HP WebOS Acquired by LG for powering Smart TVs

The South Korean company, LG Electronics Inc. has purchased a mobile operating system from Hewlett-Packard that used to be a Palm product before HP purchased it. The Hewlett-Packard WebOS was originally meant for the company’s smart devices, but it failed and thus turned into an open source project. Now, HP has recently moved into Android for its tablets with Slate 7 and has sold its open source project to LG. LG will be using the HP WebOS for supporting its next-generation Smart TV technology.

The acquisition of source code, engineering talent, associated documents and related websites took place under an authentic agreement between the two companies. As part of the dealing, LG will get licenses under HP’s Intellectual Property (IP) for supporting its WebOs products. It will include patents from Palm including user interface technologies and fundamental operating system for broad use in the industry.

LG will assume protection of the open source projects of Enyo and WebOS. However, HP will retain ownership of all Palm cloud computing assets (infrastructure, source code, talent and contracts). In other words, HP will be supporting Palm users. Both the companies do not expect a material impact of this transaction on their financial statements, but there is no disclosure of terms for the deal.

Sapphire’s New Professional AMD W5000 DVI Graphics Card

The most powerful workstation graphics card is here named AMD FirePro W5000 DVI. It is specially designed for medical imaging and supports two Dual-Link Digital Virtual Interface (DVI) outputs that eliminates the need to switch cables required for DVI interface monitor users.

It produces immense resolution of 2560 x 2048 pixels and support 10-bit colour and grayscale pixel mode to enable clarity and image quality for accurately diagnosing the problem and treating the patient. It is also supported by the 28nm GCN (Graphic Core Next) architecture graphics core, which provides better performance and maximum 172 TFLOPS single precision floating point.

Other distinguished features of the Sapphire AMD W5000 DVI include 2GB GDDR5 high-speed memory that is capable of easily handling interactive content, high complexity module and standard definition video. It provides support for two 5MP displays independent or combined or for a single 10MP display with dual input connectors as a single big desktop.

AMD PowerTune technology for dynamic optimization of GPU power usage and AMD ZeroCore Power technology for reducing power consumption are amongst the other features of the W5000 DVI graphics card. It provides support for Microsoft’s Windows 8 with PCI-Express 3.0 Interface. A tested and certified product with CAD/CAM/M&E professional ISVs certifications for optimization and compatibility.

Input Devices and Accessories of the year 2012

After covering audio headphones, speakers, HD TVs, projectors, tablets, e-book readers, notebooks, smartphones and printers, I extended my research to different input devices and accessories. The research for the top products introduced in the year 2012 expanded my knowledge about latest technologies, gadgets and companies. Hope it had done the same for you. Let’s have a look on some of the digital accessories brought by the year 2012.

Logitech Bluetooth Illuminated Keyboard K810
The K810 is a full-sized backlit Bluetooth keyboard, which works with Android, Windows and iOS. It has the unique ability to get connected with three devices at the same time. You can toggle between the three devices with the help of dedicated keys on the top of the keyboard. Thus, allowing fast and easy access of devices and making text input across PC, tablet and phone smooth. The device also get points for the build quality as it features brushed aluminium finish with a compact and ultra-thin design. An all-round device to be included in top 100 products of 2012.

Seiko Astron Watch
If you are a jet-setter or a frequent flier, who travel from one timezone to another, here is a gift for you, the Seiko Astron watch. This watch is powered with solar energy and possesses ability to pinpoint its position on Earth with the help of a GPS satellite and then automatically set the correct time. This watch also corrects itself by synchronizing itself to an atomic clock, ensuring that it doesn’t lose a single second every 100,000 years.

Apple TV
This third generation Apple TV was launched in the U.S. at the beginning of 2012 and later it was made available in the Asian region with iTunes Store launch in June. It supports 1080p videos and a large library of TV series and movies, which can be purchased or rented from the iTunes Store. This is also one of the most affordable media player with the ability to stream YouTube or music from iTunes Match library. It also supports AirPlay to allow easy wireless access to large TV screen via iPod, iPad and iPhone.