The Tablet Computers

In 2010, Apple put “iPad” into the market and expanded a new market. After that, the tablet classified into the smart phone equipped with AndroidOS which Google developed appeared. The number of people have a tablet computer is increasing now.

The sub topic of week 7 is “Tablet Computer.”

A tablet is a name attached to the thin plate peripheral equipment for computers, or computer products because the form is associated with lithograph. Pointing devices which takes a plate form is using the name of the tablet before. In recent years, however, especially the computer products of an all-in-one form equipped with the touch panel and the display are pointed out in many cases, and it is also called a tablet computer and a tablet terminal. I think I will introduce two products.

First, I introduce “iPad.” iPad is a tablet computer currently developed and sold by Apple. iPad was announced on January 27, 2010 in the product exhibition held in San Francisco. iPad has followed iPhone which is the mobile phone and iPod touch which are the portable media players which Apple puts on the market as a product, and many functions, such as the operation method by multi-touch and a design of a user interface, are shared. However, unlike iPhone, iPad does not have the telephone call function. There are two models of iPad has only the function of Wi-Fi and has the function of Wi-Fi and 3G. iPad put on the market now is the fourth generation and was announced on October 23, 2012. iPad adopts iOS which iPhone uses. As of September, 2012, the cumulative shipments of iPad is 98,150,000.

Specification of the fourth generation iPad

Operating system: iOS 6.0

CPU: 1.4 GHz dual core Apple Swift

GPU: Quad core PowerVR SGX 554MP4

Main memory: 1GB

Storage Capacity: 16, 32, or 64 GB flash memory

Display: 9.7 inches (250 mm) 2,048 × 1,536 px color IPS LCD display at (264 ppi) with a 4:3 aspect ratio, fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating

Dimension: 241mm(height), 186mm(width), 9.4mm(depth)

Weight: 652g

Second tablet computer is “Nexus7.” Nexus7 is Android tablet which Google sells. The feature of Nexus7 is high quality, high specification, and low price. Nexus7 is the tablet computer which is sold most in Japan now. It is said that Google expects the profit from contents service and sells it at the thin margin. I think I will buy it.

Specification of Nexus7

Operating system: Android 4.1

CPU: Quad core NVIDEA Tegra3 T30L 1.3GHz

Main memory: 1GB

Storage capacity: 16GB or 32GB

Display: 7 inches 1,280 × 800 px color IPS display at (216 ppi) with a 4:3 aspect ration

Dimension: 198.5mm(height), 120mm(width), 10.45mm(depth)

Weight: 340g

If you think to buy any tablet, I recommend Nexus7 to you. Because Nexus7 is much more cheaper than iPad, and specification is the same about iPad.

The Supercomputer

Now, science is continuing progressing. And the supercomputer contributes to progress of science greatly.

A supercomputer is a large-scale computer which is used scientific and engineering calculations as a primary aim. The purpose of supercomputer is huge calculation processing and a supercomputer is equipped with the large-scale hardware and software for realizing it. A supercomputer is used for weather prediction, molecular dynamics, simulation astronomy, an optimization problem, and the simulation based on large-scale numerical analysis like financial engineering. Although the definition of a supercomputer changes a lot with a time, generally speaking, it is the computer of the maximum high performance which is the latest technology of the time.

Introduction of the supercomputer is progressing all over the world. And the concentration situation of the number of introduction which made two poles Japan and the United States. like the beginning of the 1990s is dissolved. The United States and Japan are noticing the simulation capability of a supercomputer being the source of global competitiveness and are planning the next-generation supercomputer concept one after another.

In Japan, there are two kinds of supercomputer. It is NLS and NIS. NLS (National Leadership Supercomputer) is a supercomputer which takes the leadership of the supercomputer literacy in Japan and is prepared as a development project. NIS (National Infrastructure Supercomputer) is a supercomputer which supports supercomputer literacy bearing in mind general research and use in industry. For example, CP-PACS of University of Tsukuba which was started to use as NLS was used as NIS after about two years.

K computer is a name of the supercomputer installed in the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research of Japan. It was completed in July, 2012 and the common start of it was carried out in September of the same year. And, in TOP500 ranking, it ranked the 1^st in June and November, 2011, it ranked 2^nd in June, 2012, and it ranked 3^rd in November, 2012. Moreover, K computer won the HPC challenge prize and the Gordon bell prize in 2011 and 2012.

The notebook Computers

We are using the computer daily. And the computer is a laptop computer in many cases.

Then, I think that I will introduce notebook computers.

A notebook computer includes a display, a keyboard, a pointing device such as a touchpad, a battery which is charged by AC adapter, and a speaker into a single unit. It is the general term of a lightweight personal computer designed considering a user who is premised on making it move to arbitrary places.

The history is short. The beginning is in 1980s. The first laptop computer appeared in the early 1980s. But it was very heavy and was able to be carried somehow. The middle of 1980s, the personal computer which enabled to carry was developed maintaining compatibility with desktop type a personal computer and it was called “Laptops.” However, many of laptops were very heavy, and some of laptops were more heavy 10kg. Toshiba announced “Dynabook” which has been A4 note size and as lightweight as 2.7kg, and equipping the minimum interface on June 27, 1989. And it had the large sized liquid crystal display. Toshiba put it on the market in July of the same year. The price of 198,000 yen gave a shock.” PC-9801n” was put on the market by NEC in October, 1989, and these developed the new market of a notebook computer.

