$70 Tablet From India With Solar Charger - I'll Take Two Please!

I started blogging because I wanted to share my experience with the XO laptop, the very first batch from the OLPC project.  It was a good laptop for the price.  The first ever netbook of sort that was under $300.  It was $250 actually.  Good bet.  Still got it.

Then I moved on.  MacWind, another Macbook.  Then a Dell.  iPads.  

Now, I've come across something that might be just as perfect for a mobile device that I can use for writing, surfing the Web, and 90% of other tasks I do on a laptop or iPad on the cheap.  I'm not saying I would get this but for $70, it's hard to pass up.

The device is manufactured by an Indian company, Bharat.  Not much on specs but this is what has me interested:  It has a solar charging unit.  What I like to know is just how much power this sun-powered unit for the tablet.  

I think we are nearing a time when our mobile devices' battery will be augmented by solar power.  Sitting under the window or through the lights provided by our office or coffee shop.  And why not?  

We have had solar powered watches and calculators for over two decades now.  And as chip sets for our mobile devices become smaller and smaller and the screens and components become more efficient, I reckon there could be a time when our devices are powered by ambient light alone with the battery serving only as a backup instead of being the main power unit.

So, who will be the first to come out with this?  I'm going to go with HTC or Samsung.  Then Apple will have a go at solar power in their own different way.

Oh, from the pic from Engadget, it looks it it runs Android.  Obviously.

More At Engadget.

All Day Battery Device Powered By Texas Instrument Coming

TI promised by 2013 that our mobile devices, probably those that power Android or Windows Phone devices will be able to power our mobile needs for a whole day per charge.  I can't tell you how long I have been waiting to hear this and how badly I want this today.

Today, the longest battery life in a mobile device like a smartphone or tablet is the iPad 2 with a real life battery of 11 hours and the Xoom with about 10 hours.  The smartphone battery mileage varies from device to device and as you well know, they don't come close to what the battery life on the tablets sport.

Now, I suppose TI is talking about smartphones rather than tablets.  Imagine your mobile device, Android, Windows, or iOS, being able to run as long as you need no matter.

This is what we know.  According to Phone Arena via TechCrunch, the 2012 chip, OMAP5, will have three times the performance and five times the graphics chip of the current TI chip on the market.  

It'll have to be the following generation before we get the day-long battery life.  The difference between the OMAP5 and the day-long chip is that in 2013, TI will manufacture it with a 20nm process.

Now, while we don't know if TI can actually deliver, personally, I'll settle for even 75% of the promised battery life.  On top of that, what of TI's competitors, Intel, AMD, Apple, and Nvidia?  Will they follow suit to get us the day-long battery life in 2013 or later.  Perhaps, even sooner?

One thing I have to mention regarding this day-long chip is that TI could be shopping the mobile chip to a competitor.  And making such a declaration could be an attempt to fetch a higher price.  And there is no promise that the buyer will stick with the 2013 timetable.

S&P Just Dumped The United States' AAA Rating

I think my title to this post said all that needs to be said.

Well, there is more actually. S&P also has a negative outlook on the US and there could be another downgrade 12-18 months from now.

Basically, S&P said what neither party has the guts to say: the White House and Congress decided on a deal that raised the debt ceiling but did not go far enough to cut the deficit. And they decided to put off the issue like they have always done.

So there you have it. Sad, eh?

Apple's New Domain Name Points To Possible New Product; My Guess It's...

Pico means "little' in Spanish.  Or one-trillionth according to a definition I dug up.  So, Macrumors along with other blogs this morning are wonder why Apple registered this the domain, www.applepico.com.  

So, what can it be?  The speculation is that Apple could be considering adding pico projectors to the iPhones but I higher doubt that Apple would consider registering a domain name just for a specific feature.

There are two possibilities.

One is that Apple may be refreshing the iPod line with an entirely new product.  Pico, by definition, is smaller than a nano.  I don't know if Apple is going to shrink the nano even more.  It just doesn't seem possible but I want to throw this out there to cover the basis.

The other like possibility is that this pico could be a new iPhone.  The iPhone pico.  Apple could just as well call it the iPhone nano but I wouldn't put it past Apple to just screw with the media and bloggers.  The pico may well be the less expensive iPhone to go after the lower end of the smartphone market.

