Another thought while we are at home enjoying half term – home connectivity. BBC’s ‘Click’ had a useful guide to home wireless this week (with a cheesy title!)

The Router to Happiness
Simply turning on the wireless feature of your router will broadcast your internet connection locally using radio waves. This means that if you’re in range of the ‘hotspot’ you can browse on your wi-fi-enabled laptop, PDA or other wireless device. The router’s range is often quoted as up to several dozen metres, but in practice it’s a fraction of that. Placing it high, away from walls, and clear of obstacles will improve coverage.

Read the full article at http://www.bbcworld.com/Pages/ProgrammeFeature.aspx?id=18&FeatureID=770

Microsoft has joined forces with the developers of the “$100 laptop” to make Windows available on the machines.

The move was prompted by countries which demanded the operating system before placing an order.

Trials of laptops loaded with Windows will begin in “four to five” countries from June, the organisations said.

Read the full post at:-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7402365.stm 

From Becta’s TechNews March 2008 –  please speak to your HIAS Link ICT Consultant for advice before considering any purchase.

http://partners.becta.org.uk/page_documents/research/technews/mar08.pdf 

Sign-up to the Becta TechNews newsletter here… http://lists.becta.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/technews 

Low cost portables

The market for low cost UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC) style devices continues to grow rapidly thanks to an increasing range of products and demand outstripping supply for certain models. Education is a key market for these devices. Asus led the way with its Eee PC and now a number of other manufacturers are hoping to emulate their success with highly portable low cost devices. UK manufacturer Elonex has announced a £99 Linux based laptop due for launch in June 2008 aimed at the education market. The device will include a 1GB solid state drive and built in wireless networking. http://www.elonexone.co.uk/ More expensive and aimed at a portable business market is the Belinea s.book 1 from Maxdata. This is a similar sized device that includes a detachable Bluetooth handset to allow easy VoIP calls to be made. This is based on a reference design from Taiwanese manufacturer VIA. A similar format device has been announced by Everex.http://www.via.com.tw/en/resources/pressroom/pressrelease.jsp?press_release_no=1787http://www.everex.com/ Asus have announced that the next version of the Eee PC may be shipped with a cheaper hard drive instead of the current solid state device. The Eee 900 series will also be a version with a larger display – 8.9” rather than 7” and an option to run Microsoft Windows XP. http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/03/10/asus_ceo_on_eee_future/ Mary Lou Jepsen, the chief technology office for the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) organisation has left to start up her own company aimed at delivering a $75 laptop using some of the technologies developed for OLPC. She hopes that with the falling component prices this will be achievable. License fees from her commercial operation will be paid to the OLPC organisation.http://www.itworld.com/Comp/1290/mary-lou-jepsen-pixel-qi-080218/index.html Computing giant Hewlett Packard has announced a mobile thin client computer using many of the technologies seen in these UMPC devices. The company hopes that the lack of local storage will prove to be popular with customers worried about the potential local data loss if standalone devices are lost or stolen. http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2008/080124b.html Later this year, the first mobile internet devices (MID) based on Intel’s Atom processor (see below) are expected to launch. These will be inexpensive Linux based devices, typically with 5” displays and offering a ‘full internet’ experience. Ultra mobile devices have the potential to offer personal access to the networks, data and applications to education users. Projects have already shown how personal ownership improves the opportunities available to pupils and teachers; and promotes adoption of ICT to improve standards.

To All Schools

HIAS – Havering Inspection and Advisory Service

Posted by: Penny Patterson - General Inspector ICT HIAS