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National service companies and their ethics: Where did we go wrong?

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Normally I would post this in one of the private user group forums but I believe this is a topic that everyone should discuss as it is a general ethical question and one that anyone outside a particular platform could encounter either with a national or within their own operation and is something everyone who operates a business with a code of conduct needs to address.

For the protection of all parties and to avoid possible violations of confidentiality agreements the parties involved will remain anonymous.

Recently a national service company posted a job through a service platform for a tech to run a service event to one of their clients. This particular company normally provides the equipment used onsite at such events as part of their service to their customers and this case was no different, however something happened to the shipment and the equipment never made it to the site.

The national requested a tech to go to the site and bring specific equipment for the event to replace that which did not arrive. This was not equipment a service technician would typically have on hand, therefore the following request was made to secure it:

Should the tech not have the necessary equipment to provide onsite for the event, the tech was advised to go to Wal-Mart or Best Buy to purchase it (on the tech’s dime) and then return it to the store the next day.

Now, there are ethical questions about unfairly taking advantage of a big box store, but before making the call there are are three very important things to consider.

1. This equipment was intended to be used by the national as a one day rental to the customer
2. It was not one or two items, but a list consisting of over a dozen items, including several expensive hardware devices, accessories and recordable media.
3. The tech would not be reimbursed for any of it.

So the suggestion was to purchase the items, take them on site for the day and return them all to the place of purchase the next day for a refund.

This is just wrong on so many levels I don’t know where to begin.

First, the national is renting out equipment it doesn’t even own and does not intend to purchase with no compensation to the tech who would own it after purchase. That in itself is just wrong.

Second, the national is suggesting the tech actually use the items for a for-profit event and then return it when finished to the place of purchase. The store will take a serious hit for the merchandise. That could constitute fraud.

Third, returning recordable media after it was used is, at the very least, dumb.

Fourth, should the store ask questions or investigate due to the large amount of merchandise being returned, it will be the tech on the hotseat and on the hook.

Fifth, should something happen to the equipment while on site, the tech assumes all liability. Would the tech’s insurance cover it? Possibly, unless it is used as rental equipment. The national would not assume liability, yet collect the rental fee from the customer. That is simply dishonest.

finally, if a national suggested a tech do something ethically questionable or wrong for their own gain and at the tech’s risk, it is not a company to work for.

The company did clarify the tech who performs the service event could keep the equipment purchased for the event “as long as its on their dime”.

So they will “let” the tech keep something the tech bought and paid for that they wanted the tech to buy for single use as “their” rental, for which the tech would receive no proceeds from, at the tech’s own liability and risk, that the tech wouldn’t have purchased for himself or herself otherwise.

How big of them!

Now, that’s just messed up.

Is this what our industry has come to? What was once considered a somewhat respectable business has become a quagmire of mistrust, disrespect and outright disdain for both the customers/end users and the dedicated, hard working, qualified professionals who service and support them.

Stories abound about nationals who demand immediate service from techs and are slow to pay or actually have clauses in their contracts placed there specifically to avoid payment (and in at least one case even bill the tech) for services rendered,  middlemen on national service platforms who require all manner of detail on service calls for lowball rates, platforms that claim to be neutral parties and assume no liability or risk themselves, yet control the customer/tech relationship and act as judge, jury and executioner of the tech should a dispute arise.

When did we, as IT service professionals, lose control of our own marketplace? At what point was it decided we are no longer contracted professionals, but day laborers with little power to negotiate with our clients and few, if any, rights?

Now we have nationals suggesting we cast away our code of professional ethics as well, telling us to put it all on the line for them at our cost and our risk, as if we are all that stupid and gullible to comply.

The scary part of all this is that, at least to some degree, they may be right.

The reason we got to where we are is because there are some “techs” out there who will comply, and for the lowest amount.

Then again, perhaps its me. Perhaps there are techs who think such a request is perfectly reasonable, who think spending an hour working on a server for $25 is good money and the moral or ethical issues of returning  $1000 worth of merchandise in a potentially fraudulent transaction is just business as usual.

What do you think?

Study says adoption of Windows 7 will be slow

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If you think Windows 7 will finally lure users away from XP and redeem Microsoft for Windows Vista, think again, says a new study.

The study, released this week by Kase Networks, reports that 84% of respondents have no plans to upgrade to Windows 7 in the next year. The new operating system is due out by the end of 2009, however the study says a majority of companies will be slow to adopt or migrate to it, choosing to either move to Macs or Linux or stick with Windows XP. Of those who do plan to move to Windows 7, more than half said they were going to do so “specifically to avoid Window Vista”.

