Spanair - The Santa Clause of Airlines!

This is a feel good story and obviously not tech-related, but I just had to share it with you.

Spanish Airline, Spanair, gave 190 of its passengers from Barcelona to Las Palmas gifts last Christmas eve. The gifts were personalized to men, women, and children on the flight. This is obviously a publicity stunt spread via a viral video, but it`s still a nice story. When I go to Spain, I am flying with Spanair!

Source Flight Global

Android 3.0 Makes an Appearance on the Motorola Xoom

Motorola`s newest addition to the 2011 Tablet line-up is a 10-inch, 1GHZ dual-core powered multimedia machine. It will come with 2-megapixel and 5-megapixel cameras (front and rear) and will run Flash (yes Flash!), 1080P video, and will be available in 3G/Wi-Fi and later in the year in 4G LTE/Wi-Fi versions.

Android 3.0, named ``Honeycomb``, is the latest OS and  it is aimed at running on Tablets. It looks very promising as an OS and we will see it appear on more devices likely before CES is over.

Let the Tablet wars begin!

Source Gizmodo

Windows 8 Will Be Tablet Friendly

Microsoft gave the world a sneak peek today at its next version of Windows. Windows 8 as it is currently dubbed (and that will stick), will run on both Tablets and regular Windows machines--PC`s, laptops, and netbooks--, and will likely be marketed accordingly. The Tablet version will run on ARM or other low powered processors that are currently powering most mobile phones and current Tablets.

The new OS looks promising as it will be able to run full HD 1080P video, multitask, and a plethora of Windows apps. The apps however, will have to be re-encoded to run on the smaller less powerful processors, as the current windows apps are programed to run on x86 processors (Intel and AMD).

More to come soon.

Source Microsoft

2011: The Year of the Tablet

Last year saw the release of Apple's much anticipated iPad. Although it was Apple's first crack at the tablet category, they were able to deliver a product was innovative and well designed. Other companies like HP and later in year Samsung and RIM revealed their tablet plans, but none had the attention of the iPad. The iPad became the coveted gadget by millions immediately after it was unveiled last January and once people held it in their hands, it was clear that this new computer form-factor would be here to stay.

With CES debuting in just over a day, the buzz is that tablets will be all the buzz. Companies like Vizio and Asus have already given us a sneak peak at what they will be announcing at CES, while Microsoft is expected to be announcing some tablet news of their own featuring Windows 7. HP is expected to announce some news of their own in February where their Palm powered WebOS tablets will add to the competition.

With all these announcements and expected product launches this year, it's obvious the tablet form-factor is making a big push for acceptance among netbooks and laptops of this world. The question is, will another device dethrone the iPad's huge momentum, or will Apple continue their supremacy as they launch the second version of the device. One thing is for sure, these multitouch devices will make netbooks go extinct as they get better and cheaper.

And of course, this post was typed up on an iPad.

CES - What is it?

The acronym stands for Consumer Electronics Show and the full name is actually International Consumer Electronics Show. CES is the biggest consumer electronics show in the world and is held every January in Las Vegas. Produced by the Consumer Electronic's Association (CEA), CES has been the "show" over the last 40 years where innovative consumer electronics are unveiled to the public.

The VCR, CD players, HDTV's, the Xbox are a few of the revolutionary devices that were announced at CES. Every year, techno geeks around the world get excited about what innovative and latest gadget will be unveiled by over 2000 electronics manufactures from around the world. Microsoft, Samsung, Sony, and LG are among the biggest exhibitors at the show.

CES 2011 runs from January 6-9 and if previous shows are any indication, this year's edition will have some big announcements.

source CES

and it begins...

Technology is everywhere! It's in what we eat, wear, see, drive, hear, etc. Our everyday lives are consumed by technology and we can't escape it (unless you move to a secluded island and live a life à la Tom Hanks in Castaway), therefore we must learn to live with it.

This blog embraces technology and looks at how we can use it in our daily lives. We'll look at innovative, cutting-edge, and game changing technologies, as well historical technological advances that have shaped our world today.

We'll focus largely on consumer electronics, transportation, food, and fashion, but we'll deviate from this list from time to time. My goal is to educate the masses--those who want to stay current on technology so that they know what an iPhone is when their kid requests for one for Christmas. This is technology explained in an easy to understand, unguarded, available to everyone way.

This blog will evolve over time, so consider this version 1.0.

Frank