Flash 10.2 Android arrives today

Announced in early February after its release on Mac and PC, Flash 10.2 shall be offered for download today via its Android Market or updates OTA. This book is written for Android 2.2 (Froyo), 2.3 (Gingerbread) as well as some users already blessed Android 3.0 (Honeycomb).

In the latter case, it is still a beta and the audience is smaller - even if that geographically - as consisting of Xoom customers. The tablet Motorola will simultaneously receive its first revision system 3.0.1. More will follow before Flash 10.2 do it is proposed final version.

This new Flash Androphones provides video acceleration on H264, but only for Honeycomb. Another novelty reserved for shelves next Android 3.0, an improved browser integration, resulting in navigation and view more smoothly pages. Flash content embedded in Web pages should be better supported as well.

More generally, the performance should be slightly up on today's mobile. Flash applications and data on the PC that used to be used with a physical keyboard can be better managed on devices that offer a virtual keyboard. It will be displayed, for example automatically by the application when necessary. Adobe maintains a list of compatible devices with Flash.

Orange down a little price iPad and evokes the arrival of the iPad 2

In turn, Orange has timidly down the price of the iPad. It offers the tablet from Apple in its 16GB version starting at 249 €, 30 € less than previously. This price includes a reimbursement coupon of 100 €. The 32 GB is sold for its share from 329 € and 64 GB from 389 €.

By comparison, Vodafone has dropped its prices yesterday moved the 32 GB price of 16 GB, or € 279.90 and the 32GB from € 379.90. As we told you yesterday, if an iPad first generation seems you enough for your needs, rather go for a ride on the refurb.

Meanwhile, Orange has announced the imminent arrival of the iPad 2 of his shop, without giving details or on the date of availability nor its price ...

On the other hand, you are very likely to write about the release date of the iPad 2. Unofficially, the launch of the tablet from Apple is still scheduled for next Friday starting at 17 hours. These are certainly the latest information communicated received several companies responsible for disposing.

Still, it was exactly like last year before Apple decides to delay the marketing of the iPad in Europe of a month. The decision was reached directly from the United States without anyone (or almost) never have known this side of the Atlantic before. If Apple chooses to postpone the sale of its shelf internationally, stakeholders will - as always - informed of this decision at the last moment.

Anyway, we should know the end of the story early next week. Apple, which never misses an opportunity to brag after marketing a new product, is surprisingly quiet since the beginning of the week, just stating that the application for the iPad 2 is "incredible".

Thunderbolt also a great price

LaCie has announced a product but not its price, which will perhaps not trivial, especially in the SSD version of the Little Big Disk. "We will have SSD-based products with prices that will match the performance (ndr, implied, consequential, ndr). They will be adapted for video pros, and the general public as a vast majority will not buy Little Big Disk SSD. However it also provides a model 1 TB Hard Drive 7200 RPM, in order to consolidate its presence in the market, but it will not be exclusive. Being supported by Intel and Apple should see this technology become affordable or fall into the norm. "

He cites as an example the case of the USB 3 still expensive three years ago and found today in all the ads on hard drives big government "We wanted the Little Big Disk lock on that is the definition of a MacBook Pro. It does work on other products Thunderbolt. We can not say when it will arrive today, but it will happen fairly quickly. It has been said quite clearly is a technology in which we believe and what album is the first in a family to come. "

Finally, given the willingness to invest in Thunderbolt LaCie, it would almost paris for expansion cards for the Mac Pro today. The manufacturer has already exist with 3 USB, FireWire, eSata. Here too LaCie is silent, but we feel that the idea is on the table.

Time is money

Erwann Girard described the scenario that far videographer filming outdoors or in studio and had to return their Mac Pro's rush to unload on a rack and then mount her work "With a MacBook Pro 17" has become a powerful machine and the Little Big Disk storage was extremely fast. It obviously does not terabytes as in a server room, but it was up to 500 GB SSD and chaining these products can be achieved tera with excellent performance. "

There are also those clients who need to transfer large volumes of data, this task could be moved at certain times of day may be carried out on the field "From the time the computer takes the road, the interface no longer an obstacle to the preservation, one can imagine that given incremental backup will take a few seconds where it took two hours. We have customers who spend their lives moving data. An advertising agency that delivers a project, as 500 GB or 1 TB of data to put on a hard drive which then sends the customer, and I'm not talking about post-production boxes that merely this. Here we will transfer 1 TB in 20 minutes instead of eight hours with USB 2. That increased efficiency, it will change the customs. "

