We have been involved with a number of MeeGo initiatives driven by the Linux Foundation for some time now. As you may know, Mark, our CEO, joined the LF board, and two of our executives, Alex and Cliff, are directing LF operations in Taiwan and China respectively. In June, we announced a MeeGo “remix” of our Splashtop product.
If you are interested in MeeGo and Linux, there are several upcoming events we are participating in that I want to let you know about. Hopefully you can make it to one of these.
On August 11, Mark will be at the LinuxCon in Boston, talking about where Linux Desktop is succeeding. He is on a panel with folks form Novel and Qualcomm, moderated by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols of Computer World.
Finally, on August 14, Ted Chou from our Hangzhou engineering office will be speaking at the COSCUP / GNOME.Asia Summit in Taipei.
As today’s workforce becomes increasingly dispersed and mobile and organizations work to balance data protection with mobile access for its end users, Dell today launched new additions to its portfolio of Latitude E-Family laptops, giving users an enhanced security and mobile experience.
The ultraportable Dell Latitude E4310 is built for the executive and frequent traveler and combines sleek looks with remarkable durability and advanced wireless connectivity. The 13.3-inch Latitude E4310, available now, starts at $1449 USD. Enhanced features include:
A new Fast Response Free Fall Sensor and StrikeZone™ shock absorber that can help prevent data loss from drops;
Latitude ON – Reader & Flash Version for instant access to e-mail, calendar, contacts and virtual desktops without booting the system;
New architecture includes Intel Core i technology, Windows 7 and WiMax support;
The new Latitude 4310 joins other Dell Latitude and Precision systems that support Latitude ON | FLASH. Now both corridor and road warriors can enjoy the benefits of Instant, secure access and remain productive even in the event of a windows or hard disk crash. DeviceVM partners with Dell to deliver the software stack for Latitude ON | FLASH and Latitude ON | Reader.
For more information on Latitude ON | FLASH check out the special dedicated site: www.latitude-on-flash.com
The other day one of our engineers, Larry, took a trip to test 3G wireless connection features in Splashtop. Except it was no ordinary lab visit - Larry drove out to a stretch of a desert outside of Las Vegas. That is where a wireless carrier we are working with tests how phones or computers connect to their network, go from cell site to cell site… and perform whatever network magic they are expected to perform.
These days, many notebooks and netbooks connect to the Internet over 3G wireless. Being an instant-on operating system, Splashtop has to manage these network connections. Hence our work with the wireless chipset providers and the wireless carriers. Here is a picture Larry took during his desert adventure:
Any start-up company has to focus its limited resources to create a product that really really speaks to its target users. One place, however, were you should not cut corners is internationalization. Since its inception, Splashtop has been serving users as far from our California headquarters as Poland, Brazil, or Malaysia. In fact, if we look at where our new users came from in February, we see that the US accounts for under a half of our growth:
We have been stoking international use of Splashtop in a variety ways. On a very basic level, we have to enable users to type with a variety of local input methods. A big shout out here is due to the SCIM open source project that we benefit from. Thanks, guys! On an application level, we have been seeking out partners who enjoy popularity in their local markets. For example, Baidu powers our search in China, and Yandex - in Russia. Our Splashtop 2.0 product also incorporates a ton of local content from various markets where Splashtop is used.
Being international is a big deal for us. In fact, Cliff Miller, our Chief Strategy Officer based in Beijing, is out in California this week giving a keynote at the Worldware conference, which is all about global software strategies.
If you do software - whether in a start-up or in a large company, don’t forget that there is a big world out there beyond your borders - a world of opportunity!
HP has introduced the new Mini 210 Vivienne Tam special edition netbook. We are happy to be contributing to the QuickWeb software of such a beautiful product. Here is how QuickWeb looks on the Mini 210 Vivienne Tam edition:
Notice the Mirror app in the application dock - a must for a true fashion product.
To see lots of gorgeous runway photos and videos, make sure to visit the special site HP and Vivienne Tam put together for this product.
Sony came out with some awesome looking Vaio E Series notebooks. You’ve got to love the colors.
At $699 and up, these are solid 15.5″ Intel i5 / i3 lappies with 4GB of RAM. And if you wear a suit to work, and “Caribbean Green” or “Hibiscus Pink” are not your thing, there is also a more conservative black design available.
Of course, we are most excited about the great “Web” button that Sony has been putting on its Vaio notebooks, and which launches you directly into the Splashtop browser. I am, in fact, writing this post on my Sony Vaio NW, which has the same button that gets me online in a few seconds without going through Windows.