                                              
                                                       (TOSHIBA:T1100)

Nowadays, while the desktop computers became superfluous performance feeling for many users, the price of notebook computers fell and the needs of internal extension also decreased. By such the circumstances, a notebook PC is received also in a general user as main personal computers. Since manufacture of a notebook PC was asked for synthetic technology, such as small size and low-power-consumption of electronic components, and an advanced design of mechanical structure, it had been specialty of Japan for a long time. However, the manufacturer who transfers production of a large-sized model to Taiwan, China, etc., from around 1998, and the manufacturer who entrusts a design and production to an indigenous firm, and withdraws from original design and manufacture succeeded one another. The maker which produces in the mainstream in Japan now is a direct marketer.

 In recent years, a miniaturization and a weight saving progress by development of the high performance of electronic components, density growth, improvement in part mounting technology, the performance gain of a material, etc., and the operation performance is also improving by leaps and bounds. Moreover, the performance gain of a battery also contributes to development of a notebook computer greatly. The price of the whole notebook PC falls and a note form personal computer occupies 50% or more of the personal computers sold all over the world.

(TOSHIBA:T1100)

The famous computer's company in the world

Today, I write about the famous companies which relate computers in the world.

First, I introduce “Microsoft.” Microsoft is a multinational computer technology company. Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates who is one of the most rich men in the world and Paul Allen on April 4, 1975, in Albuquerque. Gates quit Harvard University and Allen also left Honeywell. Best-selling Microsoft’s products are “The Microsoft Windows operating system” and “The Microsoft Office”. On the whole, Microsoft is successful now. Microsoft has a global annual revenue of 60.42 billion dollars and nearly 90,000 employees in 105 countries.

 Microsoft sold the first Windows which extended the graphics of the MS-DOS operating system in 1985. And Microsoft began to release the outstanding office products. Microsoft Works contained the function looked at by office applications, such as a word processor, a spreadsheet, and a database. Microsoft Works was put on the market at the end of 1986. Later, Microsoft announced Microsoft Office which is the office products which is the biggest success on August 8, 1989. Unlike the Microsoft Works, it was a set of individual application such as Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. And Microsoft put Windows 3.0 on the market on May 22, 1990. It were sold 100,000 between two weeks. Windows grew up to be a popular platform rapidly. The year 1998 was a year important for the history of Microsoft. While Bill Gates appointed Steve Ballmer as the president, he himself stopped at the chairman and CEO. And Microsoft put on the market Windows 98 which was the latest version of Windows for general consumers. Moreover, Microsoft founded the India headquarters which becomes the second scale after the United States of America behind. Also after that, Microsoft continued growth and became a world leading major company.

Second company is Intel. Intel is an American multinational semiconductor chip maker corporation. Intel is the largest and the highest valued semiconductor chip maker, based on revenue. Intel mainly manufactures and sells a microprocessor, a chip set, a flash memory, etc. There is a CPU for personal computers in the main products of Intel. Intel is developed in the various computer related hardware enterprise from the end of the 1990s. Intel continues reigning as 1st chip makers in the world, and is maintaining nearly 80％ shares especially in the world CPU market in the past several years until it results from 1992 or subsequent ones now. Intel which is an affiliated company in Japan assigns the head office in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo (Tokyo head office) and two places in Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki (Tsukuba head office).

Japanese Computer Company

Third topic is "Japanese Computer Company".
I introduce Japanese company which developed in field of computer.

I introduce NEC(Nippon Electric Company). NEC has the number of employees maximum in the Sumitomo group, and is the 9th in all the Japanese companies.

 NEC make “teaching material” called “TK-80” in order to let people know a microcomputer. “TK” is an abbreviation for “Training Kit”. It is a computer aiming at actually assembling a microcomputer in what kind of thing, and letting people understand microcomputer. The price is 88,500 yen. Contrary to expectations, TK-80 began to be sold. However, a power supply not being attached to TK-80. It had to prepare individually in order to use it. Furthermore, there is a serious problem. First of all, it is storage capacity and processing language. Storage capacity is 512 byte about 1/2500 of a floppy disk. Since it is too little capacity, nothing can be done. Processing language input in a machine language is lower level than C language. Then, TK-80 user performed various improvement after sale. The improvement by the user of TK-80 progressed, the power supply which must be prepared individual was sold by the maker who did not have relation with NEC, and each peripheral equipment such as memory and interface circuit was put on the market one after another. Users improved so that it could be practical use. Then, NEC put TK-80BS on the market in 1977. TK-80BS is the product into which the parts for using BASIC were packed, and it can be called big progress that BASIC could be used with such a product. However,  there was voice from users referred to as " to use the done computer rather than to assemble a kit by oneself." “COMPO BS” realized it. It was a computer of the form where adopted the power supply and the cassette deck as the external storage, and it stored them in the case. 

COMPO BS was put on the market and the foundation of the personal computer was made. However, in NEC, they thought that they would develop a next-generation new computer. It is PC-8000 series which can be called first real personal computer. PC-8001 adopted Microsoft BASIC and had main memory:16KB, CPU:uPD780C/14MHz and 8-color colored presentation.

In 1982, NEC announced “PC-9801”. PC-9801 appeared as first 16 bit PC. Although start of PC-9801 was good, it did not accept in the important business layer easily because there were few numbers of software. The software named the object for PC-9801 after a while was also put on the market from the software house, and it became a number of software to the extent that an 8-bit personal computer is reached at last. It sweeps over the personal-computer market in Japan over about 15 years, and even "a national machine" came to be called for the heyday.