When the user, it should take advantage of any transparent manner Thunderbolt "Apple has worked hard to make the experience good, one branch and the volume goes up, there is nothing special. It was the ease of use of USB or FireWire with superior performance to that of Fibre Channel, and robustness comparable. It was a little the best of both worlds. Personally it is something that speaks to me, when I joined I took care of LaCie products racks with Fiber Channel 4 Gbp / s 12 or 24 TB and there were performances that were worse compared to of Thunderbolt and two SSDs! When you put things into perspective we have many advantages, an association between consumer and professional characteristics. "

The fact that Thunderbolt is based on these relatively mature "mini DisplayPort connector is known as PCI Express, PCI and it's video, it's tough, no surprise, we're on the known "(LaCie has three professional displays equipped with a DisplayPort socket, ndr). The possibility also to chain the elements, which as a convenience to limit the (re) connections when multiple returns with his laptop, one cable will connect the machine (s) disc (s) drive (s) and screen.

The possibility of Thunderbolt back to its origins, that of a fiber optic cable rather than copper is not excluded but there is still work to do and it raises other problems, "It's not buried, Intel has not closed the door on that idea, but it is not on the agenda. There is such physical frailty of the fiber that makes it unsuitable for use by the general public or for use on the ground. It is found rather in the server room, where the branch once and where they do not touch anymore. ".

LaCie interview: "Thunderbolt can change the way we work"

Supports reported Thunderbolt can still be counted on the fingers of both hands. Among the few partners of Intel and Apple have shown that products include LaCie. The French manufacturer will launch this summer a hard drive "nomad" has two connectors Thunderbolt, the Little Big Disk. It will be offered in three versions, one with two SSD totaling 240 GB or 500 GB and 1 TB grind this time using standard hard drives at 7,200 rpm. LaCie yet refuses to give a price, but at least for the SSD it may be salted, "the high performance" modestly prefers to say the manufacturer. Which should gradually expand its range of products compatible Thunderbold.

More generally, this new connection could well upset certain habits installed in customers. This is one of the promises made by Erwan Girard, Business Unit Manager at LaCie. it deals with professional products, and as the Thunderbolt.

Birth of a partnership

LaCie's commitment goes back to the beginning of the presentation of Thunderbolt, then called Light Peak "We did a lot of technological monitoring to identify technologies that could make the difference in years to come. We also have a professional clientele who demand large storage capacity and performance. As he has used during his lectures, Intel made some demos of products with technical partners capable of developing an ecosystem around its new technologies. It was in the loop pretty quickly. The connection was interesting for us and in turn Apple was looking for people able to offer hard drives with the launch of their new machines.

Choosing the Little Big Disk

LaCie has a wide enough range of disk drives, but the choice to take the format of the Little Big Disk (already available with eSATA + USB + FireWire) won the light engine provided by Apple to launch Thunderbolt “The vector of this technology for now at Apple's MacBook Pro. It's a mobile solution, extremely powerful, rather for professionals creating content such as video artists and photographers. With 10 Gbp / s we thought we could do video editing on the move, transfer video at high speed. "

LBD-Thunderbolt_key

The differential speed promised by Thunderbolt is compared to existing solutions such as LaCie comes to rely on a few changes in clients' "We must realize that the Thunderbolt is faster than Fibre Channel is an optical technology used mainly in racks . We will find for example in many production companies to ensure a very high rate between a mounting station and a storage array. It was a bit ultimate technology to three weeks ago ... "

John Gruber - Daring Fireball and Jason Snell - Macworld

As noted in the test of Gruber, a test more focused on graphics performance. He used a custom application designed by one of the authors of Tap Revenge. It displays hundreds if not thousands of sprites on the screen, moving being influenced by the effects of gravity and trying to keep up to three contacts on the screen.

With iPad 1 and 200 sprites, we get 45 frames per second. On the iPad 2, with double, 400 sprites you climb to 65 fps On the iPad 1 it must descend to 100 sprites to 60 fps while the two must put 750 sprites on the screen to fall below 60 fps All this without changing the software code, which bodes well for future applications when they have been optimized.

Macworld has also conducted some performance tests with unequivocal results on the capabilities of the new JavaScript engine "Nitro" But recovered Safari (tested each time with IOS 4.3), time to start and complete display of the page host a site.

Reading other tests TechCrunch, PC Mag to name a few, led to similar conclusions. The iPad 2 is a strong evolution of the first model. Not necessarily able to generate alternative vocations, but the product has something to attract the greatest number.

Its cameras are judged by all pretty disappointing (by Apple promotes luck rather the use of video), GarageBand amazes even those who have a musical background, then iMovie seems more a scaled down version of its cousin on the Mac. PC Mag has also echoed these crashes with two applications (soon sold € 3.99 each on the App Store). Critical acclaim as the Protection Cover Smart, very smart in how it binds almost alone on the iPad, and no problems with either the HDMI adapter.