Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category

LabVIEW Consultancy

Atgram Systems is proud to now offer LabVIEW consultancy services! This new service is mainly aimed at engineering firms and scientific research facilities, but we certainly also help smaller companies and individuals who would like assistance with their LabVIEW programming needs.

We have experience working at a high level with National Instruments hardware, particularly PXI, cRIO, cDAQ, Vision, USB, and WiFi devices. NI LabVIEW is a graphical programming language that was originally designed with tight hardware integration and multi-threading in mind. Atgram Systems offers a new consultancy service to help use LabVIEW with good programming architectures, ensuring that your applications are always over-engineered.

Get in touch with us today to see how we can boost your LabVIEW programming productivity.

Google Announces Chrome OS

Google Chrome Logo

Google Chrome Logo

Google is working on releasing a brand new operating system, called Chrome OS, that is based on its Chrome browser. Initially, the small OS will be aimed at low-cost and low-power netbooks, but will eventually head towards PCs.

Chrome OS will be capable of running on an x86 machine (normal Intel & AMD processors) and ARM chips. Google is currently working with OEMs to ship Chrome OS with some new netbooks starting in the second half of 2010.

Via BBC News article.
Read the Google blog.

Google Takes Apps (Gmail, Docs, Calendar, and Talk) Out Of Beta

Gmail Logo

Gmail Logo

Some Google products like Gmail have been in beta for the last five years. Everything’s changing now because Google Apps, including Gmail, Docs, Calendar, and Talk, are coming out of beta stage. Almost 2 million companies in the world use Google Apps to run their business.

Gmail is still as free as always, and is the most popular web-based email service recommended by tech companies. So if you haven’t already, head on over and create a Gmail account today.

Read the Google blog.

Acer Timeline 1810T: The First Mature Netbook

Acer Timeline 1810T

Acer Timeline 1810T

There has been a new leak of an upcoming netbook from Acer, the Timeline 1810T. This netbook will share the same laptop-like chassis of the Acer One 751, but the internals are bumped up for a much more solid performance.

  • 11.6-inch display (1,366 x 768 resolution)
  • Intel 1.4GHz ULV SU3500 processor
  • GMA 4500MHD graphics
  • hardware-accelerated HD video decoding
  • up to 4GB of RAM
  • HDMI socket
  • gigabit Ethernet
  • WiFi
  • optional 3G
  • Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
  • 8-hour battery
  • Windows Vista Home Premium
  • FREE upgrade to Windows 7 included

The free upgrade to Windows 7 ensures that we would recommend this to any buyers looking for a netbook in the near future. Unfortunately, we don’t have a release date or price yet.

Via macles blog.

BT Begins Fibre-To-The-Cabinet Pilot Scheme

BT Logo

BT Logo

BT began the trialling of Fibre-To-The-Cabinet (FTTC) broadband for businesses and consumers yesterday. The first two locations to be activated are Muswell Hill in London and Whitchurch in Cardiff.

FTTC can achieve end-to-end speed/throughput of up to 40 Mbps. ISPs trialling in the pilot scheme include BT retail, O2, Sky, TalkTalk, and others using BT Wholesale’s phone lines.

FTTC is where fibre is connected to a cabinet in the street and the premises in that immediate area use existing copper lines to connect to that cabinet. BT plans to have 29 exchanges FTTC-enabled by early 2010, and 40% of the UK ready for 2012. These 29 exchanges are the lucky ones to be selected to be enabled at the beginning of 2010:

  • Chelmsford, Essex
  • St Albans, Hertfordshire
  • Watford, Hertfordshire
  • Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire
  • Leagrave, Bedfordshire
  • Luton, Bedfordshire
  • Canonbury, London
  • Chingford, London
  • Edmonton, London
  • Enfield, London
  • Highams Park, London
  • Tottenham, London
  • Thamesmead, London
  • Woolwich, London
  • Bury, Greater Manchester
  • Didsbury, Greater Manchester
  • Failsworth, Greater Manchester
  • Heaton Moor, Greater Manchester
  • Oldham, Greater Manchester
  • Rusholme, Greater Manchester
  • Belfast Balmoral
  • Dean, Edinburgh
  • Glasgow Halfway
  • Glasgow Western
  • Cardiff
  • Taffs Well, Rhondda Cynon Taf
  • Halifax, West Yorkshire
  • Pudsey, West Yorkshire
  • Calder Valley, West Yorkshire

Even better than FTTC is Fibre-To-The-Premises (FTTP, or Home; FTTH), which would achieve speeds of up to 100 Mbps. BT have also been trialling this technology and plan to deploy it starting March 2010, starting with 40,000 homes.