The study polled 1,142 IT professionals and found that while some respondents were receptive to the new operating system, many were reluctant migrate over to it immediately for several reasons. 88% of those who were reluctant listed software compatibility as their primary concern. 42% said economic conditions were also a factor.

The study also indicated that while many still plan to stick with XP for awhile, users were aware that there were other options available and many were considering a move to non-Mircosoft operating systems. Although 99% of respondents were using Microsoft operating systems, 50% considered adopting Apple or Linux based operating systems instead, a 7 percent jump from another study conducted in 2008.

What does this mean for Microsoft? Windows is its mainstay. About 40% of its revenue comes from Windows licensing. After losing a three year battle to sell the masses and the enterprise on Vista, Window 7 could make or break their business in the OS marketplace.

As limited in scope as this study may be, it is indicative of a mindset and a stigma among users about a post-XP Windows world. Windows XP is still popular, but it is nearing its end-of-life and, while still spry, it is showing its age. Eventually it will be time to upgrade to something.  Windows 7 needs to be a hit or Microsoft will have nothing for XP users to upgrade to and they  will inevitably migrate to something else.

The study is available at http://www.kace.com/pdf/analyst-report/Windows-7-Adoption-Survey.pdf

Does Obama really have a Blackberry? Does it really matter?

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For months I’ve noticed headlines about President Obama and his use of a mobile phone. At first I sort of just shrugged it off as it was just somewhat of a novelty, at least to some, that a president would carry around and use one. Millions of Americans have and use cell phones every day and it seems only natural that an American leader would do so as well. Even if past presidents never carried or used one, it was only a matter of time before one of them did. So what’s the big deal?

Apparently the media thinks it is one. In fact, they seem to be somewhat fixated on exactly what device Obama uses and worry over whether or not he plans to keep it.  If it was one article for filler or diversion that would be fine, but they’ve been harping on it for months now and it’s getting a little ridiculous.

Computerworld published an article yesterday over an argument as to whether or not Obama’s phone is actually a Blackberry and, if not, what it possibly could be. It’s not the first one they’ve published, either. There seems to be some real concern at Computerworld as to whether or not the President gets to keep his Blackberry, if it is indeed one.

It’s not just Computerworld. CNN, Wired, Gizmodo and other media outlets, both old and new, are hung up over Obama’s phone. They’re not playing around, either. They are making a serious issue out of it, or at least they are trying to.

Seriously, with all the real and important issues to cover, who cares what mobile device he uses? Apart from the obvious promotional aspects of the this trivia for the manufacturer of the device, whatever it really is, why is this worth anyone’s time or effort to worry about or even discuss?

Yes, I know and understand what the real concern is about. It isn’t all about fashion. It’s about security. There is some real concern about just how safe it is for a U.S. President to be using any old mobile phone to discuss things that could affect our national security. It is a real issue and I certainly understand that. But, let’s be real here. 

First, just how secure can you make any mobile device? If they can be secured they can also be hacked. As far as I know there is no wireless device that is completely secure and unhackable. If the communications are that classified and sensitive, the bottom line is that he really shouldn’t be using a commercially available, personal, consumer grade mobile device for those communications at all.

Then again, he is the President. If he wants to use a Blackberry, the NSA should find a way to make it happen so that he can.

Which brings us back to the celebrity aspect of it all.

This isn’t one article on the President and his phone. This speculative drivel has been going on for quite awhile now. It seems every day Computerworld or some other media outlet has published or recycled one more article attempting to spark some sort of debate over the president and his mobile communications device. That’s fine for a little diversion but to make it into some sort of major story or debacle is utterly ridiculous and a waste of web space on an otherwise informative site.

Are we all that shallow and hung up on the details of a popular figure, whether it be a corporate executive, pop star, sports icon, politician or some other celebrity that we expend our time and energy worrying about what mobile device he or she uses instead of what he or she may do with their status or, in the case of the President, what policies he may enact that could affect our world in the years to come?

Let the man carry a Blackberry, iPhone, Google Android phone, Samsung, Motorola or whatever device he wants to use. As long as they can secure it to NSA standards and make it work, frankly, I don’t care what brand it is and his personal preference of a phone is none of my business anyway. What I want to know is what he is doing while he is in office and how it will affect my family, my business and my life in the next four years. Cover those stories instead. That is what is really important. The rest of it is utter nonsense.

Microsoft and IE: losing browser market share or just losing it?

