixed.

Still, the difference with Windows 7 is that Microsoft has focused on usability, whereas many of the changes in Vista were for security or engineering reasons, and either delivered little visible benefit to users or were actively disliked. An example is Vista's User Account Control (UAC), which throws up a dialog every time you make a system change: potentially useful for guarding against malware, but to some an intolerable interruption. Windows 7 makes UAC quieter while preserving most of its benefits.

The most obvious new feature in Windows 7 is in the taskbar – which, like Apple's OS X Dock, can be used to launch applications as well as to show what is running. The Vista sidebar has gone and gadgets now live on the desktop. Home networking is easier to set up, media sharing is built in and there are sensible defaults for users joining work laptops to home wireless networks. Libraries in Windows Explorer let you merge content from several locations. There is also support for touch control for devices with no keyboard.

In the end, it is not new features that will make or break Windows 7, but whether it delivers a smoother, faster, more pleasant experience than its predecessor. Signs are it will. Underneath, though, it is the same old Windows. To sum up: Windows 7 is Vista done right, no more or less.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/

Windows 7 public beta to be available Friday to first 2.5 Million people

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Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday night launched the beta of Windows 7, posting the preview of the company's next operating system to its developer download services.

The general public will be able to download the beta starting Friday, said CEO Steve Ballmer in his opening speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Microsoft made it clear that the beta will be available for a "limited time," and said it will cap the beta after the first 2.5 million downloads.

IT professionals and developers who subscribe to the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) or TechNet services, however can grab the beta right away, said Ballmer.

Windows 7 will boot more quickly, boast better battery life, and be more reliable than previous versions of Windows, Ballmer said.

Ballmer also announced major partnerships with Facebook, Dell (NSDQ:Dell) and Verizon (NYSE:VZ) Wireless, deals that will help Microsoft further its cloud ambitions.

The Facebook-Microsoft deal will let Facebook users feed the digital content they post on Facebook into feeds on Windows Live, while the Dell agreement will see the PC maker pre-install Windows Live Essentials on its consumer and small business PCs beginning in February.

Verizon Wireless has agreed to include Live Search on all of its phones in the U.S., giving Microsoft a foothold in mobile search with the nation's largest carrier.

Ballmer also announced updates to the Windows Live Essentials suite of client applications, which includes Windows Live Mail, Live Messenger, Live Writer, and Live Photo Gallery. Windows Live Movie Maker remains in beta.

"Windows is at the center of the technological 'solar system', and we're tying all that information together through the cloud," Ballmer said. "In many ways, connecting all this together is the 'Last Mile' for creating real breakthroughs for customers."

Minimum Requirements for the Beta Version

PC with a 1GHz processor
1GB of memory
16GB of available hard disk space
Support for DX9 graphics with 128MB of memory
The beta only supports an upgrade from Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1)
Beta Expiry Date: Aug 1, 2009

Microsoft has not named a launch date for the operating system, other than to say it would deliver Windows 7 by about this time next year. On Wednesday, Ballmer said nothing about ship dates.

The Windows 7 download will be posted to Microsoft's site on Friday, Jan. 9.

Updated: Jan 9th 2009. Click here to download Windows 7 Beta.

Activate your gadgets by Voice commands in your Car: Microsoft Sync

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Talking to your car might seem like a stupid thing to do. But thanks to Microsoft Sync, now you can talk to your car and command it to do simple tasks for you.

Microsoft Sync is a voice activated In-Car Technology which can control a varied number of devices including you bluetooth enabled mobile phone, music players, navigation systems and also instruct your car to display it's health information upon request.

Sync’s main strengths are its sophisticated phone functions and a USB connection on the dashboard that can turn any portable music player into an in-car entertainment system.

The in-car phone uses Bluetooth to tap a connection from the user’s cellphone and also drags contacts and “previous call” lists from it. Voice commands are recognised allowing users to speak contacts’ names and order calls, plus incoming text messages will be converted and read out by the system.

Any music stored on the phone can also be streamed via Bluetooth and one Microsoft engineer successfully managed to stream a UK internet radio station through the browser on his smartphone.

Anything containing music that has a USB connection can be played over the system, including a simple memory stick. Sync reads the metadata on the music files and displays titles on the dashboard. It also allows the driver to speak commands such as “Play Album Back to Black”, “Play Playlist Dancemix” and even “Play Genre Jazz” or “Play Similar Music.” Say, "what's playing" and a synthesized voice tells you what you're listening to.

