Todays & Tomorrows Technology

Two Gartner analysts have lent their weight to ARM processors and the Google Android platform as potential players in netbooks and smartbooks, tipping the pairing as possibly headed for prime time. While they recognized that Android still needs fettling for the larger displays and broader usage patterns of a netbook-style device, Christian Heidarson and Ben Lee, analysts at Gartner, nonetheless praised its “snappy” performance on ARM-based sub-notebooks.

The various Android netbooks and smartbooks demonstrated at Computex 2009 are held up as examples of the development from smartphone to larger device for the platform. Of course, it’s not only ARM that Android can be adapted for; Acer have been working with a Linux developer in Taiwan to port Android to x86 processors, such as Intel’s Atom, for their upcoming netbook.

Of course, there’s a big leap from snappy performance to an appealing platform, and that’s something that Linux still needs to address for mainstream users. Sales figures of Windows and non-Android Linux netbooks suggest that buyers are willing to put up with slower performance in return for the familiarity and app-flexibility of Microsoft-based devices. Internet browsing, while perhaps the netbook’s primary purpose, is not all the budget ultraportables are used for; similarly, the absence of Flash support for ARM processors could prove a major stumbling block for an audience used to streaming video content.

You might not realize it, but you’re probably sleeping wrong. Thankfully Zeo are around to tell you the error of your ways, and since we won’t take anybody seriously unless we’re paying them a subscription and they’re offering us a wireless-enabled alarm with LCD display, that’s part of the deal too. Measurements are taken via a headband you wear during the night, which sends data to the alarm and rates your quality of sleep as a “ZQ” number.

ZQ is affected by how long you stay in REM phase sleep, deep sleep or light sleep. Those ZQ readings are stored on an SD card, which you can upload to Zeo’s website. The team there will then give you daily email guidance – or “personal sleep coaching” – suggesting ways in which you can improve your bedtime performance. Since the measurements are tracked and displayed every day, Zeo suggest you can use them to try out different relaxation techniques and instantly see what impact they have.

The Wall Street Journal’s Melinda Beck tried it out, and seemed impressed; however, she points out that Zeo have only apparently trialled the system on around 140 people so far. That means you’re basically paying to be a beta tester, and it doesn’t come cheap: the $399 sticker of the Zeo system includes six months of “coaching”; another six months is a further $99.

Olympus’ E-P1 Micro Four Thirds digital camera is expected to make its official debut on Tuesday, but that doesn’t mean we don’t want to hear about the appealing snapper today if we can. The E-P1 is, according to the latest spec-leak, expected to have a 13-megapixel sensor, 200-6400 ISO range and 60-1/4000 shutter speed, together with supporting 720p video recording.
According to the leak, the E-P1 will support up to 7 minutes of 720p recording or up to 14 minutes of 480p resolution recording. Stills can be captured in RAW, JPEG or RAW + JPEG formats, and there’s a Liveview LCD with electronic shake correction.

Eleven-area autofocus round out the leak. It’s expected to be priced at ¥90,000 ($917) for the kit, with a bundle including both 17mm and 14-42mm lenses coming in at ¥130,000 ($1,324). Alternatively the 17mm lens is believed to be priced at ¥10,000 ($101) while the 14-42mm version is ¥35,000 ($356).