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Microsoft announced the release of Internet Explorer 8 beta 2 this week. The new version brings the promise of a new era in online productivity and W3C compliant web browsing. However, the second beta, which supposedly is an improvement on the first, also came a couple of caveats.

First, if you have Windows XP SP3, in order to install IE8 Beta 2, you must first uninstall beta 1. In order to uninstall beta 1, you must first uninstall SP3, remove beta 1 and reinstall SP3. If you install beta 2 with Windows XP SP3, you won’t be able to uninstall either the service pack or the browser. According to a statement posted on the IEBlog by Microsoft Program Manager Jane Maliouta,  the installation becomes permanent. You can upgrade to later builds of IE 8 but you won’t be able to remove the browser or SP3.

Second, as listed in the release notes, Internet Explorer 8 beta 2 has known compatibility issues with numerous applications, both third-party and Microsoft. Apparently some of these issues existed in the first beta as well, including a major incompatibility with one of Microsoft’s own applications, Visual Studio .NET 7.

When software reaches beta it is usually theoretically in a state where major bugs are addressed and the software is only a step or two away from production. When the software is in beta, it usually means it is ready for usability testing in a real-world environment. Normally a browser application wouldn’t necessarily need such serious scrutiny for compatibility with other independent applications. But this is IE, which, once installed, becomes embedded with Windows.

The inability to be uninstalled in its native OS without practically reinstalling the OS itself (once SP3 is installed it becomes part of the OS) and the issues it has with at least two of Microsoft’s own applications are serious issues. Many software companies would consider such major bugs as software still in alpha, not beta and would take the time to fix them. Mozilla is one example of a company that does this.

The fact that Microsoft was fully aware of these issues when it was in beta 1 and still released them in beta 2 instead of addressing them first tells me that they are rushing to release instead of ensuring stability for beta testing.

Remember, this is the second beta. Theoretically the second beta addresses the bugs found by testers of the first beta. Yet these major bugs purportedly exist in beta 2 as well.  What other bugs were not fixed? Ask other beta testers if they want to waste their time logging the same bugs in beta 2 they logged in beta 1. Given this scenario from their point of view, how productive is that?

So, if IE8 beta has so many issues, why even beta test it? I mean, after all, this is a mega giant software company, the largest and most powerful software company in the world. They created this thing called IE8. It’s their little monster. They can essentially write the code to  make it do what they want.

Are they that lazy that it is just easier to release it with a disclaimer than to just make it work right to begin with? Or are they in such a hurry to get it to market and stop the leak in market share to Firefox that they just don’t have the time to bother with it?

It may be a little of both, however I contend it is the latter. Given their rush to market with Vista I surmise this is becoming their modus operandi. Apparently they didn’t learn anything from the Vista launch.

Microsoft is losing market share in the browser arena, confidence in the operating system market, trust among the developers and credibility overall.

In other words, I think Microsoft is losing it.

 

 

Sitepoint

 

Alert: DNS attack code released

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(TheForceField.Net ) July 24,2008 — DNS attack code that exploits the DNS vulnerability found and patched earlier this month was released yesterday on Metasploit. The code was released by the developers of the Metasploit hacking toolkit.

The bug was discovered by Dan Kaminsky of IOActive, Inc. and announced to the public earlier this month after a patch was created with the rare co-operation of major software vendors.

The code allows hackers to launch undetectable attacks on users of ISPs that have not patched their servers. The code can also be used to redirect Internet users to phony software update servers to download and install malware.

Security experts are warning everyone to patch immediately. To check the vulnerability of your ISP or DNS server go to http://www.doxpara.com .If your ISP has not patched or is vulnerable you can use OpenDNS .

 

 

 

Security Source

 

ITIL V3 is Slowly Making its Mark, but It has a Long Way to Go Yet, Says Parity

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Recent research from the IT Services firm Parity reveals ITIL V3 is slowly gaining traction, but there is still confusion in the marketplace.

(PRWEB) January 19, 2008 — Recent research undertaken by Parity shows an emerging but positive attitude in adoption of ITIL V3 among IT Service Managers, but there are still many professionals who have not yet undertaken the training and are confused about what it can offer.

Research into attitude and adoption rates of ITIL V3 (http://www.parity.net/training/browsecatalogue/servicemgt/itilv3/ ) at the recent itSMF Conference shows 31% of respondents currently use V3 within their organisation and nearly 40% believe that it offers a more strategic approach, with only 4% deciding against it. "Clearly its still very early days in terms of adoption", said Rick Firth, Managing Director, Parity Training (http://www.parity.net/training/ ), "but the signs are looking positive".

