xThink News and Views
May 29, 2010: Talk about vision and dedication! (Nicholas Negroponte)
Nicholas Negroponte (more about him in another xThink blog:
http://wp.me/pRTdf-16) has a
vision, “one laptop per child,” and dedication. The point in
this blog is that his vision and dedication is extraordinary.
He set up a non-profit corporation to produce computer hardware.
Revenues soared at one point, then shrank drastically. Several
points about Negroponte’s reactions to the ups and downs of the
marketplace:
- No griping: He did not curse his pretty ruthless competitors, including Intel.
- Eyes on the prize: He praised the industry as a whole for moving society toward the goal of getting robust computers into the hand of the world's children.
- Adaptation: He has now adapted his laptop vision into a tablet
vision, and is now well on the way to making it possible to
achieve “one tablet per child.” And these tablets will have the
world-class, cutting-edge functionality (or more) that is
currently restricted to iPad owners.
Yes, Negroponte knows that some argue that he has failed to post good numbers and failed to be realistic in some ways. In response, “We think unrealistic is good,” says Negroponte. “The world needs some people who aren’t realistic, or you’ll always get the same old stuff.” (SOURCE: http://www.forbes.com/2010/05/26/olpc-ipad-apple-technology-negroponte.html?boxes=Homepagechannels)
May 29, 2010: Professor Negroponte sees “it”
Forbes.com news service describes Professor Nicholas
Negroponte as a digital visionary. Fair enough. As founder of
MIT’s Media Lab (1983), author of bestselling book Being Digital
(1995), and director of the One Laptop Per Child nonprofit
(2005), Negroponte also has shaped the computer industry.
In xThink’s opinion, Negroponte’s vision helps us see the iPad
from a different perspective. iPad shows all the signs of having
“gotten it right.” The size, the speed, the finger-tip based
interaction features make iPad a pleasure to use for countless
digital tasks. However, from the perspective of Negroponte’s
constructionist educational mission, iPad is not enough.
“[The iPad] is lovely, but it’s not a constructionist device,”
he says. “Ours will have cameras and a haptic screen [that
vibrates in response to touch]. It will be more open, run flash
and be more of a computer instead of a peripheral device.”
(SOURCE:
http://www.forbes.com/2010/05/26/olpc-ipad-apple-technology-negroponte.html?boxes=Homepagechannels)
read more
May 05, 2010: iPad: All things to all people?
xThink started providing software for tablets in 2003.
Starting in 2009, we at xThink have been
wondering about the iPad tablet. Would iPad's identity
be restricted to what users do on iPhone? A recent video
report at the Gotta Be Mobile forum
provides one more proof that the answer is, "No!":
http://www.gottabemobile.com/2010/05/02/hector-gomez-remoting-into-office-2007-on-his-ipad
An ingenious Hector Gomez shows how he is accessing applications
on remote
computers through iPad. And he is not just viewing his
documents, he is
launching applications and running them!
Mr. Gomez's example is one of many examples that encourages
xThink's high hopes for iPad in
education, especially STEM (science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics) education. We at xThink are
convinced that our products can do as
much and more than what they have already accomplished
since 2003.
April 17, 2010: Apple giveth simplicity
xThink doesn’t like everything about the iPad, but the simple user interface of iPad is a good thing.
Similarly, xThink math products made the keyboard optional many years ago. The xThink products also made many menu options and interface features unnecessary, using gestures and intelligent software instead.
On the other hand, xThink kind of misses the pen.
April 17, 2010: Apple taketh away the pen
Dr. Dobb’s journal pinpoints a key trait about Apple iPad:
An information consumer device [Apple iPad] needs some means for entering data, because even consuming information today is interactive. But it doesn’t need a writer’s keyboard, just an email user’s keyboard. It doesn’t need a lot of things that we think a personal computer needs, because it isn’t one. http://www.drdobbs.com/mobility/222700087
Fair enough, Dr. Dobb. But we at xThink do miss the pen. iPad users will have to rely on fingertip input, not pen, to perform handwritten math (xThink’s speciality) in the future.
Happily, Adobe (r) Ideas 1.0 for iPad is one of several applications that proves that finger-based input provides a perfectly viable alternative to pen in iPad.
