The price of LCD monitor is predicted to rise in the second quarter of 2005, according to source.

That follows carnage for the manufacturers for the last 10 months or so, when prices for panels fell to a point where they were almost being sold at cost.

It’s the 17-inch LCD monitors that the manufacturers are pinning their hopes on, with prices showing a rise in April and expected to rise further during this and next month.

The distribution channel has been awash with monitors for nearly a year, and that’s led some PC makers to bundle smaller monitors with systems.

However, there now appears to be a shortness of supply of 17-inch screens, although whether may be a combination of throttling of supply as well as somewhat increased demand because of increased PC sales.

[Source]

What are you going to do in the aiplane for the next couple hours if you are taking a long distance flight?
Read magazines? Watch movies? Sleep?

Well, now you can online on the air !!

Connexion by Boeing wants to turn your on-plane boredom and downtime into productive time by pumping in a high-speed broadband Internet connection via satellite. The Connexion service has been in the works for years, and almost faltered after September 11 caused a downturn in domestic U.S. airline sustainability and worldwide business activity.

However, the division retooled its efforts, refocused on long-haul flights, and has brought an Internet service to market that, so far, appears to deliver on its promise based on a test flight that I took in the Seattle, Washington area, and on the experiences of several travelers, including one of Toms’ own editors.

There are certain planes and routes are providing this service currently, including Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, SAS, ANA, and Japan Airlines. While airlines like China Airlines, El Al, and Korean Air, will have that service soon.

[Source]

Don’t be silly, I’m not saying an open-sourced version of Windows. :D

I’m actually refering to Microsoft’s move to support Open Source software as they have extended an olive branch to the open-source community, calling for a sit-down to discuss how they can better work with the open-source world.

At a recent conference sponsored by the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT) in Cambridge, Md., Brad Smith, Microsoft’s general counsel, called for bridge building between Microsoft, its competitors and the open-source community.

“We’re going to have to figure out how to build some bridges between the various parts of our industry,” he continued. “We’re going to have to figure out how we can bring the various parts of our industry closer together. Not necessarily in the sense of changing the way software is developed, but building bridges so that we all have the ability to collaborate with each other. And that will mean we will need some new rotations, I think, in how we work together, in how we license, in how we share technology or intellectual property rights with each other.”

Now Microsoft realizes the fast growing open source software community is another playground for them to tap in. Anyway, for the sake of every computer user, this bridge between Microsoft and open source software is no doubt a good one, as some of their secretly kept information will have to be shared to others like :-

“But, realistically, they could do some important things. One, open up their file formats. That is, fully document things like the Microsoft Word and Windows Media formats, and make a binding promise not to sue people who write software to interoperate with them,” he said. “Two, put down the patent weapon. Do as IBM has, and offer their software patents under royalty-free, paperwork-free license to open-source projects. Three, support open technical standards, rather than sabotaging them. Microsoft has a history of destructive meddling at organizations like the IETF and W3C, and of attempting to hijack standards like Kerberos by making them dependent on proprietary ‘extensions.’ Simply not doing this would be a huge improvement.”

[Source]

All in all, it’s a great news to hear that Microsoft is taking the first step into open source world. :)

April 11, 2005, Intel posted a search in eBay for a 1965 copy of Electronics Magazine that featured Intel co-founder Gordon Moore’s thoughts on how silicon technology would evolve. Whoever is willing to sell that magazine to Intel will be awarded USD$10,000.

The issue contained an article by Moore that described how the number of components on integrated circuits was doubling every year. The article became the foundation for Moore’s famed dictum, which has been a favorite maxim of the IT industry for decades. Electronics Magazine went out of business several years ago, though, and copies are scarce.

One day after Intel posting that offer on eBay, David Clark, an engineer in Surrey, England, quickly sent a photo of the well-preserved copy of that issue and response off to eBay. So as promised by Intel, Clark has reaped the chip giant’s $10,000 by selling the magazine to Intel.

[Source]

Tiring of deleting Internet Explorer (IE) History, Cookies and Temporary Files?

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Setting up a wireless LAN at the North Pole?
Yup, you are correct !

Two employees at Intel Russia recently erected what may have been the world’s most northerly Wi-Fi hotspot–just about 80 miles from the North Pole.

[Source]

According to Intel, the air temperature of the surrounding is rarely above -30 Celsius. This environment is never an ideal one to computer devices. Besides, there is temparature difference between indoor and outdoor temparatures, in turn, causes condensation to form on the laptop. Furthurmore, batteries power dries up fast in low temperatures.

Intel also points to the experiment as an example of how mobile technology allows users to work anywhere, which I agree with no doubt. :)