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X2 Technology has capitalised on Apple’s decision not to call its tablet the iTablet. Its X2 iTablet will run Windows or Linux and support Flash.

Apple may have eschewed the obvious moniker for its new tablet PC and chosen instead to call it the iPad, but laptop maker X2 has been keen to seize the opportunity and brand its new touchscreen devices the iTablet range.

The Windows 7- and Linux-based portable devices will be offered in 10.2in and 12.1in widescreen versions with up to 250GB hard disks and 1.6GHz Intel processors. They will have multi-touch screens, 3 USB ports and a 1.3Mp webcam. HDMI output is offered as an option, while 802.11 b and g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and stereo speakers are part of the standard specification list. A 3G module will be a further option.

iTablet

Interestingly, X2 says the iTablet will natively support Adobe Flash – something the Apple iPad does not. The 102.in X2 iTablet weighs a fairly portable 1.1kg and is 35mm thick.

The 252×192x35mm tablet computer will be offered in a choice of black, white, blue, pink, yellow, red or grey. Accessories will included battery packs, mains adaptors and a stand, while X2 will also produce a screen suitable for use in bright daylight and other challenging light conditions.

“iTablet will empower users with unlimited technology and advanced multimedia access across multiple platforms without being restricted to exclusive content providers,” added Jonathan Wharrad, R&D Director of X2 Computing. “This new breed of Windows-based computer takes design, functionality and solution fit to new and higher levels.”

X2 is an industrial product design company whose technical director, Robin Daunter, was formerly the head of R&D at Evesham Technology.

Source: Rosemary Hattersley

The public domain, as we understand it, is the wealth of information that is free from the barriers to access or reuse usually associated with copyright protection, either because it is free from any copyright protection or because the right holders have decided to remove these barriers. It is the raw material from which new knowledge is derived and new cultural works are created.

After decades of measures that have drastically reduced the public domain, typically by extending the terms of protection, it is time to strongly reaffirm how much our societies and economies rely on a vibrant and ever expanding public domain. The role of the public domain, in fact, already crucial in the past, it is even more important today, as the Internet and digital technologies enable us to access, use and re-distribute culture with an ease and a power unforeseeable even just a generation ago. The Public Domain Manifesto aims at reminding citizens and policy-makers of a common wealth that, since it belongs to all, it is often defended by no-one. In a time where we for the first time in history have the tools to enable direct access to most of our shared culture and knowledge it is important that policy makers and citizens strengthen the legal concept that enables free and unrestricted access and reuse.

We invite you to read the Manifesto and sign it, if you wish to show your support. We also invite you to share this site (http://publicdomainmanifesto.org) with your contacts and friends. The Public Domain Manifesto is also on Facebook. Also remember to celebrate the Public Domain Day every year on New Year’s Day.

A week ago, I let ya’ll know that the core PHP team had been brought to Facebook’s main campus. That team were forced to sign NDA’s, and taken to a very quiet, secluded meeting room where some cool new Facebook-backed open source project was described.

Well, I was able to put all the pieces together on this one, finally, and I now understand exactly what is up: Facebook has rewritten the PHP runtime from scratch. This coming Tuesday, they will make a big announcement around this project, and will make it available as open source software. I’m not really sure of any of the details of the project, but I do know that Facebook hired someone two years ago to do this, and I’m relatively sure this was a one-man project during that entire time.

So, why has Facebook rewritten the PHP runtime? Because PHP is obviously too slow for their tastes. A few years ago, I had a coffee meeting with some of the folks from Zend. When they asked what I had been hearing about PHP in the market from my sources, I hemmed and hawed, then told them that I had heard people complaining about how slow PHP was. Now, I don’t personally consider PHP slow: it is simply not a language designed for the sorts of workloads that Java and .NET are.

But that still doesn’t change the fact that PHP can be a tad pokey on the server. Well, when I said this to the Zend folks, their immediate reaction was similar to that of a gestapo officer looking for a spy: “What? Who said that? Tell us their name!”

Clearly, Zend does not think there is a problem. But Facebook did. Not enough of a problem to support more than one paycheck, but then, considering how many users they have, even a 1 percent performance gain would be a massive help.

This Tuesday, salvation should arrive. I would imagine this new project will push a lot of the weight in the PHP community into Facebook’s corner of the world. It will be nice to see what they can do with all that interest, since Yahoo!, in the same position 6 years ago, largely squandered their opportunity to mold PHP into a more robust platform and language.

Source: Alex Handy (sdtimes.com)