Computers

According to a post written by Sundar Pichai, a vice president of product management at Google, and Linus Upson, the company's engineering director, the open-source Chrome OS will consist of a Linux kernel with the Google Chrome browser running on top inside an entirely new desktop environment.

The Chrome browser was released nine months ago and is Google's effort to reinvent the browser completely: it's designed from scratch with Web applications in mind and is meant to be the only application that a Web-savvy user needs on her computer.

The agreement was signed by Mr. Sengsomphone Vilavout General Director of Planning and Cooperation Department and Mr. Bunrak Saraggananda Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Magic Software (Thailand) Corp.

The Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organization (ASOCIO) members of Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Singapore and India witnessed at the event.

Kanissorn Navanugraha, director-general of the Business Development Department, said the ministry's `Trustmark' program was designed to support Thai E-Commerce players and help them earn recognition from consumers.

To join the program is free of charge. Any E-commerce trader whose qualifications meet the Commerce Ministry requirements will be awarded a `Verified' symbol to be shown on their website.

Seeing the `Verified' symbol, would-be consumers were assured of a quality product from the seller, said Mr. Kanissorn.

A recent survey found the total value of trade via the E-Commerce system in 2006 totaled around Bt305.16 billion. Of the total, trade through the government's e-auction dealings was as much as Bt176.68 billion and business to business (B to B) was Bt79.73 billion, while business to consumer (B to C) was only Bt47.50 billion.

Mr. Kanissorn added B to C trade could expand further if consumers had enough confidence to buy goods through the internet.

Out of more than 60 million Thais, less than 8.5 million used the internet, according to Mr. Kanissorn. (TNA) - E111

They have described their model, the first to simulate every step of the process of photosynthesis, in the journal Plant Physiology. They will also present their work at the BIO-Asia 2007 Conference in Bangkok, Thailand.

A cluster platform at Pune's Computational Research Laboratories (CRL), a Tata subsidiary, has been ranked fourth in the widely anticipated Top 500 list released at an international conference on high performance computing in Reno, Nevada.

Just as they do with the old-fashioned cathode ray tube monitors, users should be sure to sit at least 50-80 cm from the monitor. Sitting closer means users run the risk of wearing out their eye muscles.

Older monitors, work just like older televisions, took up so much desk space that workers were often left with no choice but to sit close to the monitor, says Windel. But that's not a problem with the newer liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors.

The researchers used a computer model, which mimics the process of evolution, for the purpose.

Peter Neupert, Corporate Vice President for the Health Solutions Group at Microsoft remarked, ''We were impressed by Global Care Solutions' state-of-the-art health information system, which has enabled a hugely complex facility like Bumrungrad International hospital to achieve amazing outcomes related to improved workflow and patient safety. The international, fully integrated nature of the GCS technology, and the fact that it is built from the ground up on scalable Microsoft technology, makes this a great addition to our portfolio of health enterprise products as we look to power developing and emerging hospital systems around the globe.''

A day before Gambari's arrival, the ruling generals announced Friday that they would not renew the mandate of the UN's top man in Rangoon, a UN spokesman said.

The junta's grip on power was again evident Friday when Burma's Internet links were largely cut.

Access to international websites has been restricted since Thursday morning, said an official from the state-owned Myanmar Teleport, who added that it was not known when full service would be restored.

Burmese dissident websites and blogs have been particularly active in the lead-up to Gambari's visit, condemning the junta for its suppression of demonstrators and urging the international community to ramp up pressure on the regime.

Dissident websites are also frequently the quickest means of relaying information from within the isolated country.

They were a key source of information on a march on Wednesday by Buddhist monks in Pakokku in central Burma, the first such demonstration since the September crackdown.

Charles Petrie, the United Nations' country chief, was summoned to the new capital Naypyidaw for a meeting with junta officials, said Aye Win, a UN information officer in Rangoon.

The new Ipod line is now headed by an 80-gigabyte version that will sell for 350 dollars. Among the other new gadgets announced was a tiny new Ipod shuffle barely larger than a sugar cube, and a thinner version of the Ipod nano.

The movie download service on the company's Itunes store will debut with some 75 titles from Disney, Pixar, Touchstone and Miramax, which users will be able to download for some 13 dollars.

The movies, like iTunes music, are not available to Internet users outside the United States.

"In less than one year we've grown from offering just five TV shows to offering over 220 TV shows, and we hope to do the same with movies," chief executive Steve Jobs said in a statement. "Itunes is selling over 1 million videos a week, and we hope to match this with movies in less than a year."

BANGALORE: This city's techies are creating some cutting edge stuff. Moinak Ghosh, an engineer at Sun Microsystems, has taken the lead on Solaris 10, the flagship operating system (OS) of Sun, and come up with a new version called BeleniX.

Moinak has taken the whole OS and created an abridged LiveCD version. The significance here is that this OS does not require installation as it can run from the CD itself.

The XL1500 printer was installed, along with an HP Sctitex TJ8300, last December. Part of Kasikorn Bank 'K Heroes' campaign, the project involved transforming the exterior of some of Bangkok's most recognisable buildings with gigantic building wraps.

The company produced wraps to cover the bank's headquarters, which sits next to the landmark Rama IX bridge, as well as the bank's Phaholyothin building and its flagship branch in Siam Square.

With over 12,000 square metres of material to print within a tight deadline, Churaiporn Uthaisang, owner of Q-Ads, said: 'This was one of our most high-profile projects to date and we knew from the beginning that it would not be an easy task.

However, we knew the HP Scitex XL 1500 could print at speeds of up to 124 square metres per hour (1,335 square feet per hour) without compromising on quality.

We completed the project on time and to a standard of which we are very proud.' The project has helped cement Q-Ads' leading position in Thailand's bank advertising market.

BANGKOK -- Microprocessor giant Intel said multi-core processors will become ubiquitous starting this year, signaling a new paradigm in computing in the server, desktop and mobile PC platforms.

In a press briefing held here, Bin Fu, Intel's APAC benchmarking manager said Intel multi-core processors will be "everywhere" beginning this year, with the release of Intel's dual core chip and multi-core chips in early 2007.

He said Intel aims to put multi-core processors in 90 percent of all mobile PC shipment, 75 percent of desktops, and 85 percent of servers, starting late this year.

The executive however said the eventual shift to multi-core does not mean that Intel will abandon its single core processors, because there will be users who will still "stick" to single core for specific needs.

"Intel does not see a phase out of single core chips. It will still depend on the applications that a user needs, as there will be applications that will work just fine with a single core chip," Fu said.