In the last quarter of 2007, Microsoft demonstrated their Sync system in 2 models of Ford (SUV and Ford Focus). Today, Microsoft has deployed Sync on more than 20 different models including Lincoln and Mercury. The list is vast and ever growing. Toyota Motor Co. (TM), in a direct attack on Ford Motor Co.'s (F) popular voice-activated Sync system, will begin offering its own in-car information product starting in August. Safety Connect, featuring automatic collision notification, stolen vehicle location and emergency assistance, will be introduced on some undisclosed Toyota brands.

You might think Microsofts' Sync is just a great hands-free voice-activated cellphone and iPod controller, but Microsoft has big plans for the software it wrote to make Sync work.

It wants to bring voice-activated network connectivity to your car. And use in-car advertising to pay for it. Microsoft is betting we'll have networked integrated entertainment and information systems within five years, and it wants Microsoft Auto to be the operating system they run on. The idea is to one-up OnStar and make telematics a voice-activated part of daily life by providing real-time traffic updates, custom-tailored point-of-interest directories and other helpful info. Want to know the fastest way home from work? Your car will chart the course. Get hungry for Thai along the way? Your car will tell you where to find it. Decide to see a movie after finishing your pad thai? Your car will tell you what's playing and when. And, of course, it'll tell you the fastest - or most scenic, or most fuel efficient - way to get there.

Looking 10 or 15 years down the road, Microsoft predicts cellular technology will let us download music and video directly to our cars, play online games and use vehicle-to-vehicle communications to avoid collisions. "This could be a revolutionary development for the automobile".

Microsoft isn't interested in making gadgets. It wants to provide the software that will link those gadgets to your car and your car to the network. But as OnStar showed, mobile connectivity can be expensive to provide and to use. Microsoft would take a cue from Google to make it affordable.

Instead of charging a monthly subscription fee like OnStar, which costs $18.95 a month and up, the navi screen in a Microsoft-based system would display advertisements targeted to your search parameters and exact location. Looking for an Italian restaurant? The list would be accompanied by ads for those nearby.

Fortunately for all of us, Microsoft is not going to be controlling critical internal and driving functions with this software; we’ll all sleep safer at nights knowing that the dreaded Blue Screen of Death won’t display on the dashboard when the windshield wipers were turned on. “WIPER.EXE has performed an illegal operation in module CARSYSTEM32.DLL”—can you imagine that?

Why Is It So Cheap?
Part of the reason for the popularity is price. Adding a Sync system to a Ford, Lincoln, or Mercury adds only $395 to the sticker price, while adding similar features for controlling music and cell phones to other cars can cost as much as $800. Its $395 Sync system has been a runaway hit - cars with Sync outsell those without it by two to one - and Bragman says we're going to see other automakers rushing to catch up.

Researchers at market research firm iSuppli probed under Sync's hood for a closer look at how Microsoft and Ford managed to keep the price so low. The makers use inexpensive chips, for one thing. A teardown analysis by iSuppli found that the six major chips used in the system cost a grand total of $25. Of those, the most expensive component is an $8 applications chip from Freescale Semiconductor, the privately held former chip unit of Motorola (MOT). A second Freescale microcontroller chip costs $5.

Add in $4.80 worth of memory chips from Micron Technology (MU), a $3.80 flash memory chip from Samsung, a $1.75 Bluetooth chip from Cambridge Silicon Radio, and a $1.65 audio chip from Cirrus Logic (CRUS) and you've got most of the hardware for the system, says iSuppli automotive analyst Richard Robinson. "The secret about this system is that there's no real secret to the hardware," he says.

Ford Sync Advertisement as shown on TV

Source:
http://www.syncmyride.com/
http://www.microsoft.com/auto/
http://www.fordvehicles.com/sync/
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/
http://blog.wired.com/cars/
http://blogs.ft.com/techblog/

Smart Technology Guru

The future of HDTV... Connected TV with Yahoo TV Widgets

Media Server enabled Hard Drive from iomega

Microsoft disappoints once again with Windows 7 beta download

Windows 7 beta now available for download

Microsoft copies Apple's Innovation to create Windows 7

Should you wait for Windows 7 before buying a new PC?

Windows 7 public beta to be available Friday to first 2.5 Million people

Activate your gadgets by Voice commands in your Car: Microsoft Sync

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