February 2011

Couchbase – Consolidation Begins In Big Data Space

One of the common comment from those watching the Big Data space is that there are too many projects that makes it too difficult to chose the right set of tools for the user needs. Well, the consolidation process has started with the merger of Membase (see previous CloudAve coverage), the company supporting open source memcached project, and CouchOne, the company behind open source CouchDB project (see previous CloudAve coverage). The new company called Couchbase will offer comprehensive, end to end family of NoSQL database products. This is clearly a big move targeted to attract organizations trying to tap into NoSQL data stores for their big data needs.

Google to launch low cost Nexus Band running Android Wear in 2016

Adobe released a new Flash Player that provides high-definition content while barely touching the CPU.

Wednesday Adobe announced the release of Flash Player 10.2 for Windows, Mac and Linux. The new edition includes Stage Video, a full hardware accelerated video-pipeline for bringing high-quality video across all browsers and platforms. The new release also brings to the table custom native mouse cursors, multiple monitor full-screen support, Internet Explorer 9 hardware accelerated rendering support, and enhanced sub-pixel rendering for superior text readability.

“Flash Player using Stage Video can effortlessly play beautiful 1080p HD video with just 1 to 15-percent CPU usage on a common Mac or Windows computer,” said Adobe’s Tom Nguyen in his blog Wednesday. “Working across platforms and browsers, it will enable the best video experience for the most people. Many millions of additional PCs, from netbooks to desktops, can now become slick HD home theaters on the web.”

Nguyen added that Web surfers won’t see the improvement immediately, as websites and content providers will first need to update their video players. Developers will also need to update their SWF player files to support the new feature, but changes to existing video libraries and infrastructures won’t be necessary. Vimeo, Brightcove and YouTube have already started the process of enabling support for Stage Video, he said.

Hands-On With Five Mini-ITX Cases

Mini-ITX-based systems are attractive because they generally combine low-power operation and decent performance in a small package. But you need a good case to accommodate the restrictions of compact hardware. Today we try five different Mini-ITX cases.

The small dimensions of most Mini-ITX cases don’t always make it hard to fit standard size PC components. In many cases, plenty of standard hardware pieces fit just fine. Almost all of our test candidates simultaneously accommodate a 3.5” hard drive and a standard 5.25” optical drive. More likely is that some CPU coolers and graphics cards will be too large or too long to fit. And things might still be extremely cramped, even if the case is supposedly ready for the installation of discrete graphics cards and components like that.

Mini-ITX systems are much more compact than standard desktop computers. The format revolves around motherboards that measure just 170×170 mm and the standard is now well-adapted. Mini-ITX 2.0 was actually set and defined by VIA back in 2008, but initially created in 2001, and it is perfectly suitable for creating some of the smallest PC platforms thinkable today. Mini-ITX is about 61 percent smaller than full-size ATX, takes less than half the area consumed by microATX, and it is even a third smaller than FlexATX.

Mobile Gaming: Can Core i7-2920XM Beat Desktop Core i7-980X?

We’ve already seen Intel’s Sandy Bridge architecture offer compelling performance gains on the desktop. But can the fastest second-gen Core i7 beat Intel’s 130 W desktop-oriented six-core Core i7-980X in games? We set up a couple systems to find out.

Industry analysts have predicted the demise of the desktop PC almost every year since notebooks first started shipping with color screens. But extra room for power and cooling continues to push desktop performance at least two steps ahead of notebook counterparts. That performance disparity keeps a slowly-shrinking enthusiast PC market alive, even as improved notebooks all but consume other segments.

Enthusiasts alone can’t sustain the large manufacturing infrastructure left over from the desktop’s heyday, and we watch in despair as component firms either die or change targets. As we continue pushing new blood into the desktop market’s veins, Intel is driving nails into its coffin with an architecture that delivers very compelling speed on a power budget.

Nikon P300: A Light-Swallowing, 1080p-Shooting Pocket Monster

This is Nikon’s answer to the Canon S95 pocket dynamo. The P300 pairs a 12.1-megapixel backside-illuminated CMOS image sensor (which picks up more light than a standard CMOS sensor) with a fast f1.8 lens. Max ISO is 3200. And it shoots 1080p video at 30fps.

