Breaking the Green Dam

Politics are usually something I try to avoid on the internet. Lord knows we all have enough reasons for sleepless nights and high blood pressure (parenting for instance) without adding the endless partisan demonizing that goes on over the internet due to politics.

However, there are some things that go beyond politics and enter the realm of ethics and basic human rights. As I am sure all of you know, the current government of China decided that the agreement by such former champions of free speech as Google and Yahoo to censor information going into China and to turn over the details of those bloggers who the government branded as seditious was not enough. Information was still getting through, and coming out, through a thousand little blogs and independent web sites, to say nothing of twitter and other social networking sites.

Therefore, the Chinese government decreed that any PC sold in China must have their Green Dam censorship software built in to block any content that the Chinese government felt their citizens should not see. Of course they explain that this is to block pornography, which some people see as a reasonable thing to do. Personally, to me that is an inexcusable example of censorship and big-brother paternalism, but no matter. Once that software is provided with any PC sold in China you are already halfway down the slippery slope. Once the hubbub dies down, the Chinese Government will be able to use the same software to block any information they feel is too disgusting for people to see, such as free and open debate of their government’s policies.

Thankfully a good number of people saw things as I do and there was far more of an outcry then the Chinese Government had been expecting (did they learn NOTHING from the Olympics?) and they opted to postpone enforcing the requirement.

End of the matter, hurrah for democracy?

Not yet.

For one thing, the Chinese Government has stated they will still quietly go ahead with the plan, but they will just wait until the eye of the world is drawn to the next sensation. Beyond they, they don’t even need to enforce it. It seems that most PC makers, fully aware of the vast profits to be made by appeasing the Chinese bureaucrats, are shipping PCs with the Green Dam software ANYWAY.

The AP is reporting the following…

Taiwan’s Acer Inc. — the world’s No. 3 PC maker — Sony Corp. and China’s Haier Group said they were shipping Green Dam on disks with computers for sale in China. China’s Lenovo Group, the No. 4 producer, said it would offer the software pre-installed or on disk. Taiwan’s Asus Inc. said it was preparing to supply Green Dam disks with PCs. Taiwanese laptop maker BenQ Inc. said the system was on the hard drives of its computers.

Acer was supplying Green Dam because disks were already packed with PCs before the government postponed the plan, that had been due to take effect Wednesday, said a company spokeswoman, Meng Lei. Lenovo said it also was going ahead with plans made before the Green Dam order was postponed.

Hewlett-Packard Co., the world’s top PC manufacturer, said it was working with the U.S. government to get more information and declined to comment further. No. 2 Dell Inc. said it was not including Green Dam with its PCs.

Well, if China can use economic clout to make PC makers willing and eager accessories to censorship and the denial of free speech, then we can at least use the same tools to make our own voices heard.

Choose not to purchase technology by Acer, Sony, Haier, Lenovo, Asus or BenQ. BOYCOTT THEM until they change their policy, or at least until China gives them no choice but to comply. Obeying an unjust law to make censorship easier is bad enough, but to do so when that law is not even being enforced is far worse. Support HP and Dell for their willingness to at least put the breaks on this infantilization and infringement of the basic human rights of adult Chinese citizens and think things through. Before you buy a PC or other device try to find out where their manufacturer stands on this issue. Samsung? LG? Apple? What are YOU going to do?

I for one put my money where my mouth (and heart) is just this morning. I was a hair away from purchasing a Lenovo or Acer netbook when I opted for a Compaq (HP) model instead. A drop in the bucket? Of course…but I will NOT let my money be used to bolster the bottom line of companies that give into Chinese pressure and threats concerning human rights. I simply can’t do so in good conscience, even if it has no effect at all.

I urge you to do the same.

(Source – Simple Thoughts)

           

HP Continues to Create “Enterprise Netbooks”

The big netbook talk this week has been all about the HP 5101, a netbook clearly aimed at the same business and Enterprise users as the HP Mini-note 2140 had been, based on the feature set. Since most netbooks are viewed as purely consumer market creations, that is a bit on an anomaly right off the bat. To please more demanding users in the Enterprise, everything about this unit seems to be a bit above the standard netbook…bigger keyboard, better webcam, larger/faster HDs, Aluminum/Magnesium case.

In addition, the 5101 simply doesn’t look like a typical netbook, very reminiscent of the black no-nonsense styling and razor sharp angles of the business world’s Notebook PC of choice, the IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad. That can’t be accidental

Check out this video from TheStreet to get a closer look at the device, which I feel is going to be one of the top selling netbooks of the summer, and may already be the model to beat for this holiday season.

           

HP Windows Mobile Phone for AT&T, Finally…

Talk about a surprise for all, right? I have pretty much written Dell and HP out of the Smartphone game after all these years. If you are new to Mobilitysite, it is a mixture of a merge of Mobilitysite, iPaqHQ, and Aximsite, among others. There are still quite a few iPAQ and Axim questions that get answered in our forums too. In the past, I have been real critical of HP and how long it takes them to get devices to market. The HP iPAQ HW6900 could have been a hot device had it made it to the streets 6 months earlier than it did. Instead, many probably don’t even know it existed after it was annouced and faded in desire with all the hot HTC devices launched during the 6-9 months it took to get released on the Cingular network.