The Broadband Taiwan show just wrapped up in Taipei. The event featured makers of communications hardware involved with WiMAX and 3G wireless tech. Here is a photo of Kevin from our Taipei office helping out in the Ericsson booth at the show.
Ericsson is a power house in the 3G equipment space. Among the things they demo-ed were netbooks with instant-on Internet access over 3G - a major area of focus for us, and the reason we were there to help showcase these systems.
Splashtop is shipping on many netbooks already, and we are adding more and more models through our collaborations with PC OEMs. And 3G web access is increasingly common on netbooks with instant-on browsing capabilities of Splashtop.
3G + instant-on is a perfect combination for netbook usage.
With the launch of Windows 7 upon us, its a good time to look at the future of instant-on in the post-Vista era. Windows 7 is bringing a slew of usability improvements. I’ve been using a Win 7 release candidate for months now, and have appreciated the performance, the new dock design, and Microsoft’s decision to get rid of the countless security warnings that we came to equate with Vista. From the early pre-release days of Win 7, there have also been repeated claims of “near instant-on” boot performance. Those turned out to be far from reality.
We experimented with Windows 7 boot times, and did not find improvements over Vista’s. Watch our video comparing Windows 7 and Splashtop boot at the bottom of the post, and don’t take our word for it: Walt Mossberg’s authoritative, and otherwise glowing review of Windows 7 calls Win 7 boot and restart times “glacial.”
Detailed research from iolo technologies, quoted by CNET and others, shows that a brand-new machine running Windows 7 takes 1 minute and 34 seconds to become usable, compared to 1:06 for Vista. Win 7 boot, in other words, is 42% slower.
A further issue, known as “Windows Rot,” comes after a few months of use. For a three-month-old PC, Win 7 took 2 minutes and 34 seconds to boot, a whopping 60% slower than 1:34 or so for Vista.
The benefits of Splashtop, a complementary instant-on environment, remain very much unchanged with the transition from Vista to Win 7. Our desire to get to the web browser without waiting for the OS is getting stronger and stronger, as web applications take over from local apps. And we have also been working on our dock design, usability for netbooks, and other product improvements. Blog posts over the next few weeks will compare these Splashtop improvements with corresponding Windows 7 features.
Here is the video comparing Splashtop and Windows 7 boot times on the same hardware:
(We did not bother launching IE in Windows 7, but you get the point.)
HP has just announced their new lineup of netbooks and notebooks. We at DeviceVM are excited to point out that a number of new systems feature HP QuickWeb functionality, powered by Splashtop. As HP explains:
“QuickWeb allows users to access the web in seconds when the notebook is shut down. The application resides outside the notebook’s operating system, so there is no need to wait for the computer to boot up.”
With the world’s largest PC maker fully embracing instant-on technology, the day when all of us can browse the Web instantly is now upon us. Here is a screenshot of the new QuickWeb browser in action:
A number of publications have covered the announcement and are reviewing the products:
I borrowed the headline from Technologizer, where Harry McCracken is running a poll to see how quickly people get online in the morning. At the time I voted and saw the results, 43% of respondents claimed to get online before they actually got up - they keep their computers or phones by the bed. For a full 78% of respondents, going online competes with or comes before getting breakfast or walking their dog. Despite millions of unhappy pooches, NY Times reports that waking up to check e-mail and Facebook or Twitter accounts is the new reality of the American morning.
As an enabler of instant-on web browsing, we love these trends. We think that everyone should be able to just turn on their PC and start browsing without waiting. And having the PC illuminating the room at night with its blinking lights is lame - it really should be completely off. With Splashtop, you can turn it on instantly any time you need it.
We also observe that browsing is no longer just one of the things you do on a computer. It is The thing that gets people up, it is the reason why the PC is by the bed, and why the dog gets less walking time. Most of the time, browsing is the only thing people do on a PC. With Splashtop, we turn the PC into an awesome browsing appliance that will be ready for you when… you are finally awake.
Previous Entries
The new Latitude 4310 joins other Dell Latitude and Precision systems that support Latitude ON | FLASH. Now both corridor and road warriors can enjoy the benefits of Instant, secure access and remain productive even in the event of a windows or hard disk crash. DeviceVM partners with Dell to deliver the software stack for Latitude ON | FLASH and Latitude ON | Reader.
As an enabler of instant-on web browsing, we love these trends. We think that everyone should be able to just turn on their PC and start browsing without waiting. And having the PC illuminating the room at night with its blinking lights is lame - it really should be completely off. With Splashtop, you can turn it on instantly any time you need it.
