The Next Web

HTC Diamond: (almost) cooler than iPhone

Written on May 7, 2008 – 7:41 pm
Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten,

The Next Web Blog covers start-up news from all over the world (not just the Valley), exciting new technologies and inspiring entrepreneurs. If you're new here, you may want to read our 'About' page and subscribe to our RSS feed.

If you came here from Digg it would be great if you could actually Digg us too! Do you have a start-up that we should write about? Contact us! Thanks for visiting and hope you come back again!

When the iPod was becoming popular a few years ago and other manufacturers started to realize they were missing out on a huge opportunity there were frequent (daily!) reports of the next ‘iPod Killer’. Eager to find out what innovations were being made we checked them all out. Generally it didn’t take more than a few seconds to realize that the moniker ‘iPod killer’ was born more out of wishful thinking than true product innovation. The Zune, and countless other iPod rippoffs, came and went. But as we know now, nothing could kill or replace the iPod.

Then came the iPhone. And yes, again there are several companies announcing their own ‘iPhone killer’. Research in Motion, maker of the Blackberry, is secretly (but not TOO secretly) working on something they call their iPhone Killer. The Verizon Voyager is another example of a phone branded as the iPhone killer. But one look is enough to know it isn’t. And HTC was rumored to be working on their own ‘iPhone killer’.

Yesterday HTC unveiled their HTC Diamond. And I must admit: it looks pretty cool.
You might even say that the interface looks slightly cooler and more futuristic than what the iPhone currently offers. The interface is completely dynamic and fluid. Screens blend into each other with great effects. The weather screen doesn’t just display a static image of the sun or a few clouds but actual moving images of clouds or even a thunderstorm.

I’m not claiming that this will be an iPhone killer but I can image a lot of Windows users who don’t want to switch to Apple products being very happy with this gadget. Check it out yourself:

Apple, HTC, HTC Diamond, iphone, iphone killer, ipod, Windows

4 Comments »

Swiss schools celebrate free software by using Linux

Written on April 7, 2008 – 3:31 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief

From this September schools all over Switzerland will run only Linux’s OS Ubuntu due to government’s guidelines. The new motto of the Department of Public Instruction is “Long Live Free Software”, reports Christopher Dawson from Zdnet. Already 9000 computers in Swiss schools have been dual-booting Windows and Ubuntu, since the schools want to be prepared.

The switch to Ubuntu is beneficial for both officials and students, says a spokesperson from the Department of Public instruction. Officials save a lot of money and students will be able to run the same programs at home as they do on school, since they’re all free.

The guidelines by the government might increase the market share of Linux in Switzerland, since parents will probably install Ubuntu at home as well. The reason most people haven’t considering switching to a different OS is that everything but Windows seems ‘alternative’ and ’strange’. Yet if the principal of a school sends a letter that Ubuntu is the next big thing, switching doesn’t seem all that weird again. One thing is for sure, the Swiss Linux community will be pretty busy with assisting people by installing their beloved OS.

Education, Linux, Operating system, Switzerland, Ubuntu, Windows

No Comments »