Well look what we have here… the HP iPAQ K3 (Obsidian). Can you say, “WOW, what a surprise!”?

Turns out we haven’t said our last goodbyes, though, because the iPAQ K3 — codenamed “Obsidian,” seemingly — is scheduled for November 30 retail availability on AT&T. The device would launch with Windows Mobile 6.5 onboard and feature a 2 megapixel camera (a second cameraless version for high-security businessfolk might be available, too), 256MB of RAM, a half gig of ROM, microSD slot, GPS, triband HSDPA and quadband EDGE, WiFi, 3.5mm headphone jack, and a QVGA display to complement the full QWERTY keyboard.

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HP Pavilion dv2 Now Available

Announced at CES in January, the HP Pavilion dv2 is now available through HPDirect.com and select retailers nationwide. Starting at $749, this thin and light notebook PC provides stylish mobility and performance at a great value. The dv2 provides productivity and rich entertainment capability while measuring just under 1-inch thick and less than 4 pounds. Powerful discrete graphics and a full range of connectivity options make it easy for customers to work and play on the go. The dv2 feature magnesium casing for lightweight durability and a striking Espresso black finish with matching HP Imprint design on the palm rest.

Features include:

• 12.1-inch diagonal LED BrightView display and nearly full-size keyboard
• AMD Athlon™ Neo Processor MV-40
• 320 GB hard drive, providing ample room for photos, music and other content
• HP webcam and microphone for staying in touch with friends and family
• HP MediaSmart software for enjoying photos, listening to music and watching Internet TV or movies in high-definition, including video content from MTV Networks television channels
• Lightweight, external optical disc drive
• 6-cell Lithium-Ion battery
• ENERGY STAR® qualified and EPEAT™ Silver registered

           

HP Mini 2140 Video Review

The HP Mini 2140 is without any doubt one of the best netbooks in the market. Here is a video review that I recommend to watch to anyone in the market for one of those.

           

Clean Technology from Boston-Power

Recently I had the opportunity to visit Boston Power’s Research Labs in Massachusetts  with Johan Van Mierlo from MobilityMinded and Steve Hughes from Boston Pocket PC.  We had an incredible visit meeting an extraordinary team of scientists that have created a safer, better-performing, cost-effective battery that will truly change the way you use power for your devices.  Below is a very short introductory video showing some of the researchers in the labs and a brief introduction from Dr. Christina Lampe-Onnerud, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Boston Power.

 

Boston Power came to CES this past January and spent time at CNTRSTG giving us the opportunity to hear a presentation from Dr. Cristina Lampe-Onnerud from Boston Power.  She has pioneered the use of lithium-ion and other materials to deliver more powerful, longer lasting, safer and cost-effective batteries for laptops, PDAs, cell phones and other electronic devices.

During her presentation, she shared her thoughts and encouraged a dialog about where battery technology stands today, where it needs to be tomorrow and what the future holds.  Simply stated, she was dynamic in her presentation and created a positive look into the future of batteries that we will be using.

Find out more about Clean Technology from Boston-Power here!

           

HP iPAQ Data Messenger Review

The iPAQ Data Messenger gets reviewed by Tracy and Matt’s Blog…

Apart from the raw WM6.1 front end, my overall feeling about this phone was that HP released it a little too soon. Perhaps just to make a presence in the market place? As a fan of WM, I appreciate their commitment and support of Microsoft’s product. But also feel there were a few engineers at HP that would have liked to tweak it just a bit more before releasing.

If you are set on a HP device, maybe wait a little until WM6.5 is released and ships with it. Hopefully HP will improve the keyboard and up the screen resolution, I look forward to a revised model

HP has historical been pretty slow to come to market on all their phones. The 6915 would have been a smash if it made it to the streets in the 1st 6 months that the world knew about it. Instead, it was delayed and several phones took it out before it could even come up for air. Anyhow, this is another one that has taken a long time to make it to the streets. Apparently, HP doesn’t plan to release this one for the US phone fiends, but still, we knew about this one for quite a while. It was officially announced back in October 2008 and was available for preorder back in January 09.

           

There are mistakes and Mistakes

Yes, and here is an example of what I call Mistake with a capital M. Apparently HP is shipping the HP Mininote netbook with a very dark protection film covering the webcam. The result a blurry and dark image. Yesterday a video was posted in youtube talking about this issue and showing how to fix it but it was mysteriously removed. Thanks to JKKMobile we can show you this whole issue and the fix.

           

Comparing the IPAQ hw6900 Mobile Messenger and the IPAQ 900 Business Messenger

I’ve enjoyed using my IPAQ hw6925 for a couple of years but a few months ago the hw6925 went for a swim for a brief 2 seconds.  Even though I removed the battery, storage card and SIM card immediately and left it under a hot lamp for 24 hours to dry, the hw6925 has been quirky ever since.  Lately, I’ve been using an IPAQ 910c and thought you might like a comparative review of the two devices. In this article I discuss the hardware similarities and differences between the two devices as well as the pre-installed software differences.  I also summarize the WM6.1 enhancements.