On the more negative side 16% of respondents admitted to being confused about the difference between ITIL V2 and V3 while 26% said they had not yet been through the IT training (http://www.parity.net/training/ ). Responses as to why ITIL V3 had not been adopted were extremely robust ranging from; 'Books are not as good as they should be; certification/examination is dreadful' and 'unproven and unrealistic to all in market place', to 'just not sure'.

Firth commented, "The problem is many people are happy with what V2 has delivered. We're almost looking at a different market for V3, where understanding the life cycle is a key part of the approach, but when we asked respondents about this it hardly registered as a reason to use it. This is why we are saying that it still has a long way to go in getting widespread commitment from the IT Service community, but we believe it will come through better understanding and education."

Less than 10% of respondents said they liked the life cycle approach, yet 21% said they considered better alignment to the business as a key benefit.

"The problem is ITIL V3 books and training for certification tells you the 'what' but not necessarily the 'how'", said Firth, "To help organisations do this Parity are making huge changes to the way they sell their services. In addition to launching added value services such as Learning Plus and Parity e-Books they intend to completely overhaul their learning portfolio to include IT Governance, Management and Professional skills, including Business and IT Consulting".

In terms of the business benefits nearly half of the 50 strong sample agreed that Service Design had been improved which means that clearly V3 is delivering on some of its promises, but since some organisations have only just got started on V2, there is still some reluctance in the market to go full speed ahead into V3.

Parity Group are leaders in Project and Programme Management, IT Service Management training (http://www.parity.net/training/browsecatalogue/servicemgt/ ) and consulting and were one of the original founders of PRINCE2 (http://www.parity.net/training/qualificationsandframeworks/projectandprogrammemanagement/prince2/ )

ITIL is a Registered Trade Mark, and a Registered Community Trade Mark of the Office of Government Commerce, and is Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

About Parity Group plc
Parity is an IT and Business services organisation delivering technical, recruitment and training solutions to the UK and Irish markets.

Parity's expertise in Project and Programme Management minimises business risk associated with systems implementation, integration or business change for clients. As agents of change, Parity provide the skills, competencies and concepts necessary to improved business performance for IT enabled projects, programmes and change initiatives.

Having been established for over thirty years, Parity has developed deep industry and expertise in Finance, Utilities, Telecoms and the Public Sector delivering, people, skills and concepts for IT enabled projects and programmes throughout the UK.

Parity believes that better relationships deliver better results. Many current client relationships span more than ten years, and include; Barclays Bank, British American Tobacco, BT, Department for Constitutional Affairs, Department for Work and Pensions, HBOS, Ministry of Defence, Northern Ireland Electricity, Royal Bank of Scotland, Scottish Power, The Cabinet Office, The Charity Commission and the NHS.

WorkLight Offers Predictions for Web 2.0 in the Enterprise in 2008

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Enterprise social networks and security concerns to be at the forefront of the “Consumerization of IT” in the corporate world

YAKUM, ISRAEL & BOSTON (Business Wire EON/PRWEB ) January 14, 2008 — WorkLight™ Inc., an Enterprise 2.0 company, announced today its predictions of the top trends to affect enterprises considering Web 2.0 technologies in 2008. The company compiled its list based on extensive conversations with top executives and IT decision-makers at Fortune 500 companies, who are intent on implementing consumer-style tools in the workplace in the coming year.

In recent years, industry experts have discussed the shift towards “consumerization of IT” and its effect on how work is getting done. Analyst firm Forrester Research estimates that 78 percent of IT organizations are concerned about the use of Web 2.0 tools by their employees. Gartner Research has maintained that the consumerization of IT is an “irreversible mega-trend,” urging forward-looking companies to embrace these technologies. Moreover, Yankee Group has concluded that over 86 percent of corporate users already utilize one consumer technology at work.

As these technologies become more widespread, WorkLight predicts that usage of Web 2.0 technologies in the enterprise will affect companies across three dimensions – People, Business and Technology:

People

  • The personal and professional lives of employees will continue to blend, and workers will seek to mirror the convenient home computing experience at the office
  • Workers will increasingly build social networks in the corporate environment with the same dynamics that drive their popularity in the consumer world
  • As the workforce becomes younger and more tech-savvy, employees will continue to introduce consumer tools and services into the enterprise, with and without the blessing of IT departments. These tools will include web-based services, and collaboration and social networking tools

