19/11/2009 by David Slade.

Contrary to rumors, Google did not release a beta version of its much anticipated Chrome operating system today. And nothing is coming anytime soon: the final version is at least a year away, the mega giant web company said.

But there was some significant news for the community today. Google made the early code available to the open source community and claims external developers will have the same access to the code as internal Google developers.

All the code is open and sketches of the design documents are available now. The final version of the cloud-based operating system is expected to ship at the end of 2010, before the holiday season, executives said.

Google also provided an early demonstration of the web operating system, which sports a Chrome browser-like interface that features application tabs instead of web page tab and a seven second bootup time that is expected to be much faster on its release.

For example, users will see the same clean tabbed style interface but the tabs on the upper left hand of the screen are for gmail, Yahoo, Facebook and any other web service or application customers use on a day-to-day basis.  All of the data, of course, is stored in the cloud.

Executives who showed the demo Thursday said the Chrome OS functions more like a TV than a computer. It is entirely sold state and based on Flash memory storage so there’s no latency that comes with using a hard disk.

The OS uses web-based security model. The software offers a verified boot and cryptohgraphic signature keys that check for and ensure there’s no malware impacted the applications.  Like the Chrome browser, it will also feature security sandboxing to isolate one web application from another.

The web operating system will offer auto-updating and synchronization capabilities.

Go To Market

Google is working with partners to specify hardware competence and reference implementations at the hardware level. That is, Google Chrome OS will support only solid state drives and select wireless cards. This means that customers will have to buy a new next-generation netbook or device that is designed for the Chrome OS.

The initial form factor for 2010 is the netbook. Laptops and desktops may follow in the future.

Google expects hardware devices to fall in same price range as netbooks are today.  Chrome OS netbooks will be larger and feature a full sized keyboard.

“The code is open. We would not be here if it were not for several large open source projects such as Linux kernel, Ubuntu, Moblin and webskit,” said Caesar Sengupta, Group Product Manager. ”We’ll be a good open source citizen.”

The open source operating system won’t support other browsers natively but third parties including Mozilla and Microsoft can take the code and do Firefox-based and Windows-based versions of the OS.

Posted in Chrome OS, Google | No Comments »

19/11/2009 by David Slade.

Britain’s biggest cities have pledged to cut their green house gas emissions over the next two years, beginning by making buildings more energy efficient.

John Shipley, leader of Newcastle City Council, announced that the Core Cities Group comprising eight major regional cities, would work with the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) and the Greater London Authority to reduce the emissions of its cities.

The two-year partnership will see the councils of Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield initiate a number of projects, starting with improving the energy efficiency of buildings.

Mr Shipley said: “This gives us the chance to demonstrate our commitment to addressing climate change, show leadership, and show that we are acting together to reduce carbon emissions across all our cities on a big scale.”

Ira Magaziner, chairman of the Clinton Climate Initiative, said: “We will provide the cities with technical support and assistance, building on our experience working with other cities around the world that are committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”

In partnership with CCI, London has already initiated the retrofitting of 42 buildings in the first stage of the Building Energy Efficiency Programme (BEEP), with 58 more to follow suit.

Posted in Building Energy Efficiency Programme (BEEP), Greater London Authority, Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI), Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) | No Comments »

19/11/2009 by David Slade.

Growth in the UK’s construction industry over the next decade will be among the strongest in Western Europe, according to a report.

The 10-year forecast from Global Construction Perspectives and Oxford Economics – which was carried out in conjunction with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors – predicts the UK will be the ninth largest construction market in the world in 2020.

The report expects Britain to continue to feel the damaging effects of the global recession going into 2010, with year-on-year growth only returning in 2011.

But the UK will move into the top ten largest construction markets in 2020 – ahead of France and Italy, but behind Germany and Spain – as output recovers more strongly than its Western European neighbours.

Local growth will be led by the recent recovery in the residential property market as the pent up demand for new homes is finally realised, it claims.

According to the report, Eastern Europe will see growth averaging more than 100 per cent over the next decade – led by Poland and Russia.

The emerging markets will rapidly overtake their developed neighbours, with China replacing the US as the world’s largest construction market as early as 2018.

China is expected to have a 19.1 per cent share of global construction by 2020 – worth almost £1.45 trillion.

The report – entitled Global Construction 2020 – predicts that in 10 years Nigeria, Vietnam and Turkey will be among those experiencing the highest growth levels, alongside booming markets such as India, China and Brazil.

Global Construction Perspectives spokesman Mike Betts said the UK construction industry should be positive about the next decade.

He said: “The UK’s construction market has suffered during the recession but will recover stronger than many of its Western European neighbours from 2011.”

The report predicts that today’s global construction market is worth an estimated £7.5 trillion – representing 13.4 per cent of global GDP.

But by 2020 construction will be a £12.7 trillion global market and is forecast to account for 14.6 per cent of GDP.

Posted in Construction workload | 1 Comment »