With a sleek new body and running WM6.1, the IPAQ 900 Business Messenger is the true successor to the IPAQ hw6900 Mobile Messenger.  Notable hardware differences between the two IPAQs include:

• The IPAQ 900 is 3G enabled
• The IPAQ 900 has double the amount of System ROM and System RAM as the hw6900
• The IPAQ 900 has a 320 x 240 pixel screen, with a default landscape orientation.  There is no known way to change the orientation to a more standard portrait orientation.
• Even though the IPAQ 900 screen is a larger pixel size than that of the hw6900, the viewable image size of 2.46 inches is noticeably smaller that that of the hw6900 image size of 3.0 inches.  These screenshots are an accurate representation of the viewable screen sizes of the IPAQ 910c and the IPAQ hw6925.

IPAQ 910c	IPAQ hw6925

 

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First Impressions of HP’s Mini 1000 Mi Edition

Rob Bushway from Gottabemobile has just posted his first impressions of HP’s Mini 1000 Mi Edition.

I love the Mini 1000 and think it is one of the nicest netbooks on the market, but I have not found a scenario yet where I would recommend the Mi Edition over say the Windows XP version or the beta version of Windows 7.

I know what is happening to Rob, after testing W7 it’s so hard to go back to Vista or XP!

           

HP Launches MultiTouch Tablet - Touchsmart TX2

HP announced today the 1st Multi Touch Laptop/Tablet. Prices will start at $1149 and move way up from there. I am going to seriously look into buying one of these. I’m in the market right now anyhow.

Laptop Mag got some hands on with the TX2 and shares their 1st Impressions…

Since the debut of the Apple iPhone, people want to use their fingers to control their technology. Touch phones and touch cameras are all the rage, but can you navigate your laptop in the same way yet? Unlike with the iPhone, there is a learning curve when using the HP TouchSmart tx2z and, until additional applications are written for the platform, the functionality is limited. Nevertheless, consumers who are looking for advanced tablet functionality in a very mobile form factor and want to sit back and use their fingers to navigate the Web will be more than satisfied with the HP TouchSmart tx2z.

Specifications

• 12.1″ Diagonal WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Integrated Touch-screen, Convertible Display (1280 x 800). Panel rotates 180 degrees and folds flat. Rechargeable Digitizer for handwriting capture included
• ATI Radeon™ HD 3200 Graphics with 64 Display Cache Memory AMD M780G with 64MB GDDR2 (sideport memory) with up to 1982MB total graphics memory
• LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support
• 320GB (5400RPM) Hard Drive (SATA), 4096MB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm); Max supported =4096MB
• Wireless LAN 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN & Bluetooth

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Here’s a deal …

If you are looking for a small notebook and have had an eye on the HP 2133 8.9″ Linux Mini-Note, you can pick it up at Amazon for a super great price of $299.  This netbook comes with a Linux operating system, 4GB of flash drive space and a webcam.

Here are some of the specs:

• Max 2 GB RAM (includes 512 MB)
• Linux Operating System
• 4 GB solid-state flash memory (NAND) storage
• 1 ExpressCard/54 slot (also supports ExpressCard/34)
• 1 Secure Digital memory card slot
• 1 headphone/line-out and 1 microphone
• 1 VGA monitor port
• 2 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals–from digital cameras to MP3 players
• 1 RJ-45 for 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity

via Gear Diary

           

HP iPaq Voice and Data Messenger Video Preview

I just posted info that I found yesterday on WM Poweruser a couple hours ago and since then, my iPAQ newblast alerts have been blowing my phone up with email. Since my earlier post, Vodaphone and HP officially announced these two new phones and there is already a video online at a UK site called Mobile Computer. They go over both of these new phones.

I have to admit it, I have a soft spot for HP and that Data Messenger is looking kinda hot to me right now.

           

HP iPAQ Data Messenger

Meet the HP iPAQ Data Messenger. This is one that flew under the radar for the most part. The “smartphone” (iPAQ Voice Messenger) was leaked all over the place for quite some time, but I haven’t seen much on this one. It’s is basically the same as the Voice Messenger, just with out the front facing candy bar design, adding the slide out keyboard in it’s place. 3G, integrated GPS, 128mb RAM and 256mb ROM, the works. It’s running a 528mhz processor with a ~1100mah battery, so it should be plenty fast, but what about the battery life.

Ok, so this is an HP device, which some of you know I used to really like, with a slide out keyboard and a big screen. Wow. I like so far. No word on pricing or availability yet.

Read on for full specs…

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HP iPAQ Voice Messenger

Meet the newest from HP. This is the iPAQ Voice Messenger. This is a non touchscreen phone running Windows Mobile Standard. It’s got a pretty large screen for a smartphone too. 3G, integrated GPS, 128mb RAM and 256mb ROM, and a sleek looking design make this a phone worth considering for sure. There is an “in the wild” shot of this phone that we posted about earlier this month as well, so it’s officially real now. :)

Read on for the full specs…

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