Business

  • Businesses both large and small will seek to increase employee acquisition/retention and productivity through the use of flexible, scalable Enterprise 2.0 solutions within their “walled gardens”
  • Organizations will look to improve effectiveness and efficiency by facilitating access to proprietary data through the use of consumer Web 2.0 tools
  • Enterprise social networks will blossom in 2008, as social tools with open APIs (like Facebook) drive adoption
  • Forward-thinking organizations will anticipate these developments and harness, rather than hinder, Web 2.0 technologies in a secure and innovative manner

Technology

  • Security threats that target corporate data via Web 2.0 tools and services will become a topic of high priority
  • The top concerns for corporations will be most visible in the following areas: data theft, access control, identity protection, privacy, information leakage and liability for information misuse by employees
  • Attempts to handle these concerns will be reminiscent of experiences with email and Web 1.0 adoption in their initial corporate introduction
  • Use of consumer-style tools without adequate safeguards may lead to a high-profile security incident in 2008, prompting IT departments to seek out Enterprise 2.0 solutions with top-of-the-line protection

“This past year we have seen a significant spike in interest among companies and organizations intent on deploying consumer Web 2.0-style tools, a trend that will gain momentum in 2008,” said Shahar Kaminitz, CEO and founder of WorkLight. “From the insight and experience that customers have shared with us, we see that senior management is becoming increasingly responsive to the groundswell being generated by the younger generation entering the workforce.”

About WorkLight

WorkLight™ Inc. develops and markets a line of WorkLight server products that consumerize the corporate computing experience, by making popular consumer services like iGoogle, MS Live, Netvibes, and Facebook "enterprise-ready." Through WorkLight, employees and consumers connect to protected enterprise data (and to each other) using Web 2.0 services.

WorkLight is a venture-backed company with offices in Boston, Massachusetts and Yakum, Israel. WorkLight has received prestigious industry accolades including being named one of the "Five Enterprise 2.0 Startups to Watch," by Information Week magazine, being selected as part of CIO Magazine's Web 2.0 Product Suite, and being singled out with an honorable mention as one of Computerworld's "10 Cool Cutting-edge Technologies on the Horizon." WorkLight also received the "Stay Organized" award at Microsoft's Under the Radar Conference, and was named a Red Herring 100 International finalist. For more information, visit www.myWorkLight.com.

 

 

 

Toshiba Unveils Company

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New Portégé M700 Series, Toshiba’s 9th Generation Tablet PC, Provides Mobile Professionals a Powerful and Versatile Solution

IRVINE, Calif. (Business Wire EON/PRWEB ) December 10, 2007 — Building upon its award-winning legacy of Tablet PCs, Toshiba’s Digital Products Division, a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., today announced the Portégé® M700 Tablet PC series. The Portégé M700 is the company’s first Tablet PC to incorporate a touch screen LED backlit display.

  As the ninth generation of Toshiba’s innovative Tablet PC product line, the Portégé M700 series offers enhanced versatility, performance and productivity to attend to the needs of on-the-go professionals, “corridor warriors,” educators and students.

“Toshiba’s Portégé M700 Tablet PC provides mobile professionals with an exceptionally intuitive Tablet PC to meet their mobile computing needs,” said Jeff Barney, vice president of marketing, Digital Products Division, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. “Building upon many years of successful Toshiba Tablet PC platforms, the Portégé M700 incorporates our customer’s most requested features resulting in Toshiba’s most powerful and versatile Tablet PC to date.”

As Toshiba’s first Tablet PC with a touch screen supporting both fingertip input capabilities and traditional pen-based input, Toshiba’s Portégé M700 empowers users with a more flexible and convenient Tablet PC computing experience. The Portégé M700 detects the presence of a digital pen or a user’s fingertip, automatically switching between the different input methods, with the digital pen given priority when both inputs are simultaneously detected.

The Portégé M700 series incorporates an LED backlit display with anti-glare coating, which allows Toshiba’s new Tablet PC to be viewed in a wide range of environments both indoors and outdoors. The LED backlit display produces superb image quality and rich color saturation indoors. While outdoors the anti-glare display delivers a clear, easy-to-view image.

The resolution offered by the widescreen 12.1-inch WXGA display of Toshiba’s Portégé M700 yields 30 percent more detail than a standard 12.1-inch XGA display. This affords users enhanced clarity for viewing multimedia files and multiple page documents side by side. The Portégé M700 Tablet PC display mirrors the layout of a standard sheet of paper when in portrait mode to give users a familiar writing workspace.

