Microsoft Surface Comes to Retail

AT&T will work with Microsoft to change the way consumers shop for mobile devices. AT&T will become the first company in the world to bring Microsoft Surface to life in a retail environment, giving customers the ability to explore their mobile worlds using touch and device-recognition technology.

Microsoft Surface (www.surface.com) is a surface computer packaged in a 30-inch table-like display. Beginning April 17, customers can experience Microsoft Surface in select AT&T retail locations, including stores in New York City, Atlanta, San Antonio and San Francisco. Based on the success and learning from these initial pilot deployments, plans for further expansion across AT&T’s 2,200 US-based retail stores will be determined.

AT&T’s Microsoft Surface interactive touch displays, will work without a traditional mouse or keyboard. Customers will be able to review features of a particular mobile device by simply placing it on the display. Surface will recognize the device and provide a graphical overview of its capabilities. Customers can place two devices side by side on the unit and easily compare their features. In the future, AT&T plans that customers will be able to drag and drop ringtones, graphics, video and more by “grabbing content with their hands from a menu on the display and “dropping” it into the phone.

Think Before You Print

Buying energy saving computers is a great way to be environmentally conscious. Reducing the number of pages you print is another easy way to be “Earth friendly” — especially since the Kingdom imports all its paper. Memos, reports and presentations are common items printed in most offices. Yet Xerox Corporation studies show that office workers throw away 45 percent of documents within 24 hours of printing them. Here are some tips to reduce the environmental footprint of your office:

* Use both sides of the paper. It’s called “duplex printing” and it is the single best way to reduce paper use. Make duplex as the “default” mode on your copier, digital printer or multifunction device.

* Go digital. Send files electronically and let the recipient decide whether to print them. Replace paper files with electronic ones using the scan-to-file option on multifunction devices.

* Be selective: Print what you need when you need it. For example, print only the portion of the report you need, not every page. Preview your print job to avoid printing unnecessary pages.

* Reach for the right paper. For instance High Yield Business Paper is produced using half the number of trees of conventional paper. Print on papers certified through global organizations, such as the Forest Stewardship Council or the Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification, both of which have strict international standards for sustainable forestry. Or use paper with recycled content.

* Recycle. Collect used paper so the fiber can be used again. Recycling the fiber saves trees, reduces energy and water use, requires fewer chemicals, and keeps paper out of landfills.

PCs Could Save More Energy

Merging laptop and desktop computer technology and using off the shelf technology, researchers have developed a highly energy efficient computer that consumes 70 percent less energy than ENERGY STAR (www.energystar.gov) labeled computers.

Researchers Peter May-Ostendorp and Nathan Beck of Ecos (www.ecosconsulting.com) collaborated with chip makers Intel, AMD and Via Technologies to see how much they could reduce the energy demand of computers operating in today’s business environment. Using the hardware makers’ most-efficient computer platforms, Ostendorp and Beck added best-in-class components such as hybrid hard drives and right-sized 80 PLUS power supplies to further scale back the test computers’ energy consumption. The researchers installed the Windows Vista operating system and then tested the machines’ performance using the SYSMark 2007 PC performance metric to establish benchmarks for each.

Ostendorp and Beck compared the performance of a Class B ENERGY STAR computer that consumes 65 watts at idle with several desktop computers they designed to come up with a market-ready system and an ultimate efficiency system. All of the machines tested consumed from 40 percent to 70 percent less electricity than allowed under ENERGY STAR standards. The most-efficient computer consumed just 19 watts at idle. Most of the computers had sufficient performance to conduct the most common business computing functions.

Although there have been strides in reducing the energy consumption of computers not in use, Ecos was interested in finding ways to lower the draw on power when the machines were turned on. Typically, commercial desktops use about 95 percent of their energy while operating, and much of that time is spent in idle, rather than active, mode.

Ostendorp claims the market-ready efficient desktop Ecos built, is a cost-effective option for adoption today. It would add less than $40 at retail, and the payback would be within the first three to four years — or even less, if users were very aggressive with their power management settings. Over the course of a year, a single machine would use roughly 190 kWh and run up $18.98 in electricity costs, compared with 408 kWh and $40.84 for a Class B ENERGY STAR computer.

Graphics Can Get in the Way

Do graphics attract or retain website users? Enquiro Research has published a whitepaper, “Barriers on a Website,” which explains how users interact with graphics and rich media in the navigation of a website. The whitepaper is available free from: http://www.enquiroresearch.com/whitepapers.

Webpage readers interpret graphics differently than print media readers. In print media, a graphic initially attracts and draws the user to the rest of the printed page. On a webpage, graphics can act as either a barrier or gateway to the information on the page. With the use of eye tracking technology, analysts can see that graphics act as a barrier when the user’s eyes cannot move past the image to other essential website information. Heatmaps also show how graphics can act as a gateway by visually “coaxing” users toward text information. Multimedia use on websites may create the “wow” factor but can also turn users off, if they cannot find a way past a video, or other rich media, and locate the information they’re searching for.

IT Budget Growth Stable

Despite economic concerns, global enterprise IT budget growth remains unchanged at 3.3 percent in 2008, according to a worldwide survey of 1,011 CIOs conducted in the first quarter of 2008 by Gartner, Inc. While 62 percent of CIOs reported no change in their 2008 IT budgets, 23 percent indicated a decline in their budgets, and 15 percent of respondents reported an increase in their budgets. Of those respondents reporting a decline in budget, the decrease averaged 10 percent of their committed 2008 budget. For those respondents that reported an increase in their budget, they said the increase was approximately 15 percent.

“Overall, the majority of CIOs reported no change in their 2008 committed budgets. This indicates that IT budgets are not the ‘target rich’ environment for cost cutting they have been in the past. However, there is some softness, particularly in the US,” said Mark McDonald, group vice president and head of research for Gartner Executive Programs. “CIOs responding to the study report that IT budgets are still growing, even in the US, but growth rates are muted slightly. Historically, the revised numbers are in keeping with the past four years where IT budget increases have averaged 2.4 percent.”

CIOs were asked about their contingency plans. Only one-third reported having contingency plans for 2008. “Given economic conditions, CIOs should be prepared and have a contingency plan for both increases or decreases in the next 90 days,” said McDonald.