Just yesterday, Apple executives affirmed that they are indeed going to address that segment of the market as well as the pre-paid mobile market but won't do it unless they can enter the market with an "innovative, category-killer experience".  This is just me putting two and two together.  

But if you're an Apple watcher like I am, two plus two rarely equals four for the iPhone maker.  The fact that Apple registered the name now does seem to indicate that Apple is closer to releasing this pico product, a diminutive iPhone if I'm right or another product if I'm wrong.  

We'll know in a couple of weeks whether this leads anywhere.  And it's entirely possible that Apple did this just to screw with us with a series of updates to its product lines coming up in a matter of weeks

Acer Thinks Air-Style Laptops (and iPad) Are A Fad

When Steve Jobs says something, everyone listens.  And you give his words, ideas, or rants or weight.  The same goes for someone like Bill Gates, Eric Schmitz (when he's not being creepy), or Larry Ellison.  But when Stan Shih, the founder of Acer, does the same, you listen politely, wait until he leaves, and ask incredulously, "he can't seriously believe that, does he?".  

That's the feeling I got when I read that the Acer founder calling the Macbook Air a "short-term phenomena".  Seriously, you wennies in Acer PR really let this guy loose without a leash?

Dude also thinks that lower price and convenience are things that consumers want.  I'll give him points for lower price.  But what exactly does he mean about convenience?  Seriously?  Convenience for what?

It was Acer that help made the netbook market what it was at its peak.  The Taiwanese computer maker saw its fortune rose as the mini-laptops took off.  But once the iPad came onto the market, they saw their world standing drop back to ground.  I can't say what it must have been like at Acer HQ but I reckon it could not have been pleasant.

One minute you're being heralded as a pioneer and the next no one wants your wares anymore.  I suppose that Stan here is talking about his company's crashing experience regarding the iPad and the Air.  What he fails to understand is just about everything that is making the iPad such a dominant force in the market and why Apple is having problems stocking up the Macbook Airs in the store.

Source: TUAW.

HP Touchpad Down To $399 - Could Tablets Be NetBook 2.0? Amazon's Tablets To Add More Pricing Pressure In Race To The Bottom

I wonder if the tablets outside of Apple will be another race to the bottom with Apple occupying the $500 and above market while the rest of the pack enters the race to the bottom. The Touchpad has been out barely a month and HP has already dropped the 16 GB model by $100.

What does this mean? Has HP's Touchpad already failed to catch on? What does this mean for the tablet market in general? Perhaps Android 4 will slow down the pricing pressures while Apple could conceivably enter the sub-$500 price point with a cheaper iPad 2 that has less memory.

More analysis/speculations at Clouding Around.

On A Low-End iPhone, Apple Will Not Release One Until…Hey, This Sounds Familiar

According to Appleinsider, Apple execs visited with a Royal Bank of Canada analyst.  The analyst came away with nothing to add about new products but did say that Apple will address the low-end market with an "innovative, category-killer experience".  And until Apple can do that, there will not be a low-end iPhone.

Obviously, that does not say much.  But let me take you back a bit to a couple of years ago.  Apple was faced with a similar situation with other mobile products but the same sets of inquiries.

Once upon a time, Apple executives was quizzed about why they're not in the netbook market and what they plan on doing about it.  And in another lifetime, Apple was asked about what they plan on doing to address the $500 segment of the laptop market.  

And in addressing the netbooks, Steve Jobs sheepishly said the iPhone was Apple's answer to the netbooks.  Okay, if you think long and hard, I guess you can make that case.  And of course, Apple also had the iPod touch too.

And when asked about the $500 laptop, Steve Jobs said Apple could not make a $500 laptop that wasn't crap.  And Apple's eventual answer was the iPad in 2010.  

So, back to 2011.  Apple's executives, minus Steve Jobs who is on medical leave, basically conveyed to the RBC analyst the same thing.  It is iPhone 3GS?  Maybe.  It's hard to say that what Apple's low-end device is and how low they are willing to go to address it?  You can get a prepaid Android for as low as $150.  There is no way Apple will go that low.

I think Apple's idea of low-end could mean $300 in the pre-paid market.  Such a device can be free for the customer with carrier subsidy.  

And while the iPhone 3GS could possibly be this device, it is not an ideal solution.   I don't know if Apple will release the device this fall or not.  The only thing we can be sure of is that Apple will let us know.  And we'll know it when we see it.