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Posts Tagged ‘Dell Computers’

Dell Releases Customized Version of Chrome OS

Dell has just released a customized version of Chromium OS, the open source code behind Google’s new operating system called Chrome, in a build designed specifically for Dell Mini computers. According to a blog post on the Dell Community site, several company employees were inspired create this custom version after seeing Engadget’s video showing Chrome OS running on a Vostro A860 netbook. After tinkering around with the code, they were able to create their own version of Chromium OS, complete with functional Wi-Fi drivers, and have made the build available for download as a USB key image file from the Direct2Dell blog.

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About Google Chrome

After last week’s sneak peek at Google’s upcoming operating system dubbed Google Chrome OS, tech enthusiasts everywhere have been playing with the open source code which Google released to the community on the day of the press conference. This code, called Chromium OS, lets anyone take the basic building blocks of Google’s operating system and customize it for their own purposes. Going the open source route isn’t just an example of Google’s desire to “not be evil,” but protects the company from anti-trust, anti-competitive claims surrounding the new project – a project which is basically an OS that runs only one web browser: Google Chrome. In fact, Google’s browser is the operating system in its entirety. No desktop applications will be supported on this web-based, Wi-Fi only machine. As Google’s VP of Product Management, Sundar Pichai, said during the press event, if any other browser maker wants to build their own version of the OS using their own browser, they can.

Since the launch of the Chromium OS source code, there have been a number of articles explaining how to run the operating system in a virtual machine on your own computer as well as how to boot the operating system from a USB flash drive. But up until now, these efforts have been steered by enthusiastic technology users and not those associated with any large computer manufacturer such as Dell.

And while the Dell Chromium build isn’t exactly an “official” company product, it’s noteworthy for the fact that it was designed by company employees, posted publicly on a Dell website, and is customized to run specifically on Dell Mini computers.

Dell’s Chromium OS Build

According to the Dell blog post, the USB key image file (available here: http://linux.dell.com/files/cto) only works on Dell Mini 10v computers. Most importantly, the build makes the built-in Broadcom Wi-Fi adapter on these machines functional, a feature needed when running a web-based OS. After all, what good is a cloud operating system if you have to be tethered to an ethernet cable?

The blog post includes instructions on how to copy the USB image file to a USB flash drive, but unfortunately the directions are aimed only at those who have access to another Linux machine. We’re not sure why Windows and Mac users couldn’t just modify the instructions found on this website to make their own Dell Chromium OS USB keys by substituting the Dell build for the one hosted on that site.

In addition, if you’re interested in trying out the Dell version of Chromium OS, there are a couple of things you should know:

• You’ll need a hefty USB key drive – 8 GB minimum.
• It may take 5-10 minutes for the Chromium OS network connection manager to “see” the Wi-Fi access points.
• Some issues with the connection manager are still present. If it gets hung, reboot and try again.
• And by the way, there’s no “reboot” – you have to press the power button on the Mini laptop.
• The Dell build is unsupported and minimally tested – use at your own risk.

If you’re still feeling brave, the download is available here.

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Roundup: Dell up, phishing down, App Store forecasts all around

Dell beats forecasts, boosting stock despite loss in profits — The company reported revenue of $12.9 billion net income of $472 million, 24 cents a share, a 23 percent decline from last year’s $616 million net from $16.4 billion in revenue.  That’s 28 cents per share excluding costs associated with an in-process restructuring. Analysts had forecast $12.6B revenue and 23 cents per share earnings. Dell’s stock price jumped to $15.65 just before the close of trading, a 7 percent surge. The New York Times reports that analysts expect an upswing in corporate spending on Dell computers as the economy gradually recovers and aging equipment gets in the way of worker productivity and cost-effective IT.

Is the iPhone app market worth $2.4 billion a year? I read the same AdMob report as Om Malik, but Om homed in on the craziest biggest number in the thing: AdMob claims that the iPhone App Store is selling apps at a rate of $2.4 billion a year. Why didn’t I run that number? I guess because I don’t believe it.

Sirius introduces an iPhone dock to deliver satellite radio to auto drivers – The $120 dock, available this fall, is designed to plug into a car cigarette lighter. It will use a new connection system that plays the iPod through the car stereo. Customers will be offered the full XM lineup for $12.95 per month, plus a Best of Sirius option for another $4. Sirius’ customer base has dropped from 19 million at the end of 2008 to 18.4 million in June. The Wall Street Journal has the full story.

Phishing emails largely abandoned by fraud careerists — The Register reports that no one knows for sure what all the former phishing experts are doing now to make a living. But it’s definitely true that phishing emails have dropped off. Anti-virus firms are climbing on top of each other to take the credit for detecting phishing emails so well that they’ve put the crooks out of business. That seems to understate the extent to which Internet users have become smarter about emails designed to dupe them. The current crop of phishing emails has reduced its number of targets to two: 43.7 percent are aimed at tricking PayPal users. 13.1 percent target eBay users, as reported to the Register by Russian anti-virus firm Kapersky Lab.

Ad agency sues other agency over its campaign for Bing — Delaware-based Denizen has filed a lawsuit against supersize firm JWT and its parent company WPP. Denizen claims that WPP breached a confidentiality agreement, and JWT stole Denizen’s proposed technique for blending a TV show’s content and characters into advertising, using Denizen’s ideas to create advertising spots for NBC TV show The Philanthropist. Business Insider reports that “Denizen says the ad agency and holding company not only stole its trade secrets for creating integrated ads — which include strategies for obtaining Screen Actors Guild contracts, methods for gaining access or rights to TV program content and ways to shoot the ads — but also made them publicly known due to the number of parties involved in the Bing campaign.”

Net experts who left Forrester join Altimeter — Jeremiah Owyang and Ray Wang were both Forrester analysts who focused on the Internet. Deborah Schultz went from marketing director at blog software maker Six Apart to social media expert for Procter & Gamble. All three have joined Altimeter, where they will bring Web 2.0 and social media strategies to clients of Altimeter’s consulting business. Altimeter will host a free webinar titled “The Future of Business” on September 10th.

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