The Portégé M700 series uses high-performance Intel® Centrino Pro processor1 technology, including Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processors2, Intel® 965 Express chipset, Intel® Wireless Wi-Fi Link 4965AGN supporting draft 802.11n3, and Intel® Active Management Technology (AMT 2.6). Intel’s AMT 2.6 delivers the ability to remotely deploy systems and supply proactive security and maintenance measures. This provides the network manager better control of mobile computing assets to minimize user downtime and provide greater efficiency at the office of when traveling.

The Ultra SlimBay® on the Portégé M700 gives users the flexibility to change the configuration of the Tablet PC to adjust to their individual user needs. With support for an internal optical drive, second hard drive or weight saver, the Ultra SlimBay helps eliminate the bulk and inconvenience of carrying additional external components. The Portégé M700 comes with a DVD SuperMulti Drive4 and weight saver as part of the standard configuration.

To simplify the transition from notebook computer to Tablet PC, the Portégé M700 design incorporates an improved hinge and display guide/peg mechanism as well as latch-less design to provide greater ease of use and industry leading stability. This combination of features ensures the display is securely locked into position in both notebook and Tablet PC mode.

The inclusion of the latch-less design enables Toshiba to cleanly integrate a Webcam and microphone on the bezel of the Portégé M700. The 1.3 megapixel Webcam provides mobile professionals the flexibility to communicate face-to-face with colleagues, co-workers and loved ones when out of the office or traveling. The Portégé M700’s Webcam can take still photos, record video clips and record audio notes.

Featuring the full suite of Toshiba’s third-generation EasyGuard™ technology5, the Portégé M700 brings a more reliable and secure mobile computing experience that includes:

  • HDD Protection—Because the hard disk drive (HDD) is one of the most critical Tablet PC components and that a dropped Tablet PC rarely falls in a single linear direction, Toshiba implemented the 3D accelerometer. This mechanism detects the acceleration caused by a sudden fall from multiple directions. The 3D accelerometer helps guard the HDD against awkward accidental drops, including a spinning, falling Tablet PC, by rapidly removing the HDD head from between the HDD platters, better protecting the Portégé M700 in all three rotational dimensions of pitch, roll and yaw.
  • Shock Absorbing Design6—The Portégé M700 Tablet PC features enhanced protection zones that run along all sides of the Tablet PC to help the Portégé M700 better withstand accidental drops. Toshiba also placed reinforced ribs within the rounded edges of the display to better protect critical components including the display and inverter by dissipating energy resulting from accidental bumps or drops. For further durability, Toshiba encased the display with magnesium alloy, a lightweight, rugged material utilized in structural, automotive, industrial and aerospace manufacturing.
  • Spill Resistant Keyboard7—Toshiba improved its spill resistant keyboard to help protect against accidental spills of water and other liquids, including soda and coffee with cream and sugar. This enhanced feature affords users time to save work and shut down the system in the event of an accidental spill — helping to prevent the loss of data.

Additional information about Toshiba’s EasyGuard technology is available at www.EasyGuard.Toshiba.com

In addition to providing a reliable and secure mobile computing experience, Toshiba has incorporated several value-added features, including two “Sleep-and- Charge” USB ports. These ports allow users to charge compatible electronic devices, such as select cell phones or MP3 players whether the system is on or off. The Sleep and Charge USB ports eliminate the bulk and inconvenience of carrying extra chargers to recharge mobile devices. Toshiba’s Portégé M700 is compatible with several Portégé M400 accessories including: Express Port Replicator, digital pen, reserve pen, battery and secondary battery.

The following configurations demonstrate the various specifications and price options available within the Portégé M700 Series:

Portégé M700-S7002 Recommended Configuration (ESUP $1,799)8

— Genuine Windows® Vista™ Business (32-bit version)

— Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T75001

— 2.2GHz, 4MB L2, 800MHz FSB

— 2048 MB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM memory9

— 160GB (5400 RPM) Serial-ATA hard disk drive10

— 12.1-inch diagonal widescreen LED backlit display
— supporting digital pen and touch screen
— Indoor/outdoor display
— Wide viewing angles
— 1280 x 800 (WXGA) native resolution

— Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 with 8MB-251MB dynamically allocated shared graphics memory11

— Integrated DVD SuperMulti (+/-R Double Layer) drive4

— Intel® Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN (802.11a/g/n)

— Intel® Pro 82566MM 10/100/1000 Ethernet

— Bluetooth® v.2.0 + EDR

— Integrated 1.3 megapixel Webcam® with built-in microphone

 

