[revisited] Google's reference gadgets

Almost 2 years ago (Jan 2011) I was musing about Google's reference device strategy; see my post from then.

At that time Google had the Nexus One (by HTC) and the Nexus S (by Samsung)  devices out, they also released the Cr48 as a reference for their Chrome line.
And I was wondering

I wonder when they will release such a reference device for tablets (with Android).
Or will they ever?

Well, they did, didn't they.
Here's the full Nexus family of devices as of now;

• a really cool smart-phone (Nexus 4)
• a mid size tablet (Nexus 7), that I really long for
  and
• a full tablet (Next 10)

So, they did it.
Thanks

A New Baby - Raspberry Pi

Finally - thanks to Max, I got my new baby:

a Raspberry Pi.

What for, you ask?

Don't know yet... I'm thinking along the lines of

• a thermostat - with some fancy features
• a power meter - for some "private" smart metering

Any other ideas welcome.

Today I finally found the time to get the beast running: only needed an SD card (believe it or not, I could not find any SD card at home... probably because my Nikon uses CF). 

I also got myself a new Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse; the first time I'm using a wireless... but only because the Pi is next to the TV (via HDMI cable), and I don't want any more cables lying around.

Apache is running, the dhcp lease is permanent... cool times ahead.

Book: iWoz - by and about Steve Wozniak

A couple of weeks ago I read iWoz: How I invented the Personal Computer and had fun doing it by and about Steve Wozniak.
Only I forgot to blog about it then. So here you go.


Fascinating book... well, when I say that, it will not win the Nobel prize, but it is so full of memories.
That is,

• if you ever did something in hardware;
• if you ever (like I did at TechU Vienna) designed some chips (integrated circuits - not crisps or fries)[1] 
• if you ever designed a small computer system, with CPU, memory, and all the device controllers
• if you ever had to write BIOS functionality or at the operating system level
• if you ever wanted to do more with some gadget than the manufacturer intended you to do
• if you ever spent[2] days optimizing some machine instructions / assembler programs to use 2 cycles less

If you ever were a geek, if the name Steve Wozniak has any meaning to you... go and read this book.
An experience quite close to time travel

--

[1] by the way my first contact with SunOs

[2] read: wasted

Google's reference gadgets

With the Nexus One (by HTC) and the Nexus S (by Samsung) Google clearly wanted to publish a reference implementation and hardware for the respective Android versions.

The same is true for the Cr-48 as a reference hardware for their Chrome OS netbook operating system. Or Browser... or whatever it is now.

None of them is about about having a product out in the market, nor is their (main) purpose to have vanilla Google devices, which are not soiled by nasty vendor or operator code and customizations...

No, it's about setting a standard.
Having a reference.
For all the manufacturers, vendors, operators, reviewers (and bloggers).

I wonder when they will release such a reference device for tablets (with Android).
Or will they ever?

Currently it seems they haven't made up their mind about the tablet space... should it be Android (=tablet as a large phone, like Apple did) or should it be Chrome OS (=tablet as an even more reduced netbook, like everyone thought, before Apple did it the other way a year ago).

I guess this years CES will show.

Engadget: Massive Google hard drive survey turns up very interesting things

The funny thing about Google is, that every single aspect of their datacenters (n.b. the plural here) is a large enough sample for statistics.

No surprise therefore, that statistcs like the following can be release:
Massive Google hard drive survey turns up very interesting things - Engadget