The following posts are courtesy of Mashable.com.
October 16, 2012 by Samantha Murphy19
Microsoft unveiled on Tuesday details about pricing and availability for its new 10.6-inch Windows 8 tablet, the Surface.
As more tablets hit the market, consumers are faced with the task of weeding through the proliferation of options.
The Microsoft Surface touts a slightly larger display compared to the Apple iPad and Kindle Fire HD, which are among the two most popular tablet models. The Surface features a lesser-resolution screen to cut back on battery life, and only includes Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0. The Apple iPad and Kindle Fire HD both offer 2G, 3G and 4G LTE capabilities.
SEE ALSO: 7-Inch Shootout: New Kindle Fires vs. Nexus 7
To make your purchasing decision easier, we stacked the Surface up against the iPad and Kindle Fire HD in a handy chart below.
Take a look at the specs below and let us know which device you think is the best investment. Will you be purchasing one of the devices? Let us know in the comments.
Microsoft Surface RT vs. Apple iPad vs. Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9
| Microsoft Surface RT | Apple iPad | Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Screen Size | 10.6 inches | 9.7 inches | 8.9 inches |
| Resolution | 1,366 x 768 | 2,048 x 1,536 | 1,920 x 1,200 |
| Pixel Density | 148 ppi | 264 ppi | 254 ppi |
| Weight | 1.5 pounds | 1.44 or 1.46 pounds | 1.25 pounds |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | 6.7 x 10.8 x 0.37 inches | 7.3 x 9.5 x 0.37 inches | 6.4 x 9.4 x 0.35 inches |
| CPU | Quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 | Dual-core 1GHz Apple A5X (quad-core graphics) | Dual-core 1.5GHz TI OMAP4470 |
| Storage | 32GB or 64GB | 16GB, 32GB or 64GB | 16GB or 32GB |
| Connectors | USB 2.0, microHDMI | Apple 30-pin dock connector | microUSB, microHDMI |
| Operating System | Windows RT | iOS 6 | Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) |
| Battery Life | 8 hours of mixed activity | 10 hours of video playback (11,666 mAh) | 9 hours |
| Camera | Two 720p HD cameras, front- and rear-facing | 5MP rear camera, VGA front camera | HD front camera |
| Networking | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 | Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi and 2G, 3G, 4G LTE; Bluetooth 4.0 | Dual-band Wi-Fi or dual-band Wi-Fi and 2G, 3G, 4G LTE; Bluetooth |
| Price | $499 for 32GB, $599 for 32GB and Touch Cover, $699 for 64GB and Touch Cover | $499 for 16GB, $599 for 32GB, $699 for 64GB (Wi-Fi); $629 for 16GB, $729 for 32GB, $829 for 64GB (Wi-Fi + cellular) | $299 for 16GB, $369 for 32GB (Wi-Fi); $499 for 32GB, $599 for 64GB (Wi-Fi + cellular) |
How Do Computers Talk to Each Other on the Internet?
October 17, 2012
TCP/IP is a set of communications protocols that allow computers to communicate on the Internet.
Its name refers to the two most important protocols in the suite — the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the Internet Protocol (IP). TCP/IP specifies how devices connect to the Internet and how data transmits between those devices.
TCP/IP was originally developed by Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn, while under contract at the U.S. Department of Defense. It’s the de facto standard way that local and wide networks communicate. It allows computers to connect to one another and for applications to send data back and forth.
There are four different abstraction layers within TCP/IP, and each one has its own set of of protocols. Those layers are:
- The link layer — This is the lowest layer in the TCP/P stack and it’s a group of methods that operate on a host’s link. It’s commonly Ethernet.
- The Internet layer (IP) — This is the layer that connects local networks to one another
- The transport layer (TCP) — This is the layer that controls host-to-host communication
- The application layer — The application layer is the set of protocols that specify data communications on a process-to-process level. For instance, HTTP is an application protocol that is the foundation of the World Wide Web.
While this might sound confusing, it’s actually a (very) basic explanation of how the communication is sent over the Internet.
In a network, TCP is what applications use to communicate with one another. For instance, your web browser talks to network software using TCP. IP is the communication that takes place between computers. So IP is what sends packets between computer. It can also route packets to a correct destination.
TCP will break down the data communicated between applications into packets so that they can be sent over IP to another computer. TCP also reassembles those packets once they are delivered by IP.
For more information on TCP/IP, you can visit W3Schools TCP/IP page. For historical context around TCP/IP, check out Gary Kessler’s webpage on the subject.
Image courtesy of Flickr, monkeymanforever, Wikipedia