Portégé M700-S7001X Recommended Configuration (ESUP $1,699)8

— Genuine Windows® XP Tablet PC Edition 2005

— Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7500

— 2.2GHz, 4MB L2, 800MHz FSB

— 1024 MB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM memory9

— 160GB (5400 RPM) Serial-ATA hard disk drive10

— 12.1-inch diagonal widescreen LED backlit display
— supporting digital pen and touch screen
— Indoor/outdoor display
— Wide viewing angles
— 1280 x 800 (WXGA) native resolution

— Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator X3100

— Integrated DVD SuperMulti (+/-R Double Layer) drive4

— Intel® Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN (802.11a/g/n)

— Intel® Pro 82566MM 10/100/1000 Ethernet

— Bluetooth® v.2.0 + EDR

— Integrated 1.3 megapixel Webcam® with built-in microphone

Complete product specifications for all the Portégé M700 models are available at www.sell.toshiba.com or www.toshibadirect.com.

The Portégé M700 series is available with a three year standard, limited warranty12, which includes carry-in support at Authorized Service Providers throughout the country; or customers may utilize any of the 4,460 UPS Stores and Mail Boxes Etc. locations nationwide for packaging and delivery of the product to a centralized depot for prompt turnaround service. Customers can also choose to upgrade the Portégé M700’s service plans, including up to four years of extended warranty coverage.

All new Toshiba notebooks and Tablet PCs are RoHS-compatible13, effectively reducing the environmental impact by restricting the use of lead, mercury and certain other hazardous substances. This coupled with a mercury-free LED backlit display has earned Toshiba’s Portégé M700 the Green Electronics Council’s Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) gold status. To achieve this status, the Portégé M700 had to pass a strict set of criteria created to reduce the impact electronics have on the environment. The Portégé M700 is Toshiba’s sixth mobile computing solutions to earn the EPEAT gold status.

Toshiba also offers a computer trade-in and recycling program to reduce environmental impact and promote efficient utilization of resources. All Toshiba computers qualify for free recycling, while non-Toshiba computers and other consumer electronic products can be recycled for a small fee. For more information please visit: www.reuse.toshiba.com

About Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. (TAIS)

Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., TAIS is comprised of four business units: Digital Products Division, Imaging Systems Division, Storage Device Division, and Telecommunication Systems Division. Together, these divisions provide mobile products and solutions, including industry leading portable computers; projectors; imaging products for the security, medical and manufacturing markets; storage products for automotive, computer and consumer electronics applications; and telephony equipment and associated applications.

TAIS provides sales, marketing and services for its wide range of information products in the United States and Latin America. TAIS is an independent operating company owned by Toshiba America, Inc., a subsidiary of Toshiba Corporation, which is a global leader in high technology and integrated manufacturing of electrical and electronic components, products and systems, as well as major infrastructure systems. Toshiba has more than 191,000 employees worldwide and annual sales of over US $60 billion (FY2006). For more information on Toshiba’s leading innovations, visit the company’s Web site at www.toshiba.com.

1. Processor. CPU performance may vary. See Processor Legal Footnote at www.info.toshiba.com

2. Intel Core 2 Duo Processor. Intel® Dual Core Technology is a new technology designed to deliver improved performance to the notebook PC. Performance or compatibility may vary. For more information on Intel's Core 2 Duo processors, visit: http://www.intel.com/core2duo/.

3. Draft N Performance Disclaimer. The Intel® Wireless Wi-Fi® Link 4965AGN (802.11a/g/n) adapter is based on a draft release version of the IEEE 802.11n specification, also known as “Draft-N”, which may not be compatible with, or support all features (e.g., security) of, certain Wi-Fi® equipment.

4. Optical Drive. Copy protection technology may prevent or limit recording or viewing of certain optical media (e.g., CD or DVD).

5. EasyGuard. Toshiba EasyGuard™ technology comprises a number of features some of which may or may not be available on a particular Toshiba notebook depending on the model selected. See www.easyguard.toshiba.com for detailed information.

6. Shock Protection. Toshiba’s shock absorption technology provides higher impact protection for your system as compared to Toshiba systems without similar shock protection features based on Toshiba’s drop tests. Toshiba’s standard limited warranty terms and limitations apply. Visit www.warranty.toshiba.com for details.

7. Spill-Resistant Keyboard. Under Toshiba testing conditions, the spill-resistant keyboard delayed the time for a water spill to reach the computer's main board to allow more time to properly close down the machine. Toshiba’s standard limited warranty terms and limitations apply. Visit www.warranty.toshiba.com for details.

