Web Worker Daily

Talk about a non-starter.

Back in April of last year HP decided to reinvent the online storage wheel by introducing their own backup service, named HP Upline. It came. It never quite got off the ground. And now, it’s officially joining the deadpool.

Just in case there is anyone out there who actually put data on Upline and didn’t get the email from HP announcing its departure, it says in part:

HP continually evaluates product lines and has decided to discontinue the HP Upline service on March 31, 2009.

HP will no longer be backing up your files to the HP Upline servers as of Feb 26, 2009 at 8 am Pacific time. HP will keep the file restore feature of the Upline service operational through March 31, 2009 Pacific time in order for you to download any files you have backed up to Upline.

If you have a paid subscription to HP Upline, you will be refunded the full amount of the fees you paid for the service. That refund will be credited to the credit card account or PayPal account that you used to subscribe to the Upline service. If you do not receive the refund prior to March 31, 2009, please contact our customer service team at https://www.upline.com/support/email.aspx.

HP looks forward to offering you additional technology products and services in the future.

Thanks to our friends over at jkOnTheRun for letting us know about the huge HP Magic Giveaway contest. They are one of 50 participating sites that are each giving away a $6,000 prize package containing some great stuff for the Web Worker. The package includes notebooks, desktops, printers, netbooks, software and more.

The jkOnTheRun portion starts on December 16th but you can start entering on the other sites today. More details are available from HP and on each of the sponsoring blogs.

Good Luck!!

The notion of ‘all-day computing’ and a notebook battery than can last a full twenty-four hours – without recharging – has long been a pipe dream of the mobile computing industry.

Back in 2004, Intel set itself the goal of achieving eight-hour battery life by 2010, using a combination of battery innovation, software optimisation and power management technologies.

Though Intel has succeeded in continual innovation of its chipsets, and users have become accustomed to carry multiple or more powerful batteries amongst other power management strategies, it doesn’t seem as though we’re any closer to the goal of all-day computing…and Intel only has a little over a year to get there!

Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s an interesting idea for the ecologically-conscious web worker: buy a laptop without any packaging. That’s not as far-fetched as it used to be, thanks to the introduction by HP of the Pavilion dv6929 laptop, sold only through Walmart and Sam’s Club stores. The trick? They’re packaging the laptop in its own protective messenger bag, displaying it that way on the shelf, and when you buy one you can just put it over your shoulder and take it home – without foam, bubble wrap, or cardboard.

The plan doesn’t eliminate all packaging; the laptops still get to Walmart in large cardboard cartons, 3 to a box. But they do say it saves 97% of the packaging, the equivalent of eliminating the CO2 from 1/4 of the delivery trucks that bring them to the stores. While web workers aren’t the core market for this “entertainment notebook,” if it sells we can expect to see this approach spread.

Does the amount of packaging influence your own computer-buying decisions?

Following on the heels of DropBox, SugarSync, and Box.Net, HP has officially announced Upline, a storage service that is useful for those who are seeking a way to share files with others or take advantage of online backup.

Online storage has its advantages.  Your files are available remotely from any computer you have HP’s software installed on.  If you migrate computers, you just download your files onto the new machine.  Also, Upline will grant you a URL to easily share files with co-workers and friends/family.

To kick things off, HP is offering businesses and consumers a free 1 year subscription to their limited service.

These free accounts grant users 1GB of storage.  For unlimited storage, HP is charging between $59-299 per year, depending on how many users/PCs will have access.

Unfortunately, the software only works on Windows PCs.  If you’re seeking a service like this for use between Mac and Windows computers, take a look at DropBox.  Their free service provides 5GB of disk space.  However, having the HP brand behind your online storage solution is an attractive trait.