Full size
It’s also got a new easy panorama mode seemingly borrowed from Sony’s pocketcams, creative filters like faux fisheye and a built-in HDR mode that combines multiple shots at different exposures in camera to create HDR shots. (Click to embiggen the specs box.)

The P300’s a little fatter than the S95, but if the photos deliver what’s promised on paper, it’s some extra bulge I can definitely handle. Other downside? No RAW photos, unlike its pro point-and-shoot competition. I’m guessing that’s where they shaved off the feature set to keep it down to $330, around $70 cheaper than the S95.

Asus has a Secret Weapon against the iPad

In a recent interview with IDG, Jonny Shih -the chairman of ASUS- has mentioned that his company is working on a “Secret Weapon” that no one has seen yet, but that the world will soon see as we get closer to the launch date.

He also said that he already knows about some details of the upcoming iPad 2, such as details about the system on a chip (SoC) that the next iPad will run on.

ThinkGeek’s Joystick-It offers a more traditional arcade joystick for your iPad’s screen

You’ve probably seen the Fling, which is TenOne’s stick-on joystick for the iPad. Now ThinkGeek has introduced a competitor — the Joystick-It is another stick-on joystick for the iPad’s touchscreen, this time styled a little more closely to an actual arcade controller. The bottom of the stick has what looks like a suction cup that attaches to the device, and then you can move the stick around to control a capacitive widget on the bottom that acts as your finger normally would on the touchscreen.

Skype 5 for Mac intentionally blocks Flash and other programs from using your webcam

It seems that Skype 5 for Mac, by design, blocks any other application from using your webcam while it’s installed. A commenter on the bug report suggests that it also affects Windows machines, but we were unable to replicate the bug with Windows 7.

The crazy thing is that you have to uninstall Skype 5 before using your webcam with other programs, including Flash applets on websites. It almost makes sense that Skype would reserve your webcam when it’s running — but even when it isn’t? As the commenters on Hacker News note, the Skype for Mac support forum isn’t the happiest place on the interwebs at the moment.

To top things off, Skype has known about the issue since the Skype 5 for Mac beta in November. Skype developer Beom Soo Park even admits that it’s a feature, not a bug. There’s no explanation for the very, very odd functionality, and no ETA for a fix.

Mark Zuckerberg Has Obtained a Restraining Order Against His Stalker

Mark Zuckerberg has obtained a restraining order against a man who took the term “Facebook stalking” to a literal level.

According to TMZ, 31-year-old Pradeep Manukonda sent Facebook’s CEO messages through Facebook, left flowers and a handwritten note at his home, and showed up at several Facebook offices looking for him. At one point, security intercepted Manukonda walking up to Zuckerberg’s home.

According to the handwritten note and Facebook wall posts obtained by TMZ, Manukonda consistently referenced a problem that he wanted Zuckerberg to help him with.

“Thank you for your valuable time and attention towards my problem,” the note reads.

The wall post, left on Randi Zuckerberg’s wall, takes a more drastic approach. “I owe my entire life to your service .. please help me, then I am ready to die for you,” it reads.

A judge ordered Manukonda to stay at least 300 yards away from Zuckerberg, his sister and his girlfriend. In a later interview with TMZ, Manukonda apologized for his behavior. “I’m a peaceful guy … I’m sorry he thought I was trying to harm him,” he said.

Sony’s next PSP, codenamed NGP

Betcha didn’t think this day would come, but it finally has. Sony has just come clean with its next-generation PlayStation Portable. It’s actually codenamed NGP and will revolve around five key concepts: Revolutionary User Interface, Social Connectivity, Location-based Entertainment, Converging Real and Virtual (augmented) Reality. It will be compatible with the PlayStation Suite and is backwards-compatible with downloadable PSP games and content from Sony’s PlayStation Store.

Specs include a quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor, 5-inch touchscreen OLED display with 960 x 544 resolution, dual analog sticks (not nubs as on the current generation), 3G, WiFi, GPS, a rear-mounted touchpad, the same accelerometer / gyroscope motion sensing as in the PlayStation Move, an electronic compass, and cameras on both the front and back. Available this holiday season. Wait… what?!