From time to time we just like to babble on about various interesting technical stuff from various sectors. So here we go with this month’s Techno Babble.
Wishing we had some early VMware stock
EMC is a great company that has executed some stellar, albeit cash heavy acquisitions, over the years. You have to give it to EMC CEO Joseph Tucci — The VMware 80% stake owned by EMC was a brilliant move. VMware leads in the virtualization market and is valued at $39 billion dollars and has annual revenues of $2 billion dollars. As an EMC and VMware partner, we are happy that our little firm has had a role in the growth of both EMC and VMware. Just wish we had bought some of that stock early on.
The promise of green energy coming out of Silicon Valley
Bloom Energy has some cool fuel cell technology and is thinking progressively on how to deliver cost effective fuel cell energy to businesses. California offers subsidies to help Bloom provide competitive fuel cell energy to businesses such as Walmart. Bloom’s technology is based on fuel cells that are not much bigger than a small smart phone. When the cells are stacked in a manner that equates to the size of a pallid size crate, the cells can generate 100 KW of power. The Bloom technology is clean and quiet and eliminates the transmission of power over a gird. With our interest in green computing and cyber threats to the power grid, we are going to keep our eye on Bloom Energy. Google certainly is, as it is one of several investors in the company.
The Ipad 2 cult
We witnessed about 1000 people in line last month as they waited patiently for the clock to strike 5pm so they could get their hands on the new Ipad 2. The Apple store had 100 sales staff ready to serve and they all recited the same line when asked: “how many do you have?” or “Will I get one after the hours of standing in this line?” The answer was a continuous chorus of “Don’t know.” Apple continues to innovate and dominate and simply put, Apple has a an almost cult like following that does not mind selling the Ipad they stood in the same long line for hours to get just last year or so on eBay to the less techno-fashion focused. The new white color was the hot item during the frenzy, how else would any one know that you have the latest and greatest version of the Ipad? The new features such as the cameras and the smaller form factor are welcomed improvements. China has been pumping out lower quality but functional Ipad clones and other tablet technology with video conferencing capabilities and other features that were missing from the original Ipad ever since the Ipad was introduced into the market place. The new cover with the magnet and auto shut off feature is interesting but a bit difficult to deal with in a packed-to-the-brim briefcase. It tends to come off.
Dick Tracey Technology
We have had the unfortunate task of testing yet again the latest versions of cell phone watches. Amazingly, not a single one is worth a dime. Low battery life and poor audio just does not cut it. We found that you could not walk around the block with one of these cell phone watches without the battery needing a charge. We did a test on one that was the best of the lot, but with its large form factor you might as well by a small form factor cell phone. To the manufacturers: keep on trying but we are not sure the world needs a cell phone watch any way. Cell phone processor power is quickly catching up with laptops and tablets.
Speaking of cell phones, I do wish the new Android Pro 2 phone had a better battery life, there is nothing worse than having to walk around with a pocket full of batteries to get through an 8 hour day of email and phone calls due to the toll this phone takes on a battery. While the after market extended batteries offer slightly longer use, that’s about all you get — just slightly better battery life. One other thing, the phone runs hot! You don’t want the thing next to your skin after a few hours or in your pocket as you are going to get a serious tan from all the heat the phone gives off. Bottom line… can’t wait for a newer version with better battery life.