February 07, 2010: Former Microsoft VP sheds light on tablet history
Perhaps Apple iPad is bringing the dawn of a new era in tablet computing. For nearly a decade, xThink has existed in a modestly successful world of tablet computing based on the Windows Tablet PC. A February 4, 2010 editorial by a former Microsoft vice president Dick Brass has the effect of a flare in the night sky, illuminating some mysteries.(http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/opinion/04brass.html?th=&emc=th&pagewanted=all). The fact that Brass was in charge of promoting Tablet PCs and eBooks in Microsoft makes his perspective all the more valuable to enthusiasts of Tablet PC, Netbook, Mobile PC, Multi-Touch devices … and now Apple iPad.
September 05, 2008: xThink and Hitachi in Thuringia
MathJournal is taking part in the biggest whiteboard project in Germany. In a pilot scheme Hitachi will provide 80 electronic whiteboards to schools in the German state of Thuringia. The software for these whiteboards will include MathJournal.More information in German / Mehr Informationen in Deutsch
September 03: Fujitsu Siemens ships Lifebook with xThink Calculator
Fujitsu Siemens offers a special version of its new Lifebook T1010 convertible for students, the Lifebook T1010 EDU. Starting at €999 it already comes with a full version of xThink Calculator.More about the Lifebook T Series (external site)
May 25, 2008: xThink on the MS Wissenschaft
One of the main activities of the German "Year of Mathematics 2008" is the river cruise of the "MS Wissenschaft". This year the exhibition ship tells stories about the mathematics in everyday live. On board: xThink MathJournal and the new Hitachi Starboard.More information in German / Mehr Informationen in Deutsch
April 21, 2008: xThink Boosts Project GAUSS
The Project GAUSS of the German Centre for Mathematics develops and evaluates teaching units for Mathematics. It follows the new quality criteria and core curricula of German Mathematics teaching.The database of lessons will be freely available to (German) Mathematics teachers. Additional material will be available for students.
The cooperation with xThink will additionally boost Project GAUSS. The GAUSS database will be complemented by xThink recognition technology which will allow students to directly interact with the developed material. Teaching units will be seamlessly integrated with xThink MathJoural which will allow for easy and flexible use in Mathematics classes.
More information in German / Mehr Informationen in Deutsch
February 10, 2008: xThink at BETT 2008
In January 2008 there was a huge event. The name of the event was BETT. It was already the 23rd time that the exhibition opened its gates and over 30,000 visitors attended the world’s greatest trade show for education technologies.Read more
May 15, 2007: MathJournal Multimedia released
xThink Corporation has announced the May 2007 release of MathJournal® Multimedia to meet the demands of advanced math education programs.Educators are working hard to attract and hold student interest for mathematics. Many institutions have demanded multimedia features in MathJournal because students have come to expect sound and video in the classroom, as well as interactivity with commonly used communications channels like Microsoft Outlook.
And MathJournal Multimedia includes all the features of MathJournal 2.1!
Read more
May 15, 2007: MathJournal 2.1 released
xThink Corporation has announced the May 2007 release of Version 2.1 of MathJournal®, adding many behind-the-scenes improvements and some critical enhancements, including simplified installation for Windows® Vista users.Other new features include:
- Compatibility with Pegasus Mini-NoteTaker, to enable users to do math on standard Desktop and Laptop computers.
- Support for LaTeX output to produce typeset versions of the math expressions. This feature compliments the MathML output option that has always existed in MathJournal.
- Export the MathJournal workspace as Web page for collaboration across the Internet, even with non-MathJournal users.
- 2D Plot Grid so that you can easily visualize mathematical expressions.
April 16, 2007: Update on xThink in Croatia
xThink is building a partnership with Croatia's Ministry of Science, Education, and Athletics, which is led by Dr. Dragana Primorca. xThink's revolutionary software for pen-based mathematics will benefit over 3,000 Croatian schools beginning with 1,300 schools immediately.Read the press release
January 29, 2007: MathJournal nominated for European ICT prize
MathJournal®, the xThink software application that enables pen-based mathematics, is nominated for the prestigious "European ICT Prize." MathJournal is thereby eligible to compete for a share of €700,000 of prize money.This honor shines a spotlight on MathJournal’s growing role in the Education sector. Governments and institutions increasingly seek “the power of the pen” to take math education to a new level. The power of pen-based mathematics is reaching beyond the original Tablet PC sector into electronic white boards and affordable digital pens.
