Bulldozer world record re-broken by Andre Yang with a 8.58GHz victory lap originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Nov 2011 03:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The last time we spoke with Stephen DeWitt, the head of HP’s webOS global business unit was on the defensive about the TouchPad. In spite of — or perhaps because of — the anticipation of the device, the first webOS tablet received a lukewarm reception at hands of reviewers. DeWitt vigorously defended the slate against the critics, suggesting that technology writers had been approaching the product the wrong way. A lot has happened since that conversation, of course, including reports of unmoved stock and, more significantly, yesterday’s news that HP would effectively be discontinuing production on its webOS devices, the TouchPad included.

There’s been a good deal of confusion around precisely what yesterday’s announcement means for both the company and the mobile operating system that it picked up with its purchase of Palm back in April of last year. In spite of his understandably packed schedule, DeWitt sat down with us to set the record straight and shed some light on the future of webOS — a future both he and the company remain rather optimistic about.

Read on for the full interview.

Continue reading The Engadget Interview: HP’s Stephen DeWitt discusses the state of webOS

The Engadget Interview: HP’s Stephen DeWitt discusses the state of webOS originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Aug 2011 17:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Foursquare has been shifting its sights from the present to the future, looking at how it can help recommend where people should go — but the location-based network is also finding a lot of opportunities in the past.

I sat down with co-founder Dennis Crowley to talk about a slew of announcements the New York City-based company has put out in recent days, and one interesting thread was how the past has played a role in a couple of the more prominent updates. For example, the new ability to check-in to events like sporting games, concerts and movies provides a lot more color to people’s check-ins and gives them a better sense of what they were doing when they checked in.

It’s not only helpful for brands and Foursquare partners, but it helps build what Crowley calls “augmented memory,” assisting people in remembering what they’ve done in the past. Foursquare has already embarked on this by reminding people about the last time they checked-into a location. But with event check-ins, Foursquare can preserve memories more fully, serving more as a digital scrapbook or journal.

“In the same way people keep concerts stubs or movie tickets, we can do it digitally,” Crowley said.

Foursquare's curated lists

Foursquare’s new curated lists, introduced this week, also leverages the past by giving people the ability to put together lists of places they’ve gone to and share them with others. Users can grab locations they’ve been to and toss them into these lists, making their check-ins part of a lasting resource or recommendation for others.

Foursquare has also worked with Bravo TV, the History Channel and others to leave historical tips at interesting locations. Now, it’s finding that politicians are interested in the same kind of thing, using Foursquare to remind people of their past accomplishments. For example, President Barack Obama, who joined Foursquare this week, will not only be using the check-ins to chart his movements but will be leaving historical location-based information tips about his past accomplishments at various places.

Looking back and preserving the past is not Foursquare’s sole focus, but it’s interesting to see how Foursquare and others are able to find value in these past check-ins. The big promise of Foursquare is still in prediction and recommendations, but all this past data and the mechanism for tying it to locations is proving valuable in its own way.

Event check-ins

The major value of previous check-ins so far has been in feeding Foursquare’s Explore feature, which recommends places for people to go based on their past visits. Crowley said Explore has shown people the value of preserving their check-ins, because it leads to smart suggestions about where to go next. He likened it to Mr. Miyagi, from the Karate Kid, slowly teaching his student how to fight using simple lessons.

“We asked people to check in, which is like painting the fence. Now we’re teaching karate,” Crowley said. “It all goes into a recommendation engine that knows what you like and what else you’ll like.”

The next step for Explore, he said, will be to help people plan more for the future. Explore suggests places based on the present tense, but in the future Foursquare is looking at allowing people to do more complex planning with Explore that takes into account the interests of friends that users plan to go out with.

In a lot of ways, Foursquare is not confined to just one use case. It’s finding there’s a lot of interesting things that happen when you focus on location. Crowley compared Foursquare to a machine that’s being put together in increments, a process that’s quickened recently. The company is now up to 70 employees and the increase of the latest ten hires has helped pick up the pace of updates, contributing to this past week’s flurry of news.

Crowley said the company is still working out its revenue model and sees its daily deals partnerships with companies such as Groupon and Living Social as part of the solution, but not the main engine in the future. He said the big key will be in providing tools for merchants, to help them manage and improve their relationship with customers. Foursquare provides those tools right now for free, allowing businesses to offer their own specials and get analytics back on user visits. But in the future, Foursquare is looking at charging for those tools, though there is no time frame for that, Crowley said.

“We’re now getting to the point where Foursquare users are expecting venues to participate and as we get more mainstream, merchants will find a way to get on board,” said Crowley. “There’s no countdown clock (for charging merchants) it’s when we’re ready. A lot of products are being developed and when we feel like the tools provide value, we’ll think about that.”

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These days it’s strange to hear people say, “I’m just not computer literate,” as computers have evolved from archaic scientific calculators to simple point-and-click type machines. We suspect that today’s “computer illiterates” are people who haven’t taken the time to experiment with such a machine. And we strongly believe that spending just twenty minutes with one could turn the most adamant technological caveman into any one of those who have fun wreaking chatroom havoc on the Internet today. An Excel training expert who knew much about website design Auckland and website design Wellington provided the following information.

Today, one only needs to learn how to manipulate a mouse, punch a few buttons on a keyboard, or really just turn the thing on to use a computer. It’s hard for some folks to believe, but the computers of this generation almost run themselves! For fun, let’s investigate just how little knowledge these thousand-dollar machines actually require.Fire doors and Roller doors have all sold out.

Can an absolute newbie operate a computer without knowing how to use a mouse or keyboard? Assuming that a computer is set up to operate on voice command – sure! Voice command software allows users to tell a computer what to do and the computer responds by fulfilling the user’s commands. Although it’s pretty new and still under development, voice directed technology has already infiltrated consumer service related systems. Think back to the last time that you paid a bill over the phone. Instead of speaking to a human being, chances are that you spoke to a computer that not only responded to what you said and followed the commands that you gave it, it also asked you for more information such as your full name or credit card number. In this case, a person (such as yourself) operated a computer without even knowing it!He wants to buy the home theater.

Can an absolute newbie sit down at a computer without knowing how to use one? Assuming that a computer is set up to operate on touch command – the answer is again, yes! Touch command software allows users to literally touch objects on a monitor and tell the computer what to do with a finger. Known as “kiosks,” these programs are already in use world wide at ATM machines, employment centers, and in health monitoring systems.