8. Price. Reseller prices may vary. ESUP means “Estimated Single Unit Price.”

9. Memory. Memory size may vary. See Memory Legal Footnote at www.info.toshiba.com.

10. Hard Disk Drive Capacity. Hard drive capacity may vary. 1 Gigabyte (GB) means 109 = 1,000,000,000 bytes using powers of 10. See Hard Disk Drive Capacity Legal Footnote at www.info.toshiba.com

11. Graphics. GPU performance may vary. See Graphics Legal Footnote at www.info.toshiba.com

12. Warranty. The terms and conditions of Toshiba’s standard limited warranty, extended warranty and service upgrade terms and conditions are available at www.warranty.toshiba.com.

13. RoHS This product is compatible with European Union Directive 2002/95/EC. See RoHS legal footnote at www.info.toshiba.com

© 2007 Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. All product, service and company names are trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of their respective owners. Information including without limitation product prices, specifications, availability, content of services, and contact information is subject to change without notice.

New gOS Reviewed

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New gOS Reviewed

by Eric Vititoe

Customers now have another choice in the cheap PC market.  Wal-mart is now selling a $199 personal computer running gOS, a derivative of the Ubuntu Linux 7.10 distribution.  While I haven’t yet touched the hardware, I have downloaded, installed, and tested the operating system.

The stock hardware for the $199 machine utilizes a VIA C7-D 1.5GHz processor, 512Mb RAM, an 80Gb hard drive, and a CD burner.  While not a power horse, this machine will suffice for the average user.

The new gOS is simple to use, even for someone new to Linux, as I am.  It comes with many programs pre-installed, such as OpenOffice, GIMP, FireFox, and a host of games.  From my experience, the average user should have no problem surfing the internet, checking email, or typing the occasional document.

Installation is simple.  Boot and run from the cd.  Once in the graphical interface, you can run gOS straight from the cd, or choose to install to your hard drive.  Simply click the install icon, answer a few questions, and it does the rest by itself.  It even has a partitioning template for those who don’t know how to partition the hard drive.  Reboot after install and gOS is completely installed.

The entire installation took less than 20 minutes on my test machine.  My test PC is a Dell Optiplex GX270 with a 3.0GHz Pentium 4 processor, 512Mb RAM, a 40Gb hard drive, and an ATI Radeon 9800SE video card with 256Mb VRAM.

Once installed, gOS boots fairly quickly.  From pushing the button to the log on screen only took my test system 65 seconds, including POST.  Another 15 seconds and it was ready to use.  If you have a broadband connection, it will almost immediately let you know there are updates available.  There were 36 updates available at the time of my installation.  It advises you to install all updates for security reasons, and will do so automatically if you press the select all button.

A second system was also used in the testing.  A Compaq Presario 5000 series.  This older machine has an 800MHz CPU, 256Mb RAM, 40Gb hard drive, and a stock 8Mb Vanta LT AGP video card.  This second system was, not surprisingly, much slower.  Installation took nearly an hour.  After installation and updating, the Compaq took 1min 21sec to get to the log on screen, then another 25sec before it was ready to use.

The interface is clean.  By default, the wallpaper is a green leaf print and all windows and cursors have a green outline to them.  All open windows have the traditional close, minimize, and maximize buttons, but in a different order and on the left of the window instead of the right.  That took a little bit of time for me to get used to.

Using gOS is fairly simple and straightforward.  You are presented with a quick launch shelf at the bottom of the screen with your favorite applications.  It is pre-populated with Xine Movie Player, Rhythmbox Music Player, Skype, and links to a variety of online applications such as Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Maps, Google, YouTube, Meebo, and more.

If you want to use an application not on the shelf, left click any where on the desktop to bring up an application menu.  From the menu, you can also choose administrative functions, such as changing the desktop resolution, update manager or printing.

Speaking of printing, gOS makes it easy to install a printer. The process is simple, but not all printers are supported.  It did not have drivers for my Epson Stylus R200 or Brother MFC9700.  I could not get my Epson working at all, but did get my Brother printer working by installing it as an MFC9600.

The makers of gOS have not yet made the operating system multi-user friendly.  You can only set up the system as a single user.  They state that is a feature that they need to work on.

Although the system found both my Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-H2 and Samsung Digimax A503 cameras, it had a little bit of a problem transferring the pictures from camera to hard drive.  Dragging and dropping individual photos were effortless, but I received multiple “Enlightenment” errors when copying more than one file.  That is definitely something that will have to be fixed in future versions.

Overall, I found gOS very easy to install and use.  I believe it to be a good operating system for a new Linux convert or anyone who simply needs an internet appliance.  A little more tweaking by the developers would make it a great one.  I give gOS 3 out of 5 penguins.

 

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