BackNokia goes pedestrian-friendly
Nokia goes pedestrian-friendly
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The N96 has 16 gigabytes of memory and a 5 megapixel camera. The device, a successor to Nokia’s flagship N95 model, its biggest single profit contributor, will be available later this year. Both the 6220 Classic, with a 5 megapixel camera, and the 6210 Navigator, with a compass for pedestrians, will be in stores later this year. All four devices support the Maps 2.0 and photo and video sharing services announced on Tuesday.
“With this type of device, you can have your full navigation capability, both in-car and as a pedestrian, at your disposal any time and anywhere," said Kai Oeistaemoe, head of the devices unit at Nokia. Nokia has bundled its Web services under the Ovi brand as demand for wireless Internet rises. It aims to increase revenue outside traditional handset sales. Bloomberg
Pinning hope on Vista SP1
If you're a Windows Vista user, or if you're interested in becoming one, the moment you've been waiting for is finally here. Well, almost. Conventional wisdom regarding new Microsoft operating systems (OS) is that you should wait for the first service pack, and that's also been true for the beleaguered Vista. Microsoft says it has sold more than 100 million copies and that businesses are finally starting to consider upgrading.
Although Microsoft doesn't break it down, industry watchers say those numbers are mostly coming from PCs sold with Vista on them and bulk licences held by businesses that may never install the OS. Neither businesses nor individuals are breaking down doors to upgrade existing machines to Vista.
That's largely due to the buzz in the tech community—both online and off—that Vista is a dog. While it may not necessarily be true—on a healthy PC powerful enough to run it comfortably, it's fine—perception becomes reality.
Microsoft is hoping that Vista's Service Pack 1, released earlier this month, will change that perception. However, most users won't be able to get their hands on SP1 until the middle of March, when it starts showing up as a download on Windows Update. Why the delay? Microsoft is being cautious.
Operating system service packs break things—some software and drivers may not behave as they should when a service pack is applied. Service packs may include changes to an operating system's fundamentals. When a piece of software expects the OS to do one thing but it does another, the software may not be able to cope with the change. Between now and its release, Microsoft is working with hardware developers to make sure that the drivers required to make their products work with Vista are compatible with SP1. But if that doesn't happen, get this: Microsoft will have a list of non-compliant drivers and won't allow SP1 to be downloaded via Windows Update on systems on which those drivers are installed. You can still tempt fate by manually installing it and possibly hosing your system, but don't say you weren't warned. ©2008/New York Times
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