Read the press release
July 10, 2006: MathJournal 2.0 released
xThink has released Version 2.0 of MathJournalTM, a user-friendly, powerful math tool for the Tablet PC. The release introduces many features derived from customer wish lists:- Major expansion (75%) of the library of math functions, including functions for statistics and matrix math, and operations with scalars, complex numbers, vectors, and matrices.
- Even better recognition of handwritten, two-dimensional math expressions
- More math symbols, including Greek letters and operators, such as summation and product
- Streamlined user interface, including context menus
- Enhanced MathML (for typeset math output)
- Console control to enable keyboard-based math
September 23, 2005: xThink Nominated for European IST Prize
European IST Prize (EISTP) announced that xThink Deutschland is a nominee for the prestigious ISTE Prize. This prize represents one of the highest distinctions offered for innovation in Europe. xThink Deutschland is one of 66 finalists from a group of 213 proposed innovators from 29 countries.This competition offers a critical stepping stone for companies like xThink because it increases the visibility, credibility, and future business prospects. Participants in this competition get attention from the marketplace and from potential partners. On October 6, twenty nominees for the First Grand Prize will be chosen by a panel of experts from the group of 66. As many as 3 of those twenty are eligible to be Grand Prize Winners.
Wish us luck!
Read the EISTP press release... (external link)
May 28, 2005: MathJournal in Top 10 of Tablet Applications
The June 2005 issue of Laptop Magazine reviews Tablet PC software in "Top 10 Tablet Applications, Ten programs that prove the pen is mightier than the keyboard." And MathJournal rates in the Top 10! Author Steve Smith says MathJournal is, "...an amazing use of stylus technology that students, accountants, and engineers should covet." Although he is not a mathematician, Smith quickly saw the value of the pen-based math in MathJournal: ease of use. He comments, "Ever try to find the square root symbol on your keyboard? With MathJournal you just write it out and let the program do the rest."Link to article...
May 11, 2005: xThink connecting with customers
xThink found new ways to connect with customers in the first quarter of 2005. Company representatives attended shows, conferences, competitions, and expanded customer outreach and support programs.Read more...
September 27, 2004: The Tablet's Greatest Potential...
In the Technology & You section, Stephen H. Wildstrom wrote an article in Business Week magazine entitled "Waiting For More Smart Software". He says the following about MathJournal:THE TABLET'S GREATEST POTENTIAL lies in its ability to perform feats that cannot be done by typing on conventional laptops. For example, a major impediment to using computers for a lot of mathematical work has been the difficulty of entering math notation from a keyboard. MathJournal from xThink ($198, $98 for students) lets you write on the screen in conventional math notation. It parses the input and performs sophisticated calculations, including equation-solving, symbolic integration, and vector operations.
Read the entire article
July 28, 2004: MathJournal released.
The first version of MathJournal, a user-friendly, powerful math tool for the Tablet PC is ready in time for students who are headed back to school. Early users term MathJournal's ability to recognize handwritten equations, "simply amazing."Read more...
April 2, 2004: xThink Calculator wins Tablet PC award from TabletPCBuzz.
TabletPCBuzz, a web community that focuses on Tablet PC hardware and software, announced the winners of a contest to decide the best products in Tablet PC hardware and software. And xThink Calculator won an award !Read more... or read the official announcement.
March 30, 2004: xThink Calculator Version 1.1 released
xThink, Inc. today released Version 1.1 of xThink Calculator. The recognition technology that customers have found to be "amazing" is enhanced. The design and features that won the Innovation award at the Microsoft Tablet PC Challenge in Munich, Germany (see press release of February 26, 2004) are extended in Version 1.1.Read more...
February 26, 2004: xThink wins Innovation Award at German Tablet PC Challenge
xThink Calculator won the "Special Innovation Award" at the Microsoft® Tablet PC Challenge held in Munich, Germany. 70 software applications for the Tablet PC competed in the Challenge. The software competition coincided with CeBIT 2004 in Hanover, Germany, a world-renowned annual showcase for innovative technology products.Read more... or read the report at zdnet.de (German)