Read the ZDNet UK article.

Surf The Internet Faster With Google Chrome

Google Chrome Logo

Google Chrome Logo

Until earlier this year, all of our websites were designed & developed with Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox compatibility mainly in mind. Since the turn of the year, we have had to ensure our websites were compatible with the newest and fast upcoming browser – Google Chrome. Like Firefox, Chrome is an open-source browser that allow users to browse fast and securely with ease. We have found the switch from Firefox to be seamless as they are very similar in appearance and functionality.

Chrome Pros

  • Address bar includes powerful search with results from your default search engine
  • Tabs and windows are interchangeable – detachable and attachable
  • Application shortcuts for web-only applications such as Gmail or Calendar
  • Private browsing without tracking browsing history

Chrome Cons

  • No addons/developer extentions like Firefox available yet
  • Potentially high memory usage if too many tabs are open as each is its own process

We highly recommend everyone to download Chrome or at least upgrade to the newly released Firefox 3.5 for the best possible Internet surfing experience.

UK ATMs Will Offer Free WiFi to BT and iPhone Users

BT Openzone & Cashbox

BT Openzone & Cashbox

BT Broadband customers and O2 iPhone owners will be given access to WiFi hotspots integrated into 2,500 ATM machines over the UK, courtesy of BT Openzone and Cashbox. Non-BT or iPhone users that want access will have to pay £5.88 for 90 minutes or £9.79 for 24 hours.

View the PC Pro article.

Official Pricing For Microsoft Windows 7

Microsoft Windows 7 Packaging

Microsoft Windows 7 Packaging

Microsoft has just published the pricing for Windows 7. You can upgrade from Windows XP or Vista, or buy the full retail version. Here are the prices:

Windows 7 Home Premium: $119.99 UPGRADE or $199.99 FULL VERSION
Windows 7 Professional: $199.99 UPGRADE or $299.99 FULL VERSION
Windows 7 Ultimate: $219.99 UPGRADE or $319.99 FULL VERSION

However, you can pre-order Windows 7 for just $49.99 or $99.99 for Home Premium or Professional, respectively.

In Europe, we’re a little less lucky. Here are our local prices:

Windows 7 Home Premium: £80
Windows 7 Professional: £190
Windows 7 Ultimate: £200

For us, the “upgrades” are actually the same as the full retail versions. However, these prices are only until 1 January 2010, and after that, they will be bumped up to cost:

Windows 7 Home Premium: £150
Windows 7 Professional: £220
Windows 7 Ultimate: £230

Luckily though, we too can pre-order our copies of Windows 7 from 15 July 2009 for £49 for Windows 7 Home Premium E and £99 for Windows 7 Professional E. The “E” stands for “no Internet Explorer”, as requested by EU regulators.

Buffalo Reveals 5mm Thin USB Key

Buffalo 16GB USB Key

Buffalo 16GB USB Key

This new amazingly small USB key isn’t the best choice if you keep losing your USB keys, but with 16GB of storage capacity and just 5mm when its inserted into a USB slot, it’s the perfect addition for your netbook. Unfortunately, it’s also expected to cost around £100 when it first becomes available for sale.

View the Akihabara News article.

Microsoft Unveils Windows 7 Packaging

Microsoft Windows 7 Packaging

Microsoft Windows 7 Packaging

Microsoft is doing everything to push the new Windows 7 far beyond Windows Vista ever made it. Today they’ve unveiled the packaging Windows 7 will ship in. They’ve apparently increased the economic value by 50%, by ensuring that the packaging is 37% lighter than that of Vista, and it includes just the disc, the plastic box, a cover sleeve, and a basic Getting Started Guide.

View the Ars Technica article with a photo of inside the packaging.

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