If they didn't want it then, why would they want it now? | Bangkok Post: tech

A number of companies are now readying their iPad challenger. But why? What has changed in the past 10 years to suggest people who once rejected pen or touchscreen computing will now embrace it?

Yes, there are specialised groups and areas that use touch computers today. These include the medical profession, some stocktaking applications, service stations and other vertical access situations. The remainder of the market is then the regular people and organisations who want some kind of computing access. The question then becomes does the iPad or any of its clones deliver this kind of general computing in a way that is better than the alternatives? The short answer is no.

There is a certain amount of novelty value in a new Apple product and there is also some novelty value in the touch screen computer. For any long-term use, it is tiring to be touching a screen all the time for other than a simple push button or selection process. As soon as real input is required, the novelty soon wears off. I would hate to have to type in my weekly column using something other than a regular keyboard.

How broad, then, is a market that has jumped on the Apple novelty bandwagon to produce iPad killers? Very small. Yes, there will be some takers for iPad clones or different types. The majority of people will still be better served with a notebook or PC or, at the other end, a touch screen, smart phone-sized device, be it an iPhone or an Android-based unit.

If I can type the occasional Thai SMS on it, my next phone is likely to be an Android-based Samsung or HTC unit. I can see no reason why I would ever use an iPad, and my Kindle does everything I need it to do as an eBook reader.

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So what will Google's iPad equivalent be like? It will have multi-touch, according to Israel-based Haaretz, which is producing the technology for this for Google. The unit is being built in co-ordination with HTC, the popular Taiwanese phone maker. The GPad might be based on the Google Chrome operating system, but Android is another option. It may arrive in stores, probably in the US, in November, though this date is still subject to change. In reality, the change of a Chrome-based unit is doubtful, because the first target of this OS will be netbooks and the tablet versions have just been mock-ups.

Some recently released netbooks were based on the new dual-core Atom processor from Intel, the N550. It looks like just about every major manufacturer will ship N550-based units by the end of the year, so if you have a favourite, you may have to wait. The new DDR 3-supporting CPU claims to deliver a battery drain that's "similar" to that of the single-core 1.66GHz N450. This is true partly because the core clock speed has been dropped to 1.5GHz, but the extra core more than makes up for this in performance. Intel also fully supports Netbooks with 12" screens, once again blurring the lines between notebook types.

Samsung has also unveiled their iPad killer, the Galaxy Tab. Sounding more like a video game or fizzy drink, the new unit has a 7" screen and will also run on Android 2.2 and be able to handle video calls. This might be difficult since these photos have only one camera, on the back of the unit. Satnav, email and calendar apps are shown in the pictures, along with the Samsung AllShare version of the Digital Living Network Alliance specification or DLNA. By the time you read this, more details will be available after the Sept 2 launch.

Apple says that the "non-personal" data they collect cannot be used to identify you. Microsoft's' identity architect Kim Cameron say that they can. Who do we believe? My default position has always been if they are collecting data and tell you they cannot do something with it and not to worry, then this usually means they can, and you should. Microsoft has been caught out along with many others over the years. Apple collects data such as occupation, language, postcode, a location and time identifier and a unique device identifier. They do this, just like Google does, to "better understand customer behavior and improve our products, services, and advertising". They also reserve the right to disclose this info "for any purpose". Apple's logic is that the unique identifier is just a GUID or random number, not the MAC address of your computer. Cameron argues that the location plus the GUID and a reverse look-up on location will soon point to an individual and also tie the GUID to them forever. Bottom line, the more info you provide or is collected on you, then the more likely it will be that you can be uniquely identified.

The H.264 consortium is really trying to get people to adopt it. The latest attempt is via the forever-free H.264 license, which sounds great until you find out that it is limited to video broadcasts. Yes, when it comes to conversion, the licensing and subsequent fees then kick in. This latest attempt to gain interest is just another response to Google's WebM alternative, which has been open sourced under a royalty-free license. The latest move from the MPEG-LA doesn't really change anything because the format was already royalty-free until 2014. Add to this that submissions for H.265, the replacement standard, have already been requested, how relevant will H.264 be by 2014? Mozilla and Opera have already backed WebM because it is a royalty-free codec. Apple and Microsoft as the patent holders have stuck with H.264, though Microsoft has said that IE9 can use WebM.

What do you do when you are annoyed with your server at work? If you are Joshua Lee Campbell of a Lake City mortgage company, you get drunk and then go back to the office with a 45 revolver and fire it. I guess that is one way to deal with a computer problem.

Three cheers to local operator TrueMove for being honest about the dangers of mobile phone bills. If you visit their website, you'll find details on what can happen if you access your voicemail while overseas. Well, not so much while you are away, but rather when you get back and see the bill. The wording is priceless: "Voice Mail and Call Forwarding services are active even when you roam abroad. Charges for received calls and calls to Thailand may cause a heart attack." This is another way of saying that you will get all kinds of charges of you leave the service on while travelling.

Finally for this week, a warning. According to a study of over 1,000 workers in the UK, less than six percent of workers disconnect themselves from the office during their holidays. Half of the workers connect to the office occasionally, with 35 percent staying online during their break. The same survey found that over 90 percent of the people buying an iPad-style device had done so with the intention to use it for work but less that 25 percent actually did so. It certainly is a connected world we live in these days.