Web Innovations Online

Many companies have under estimated the volume of network traffic even with the most high-tech firms succumbing to the problem. Microsoft�s Xbox Live service bogged down leaving some clients to file lawsuits for services that were not provided as promised. In attempts to initiate damage control, the company has announced that subscribers are to get a free game which is also being fast-tracked to cool down hot-headed clients but the damage has been done and many are pissed at how they handled the situation.

This is a common problem with web-based applications for unlike local services and products, the resources that are being used are not dedicated leaving a whole lot of the information necessary for the system to work to web servers and other providers who might not be on the same bandwagon. The web-based games network failed miserably as too many users logged in and joined online games taking up too much bandwidth resulting in r\frequent dropping from the network play system and other issues associated with network resources. This is one of the unknowns of the internet for as we all know, technology has to stop somewhere for too much ends up in wasted resources and too little, well see for yourself the many complaints Microsoft has gotten from their Xbox Live problems which continues to this day. The holidays has the highest demand levels in terms of network resources as these multi-million dollar companies vie for more and more of the on-line gaming market they forget to take a step back and look at their support and other hardware infrastructures to anticipate and prepare for unseens.

Apple Inc., has announced last March 06, 2008 that a beta edition of their upcoming iPhone software is under beta testing and will be available for download soon to all subscribers of the sleek iPhone. The iPhone and Touch, already has thousands of native applications that used to be limited to Windows CE users. The new touch and iPhones have the ability to interface with previously inaccessible systems like Microsoft’s Active Sync. Third party developers are injecting tons of applications that has the iPhone and Touch turn into totally different machines with tons of applications and widgets that can be used on them. The upcoming upgrade to the iPhones software also includes the SDK which would allow users to create custom API’s and upload them to their iPhones. The Apple Touch and iPhone have revolutionized the way we use technology and has indeed made life a little easier for many in the business arena.

There was a time when your bag held a gadget known as a personal organizer that costs a couple of hundred bucks. They were the gadget to have and most office workers had them as a status symbol of the working class. Then came the ever smaller handheld computers that ran stripped down versions of your Laptop OS and everything changed overnight, they took the stage and everyone wanted one. Out with the PDA and in with the Handheld. Then Intel announces a new line of low-power processors they called the Atom that was combined with Centrino technology that allowed your Ultra-portable to become as powerful as your computer yet lighter than your keyboard. Advances in memory technology has flash drives replacing hard disks further extending the amount of power available. It will only be time when the computing power of your handheld would be equal to your gaming PC just with a smaller screen (you can use those magnifying gadgets they used on GameBoy’s). Besides, Man went to the moon with less computing power than your washing machine! The sky’s the limit.

Many in the business community hail the Blackberry as the best merging of technologies that have allowed the combination of a PDA, Cellular phone and Web PC all bundled into one small black package. Well, they’re not all black; they come in different colors too. But the Blackberry has transformed the office allowing you to take your mailbox with you as long as there is a mobile signal. The utter toughness of these small computers has allowed businessmen to keep in touch with their staff and bosses extending the office to where ever on earth you may be. They can be used in most of the major city centers but outside of them there is not much support for the place of a blackberry is in it’s own network. The latest release, the Smartphone in the form of the Blackberry Pearl 8110 loaded with some of the most sophisticated features like an on-board GPS, a digital camera with video capability and newer colors to appeal more to the females in the office.

What they are can be summed up in a few words, teeny tiny copper wires only atoms thick that may be used for Field-Emission Display’s which would not only revolutionize the digital display arena but will allow a more efficient form of display in terms of ultra thin Field Effect Displays. The material can be grown almost anywhere, silicon, glass, plastic and metal which means they are ideal for use on thinner displays. The material has been proposed as a way to fire electrons at phosphors such as the function of the electron gun in today’s CRT tube displays and TV’s. If they get to perfect the material, then it may signal the next step of display technology that use less electricity while giving vivid and unparalled display capabilities.

These gadgets already have cousins in the market but the introduction of a smaller more powerful processor loaded with better power management and consumption would allow longer battery charges. Internet enabled devices are now entering the market as the online world expands into every aspect of daily life. These devices are void of hard disk storage and sometimes even the CD-DVD combo drives which are the main power guzzlers that consume the battery’s charge fast. Eliminating them and minimizing the use of motors within the device decreases immensely the need for big batteries and support systems such as power supply and management systems. Storage comes in the form of internal flash disks which allows the computer to function and expansion slots for memory upgrades are available. Additional storage requirements can be augmented with external flash disks.

Intel, the largest manufacturer has just announced the release of it’s new line of small-footprint, low-power microprocessors designed for the growing mobile computing market. Designated Atom, the said microprocessor has received pledges from most of the world’s manufacturer of mobile computers such as Mobile Internet Devices(MID’s), Internet-Focused notebooks and Desktops, they utilize the world’s smallest transistors showcasing the companies advanced technology in chip design and development. There are actually two products that will carry the Atom logo namely; The pure Intel Atom which would be for mobile internet devices and the Intel Centrino which is aimed at the internet focused notebook market which we are beginning to see coming into the market.

Many companies have taken up the challenge of securing internet and data that go through the internet as we move to a more mobile workplace. Encryption, data compression and other technologies have greatly improved the security of information as it barrels through the internet. Hardware based protection for such networks are now becoming available and are now being implemented. Firewalls and other intrusion prevention and detection systems have improved greatly allowing us to work without worrying about information being lost or being stolen. Biometrics and other technologies bundled together is proving to be a harder nut to crack and many are finding them more and more of a necessity to assure safe and secure computing over the Internet.

The CES market has expanded and benefited from the computer technology industry at the same pace. Innovations in the computing world are quickly becoming integrated into Consumer electronics goods as fast as they are thought of. Maybe because these products are becoming more of the mainstream money earners for IT companies because there are already too many giants to compete with in the IT industry. The best innovations are the smallest and most indiscrete such as the ever increasing transition of the workforce into the true wireless network where anyone can work and stay connected with their jobs anytime anyplace. True, many plans for city-wide implementations flopped (high cost of investment) but they are again being re-thought as new technologies arise. Most major cities have hot-spots that can be tied together with newer WiMax systems.

The game that started out as a fad has now gained a loyal following and has even been hailed as a tool for medical purposes. Games that immerse you in the action as if you were in the field playing tennis, skiing on the slopes and more. The gaming platform was so revolutionary it allowed the previously select environment of immersion technologies to come out into common households as they play sports in the comfort of their living rooms. Family ski, another game designed for the Wii, is a skiing game that allows you to go skiing in your living room as your balance is tested and reflected on the screen in the shape of a sumo wrestler?? The Wii fit series of games immerses the user in sporting activities that engages the physical aspects of the human physiology allowing you to sweat (if the air-conditioned is down) as you play.