Technology Updatez

hello

2010-11-09T13:45:00.001-08:00

hhhhhhhhhh h h h h a alk dsn asd kansd las

2010-09-09T13:24:00.001-07:00

You can Play your music and movies in the car!Dual screens for 2 kids.You don't need them to crane their necks to a central spot with viewing angle issues.This headrest dvd player is lightweight.It has a cheap feeling plastic units.The PET7402 features two 7" TFT LCD display screens that let you indulge in enjoying your DVD movies, music, and photos on the road, with everything you need to easily install and mount to the headrests in your car. Includes AC/DC adaptor, AV cable, car charger and headrest mounting straps.

http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/member.cgi

New firefox plugin lets you "dislike"stories in face book.

2009-11-06T11:28:00.001-08:00

We all have friends that post offensive, annoying or abusive comments and sadly Facebook doesn’t allow you to “dislike” a comment or any other stuff. All you can do is block/hide that person from your feed which is obviously not a good solution. There is a vast majority of users that want Facebook to implement a “Dislike” button to allow them to show their disapproval but unfortunately for those users it is highly unlikely that facebook will ever add such a button.

Well, we just found out the next best thing to an actual “Dislike” button,the Facebook Dislike Firefox plugin. After you install the plugin you will notice a “Dislike” button on every item on your news feed placed in between the “Like” and “Similar posts” button. As per our current observation your friends will only be able to see that you have disliked a post if they have the plugin installed too which is bit of a problem at the moment as there have only been 1200 downloads of this plugin and not a lot of users are aware of this yet. We expect this number to grow massively in the coming days and weeks keeping in view the recently growing demand of such a button by the users.

A preview of "Dislike" button using firefox plugin

The plugin is working perfectly and you can it download it here. Just make sure not to misuse it or you might get your friend list cut short and you certainly don’t want that. Do you think it would be be a good addition to facebook if they make it official ? We are looking forward to your response.

Cloud-Generating 1900-Ship Armada to Sink Climate Change

2009-10-13T00:09:00.000-07:00

The Copenhagen Consensus Centre—a respected European think tank which used to be skeptic on climate change—is now advising that we should spend $9 billion in building 1900 cloud-generating ships like the one above. Why? To cool down Earth:

When you spray saltwater into the air, you create nuclei that cloud condenses around, creating bigger and whiter clouds, thus bouncing more sunlight back into space.

That's what David Young, a member of the panel that created the report, says. The fully automated vessels will cross the oceans absorbing water and spraying it into the skies. They say this will help the formation of big, whiter clouds, which will make the sun light bounce, lowering temperatures.
The idea seems neat, but the concept of anyone in planet Earth claiming to understand how climate works to this extend blows my mind. We are still trying to grasp how a complex system like the weather works, but someone wants to put an idea like this in motion, without knowing about the ultimate consequences? Like we say in my home country: Do you experiments with pop soda.

Home screen Expose Concept by iPhone

2009-10-12T12:48:00.000-07:00

We get the strangest e-mails in the MobileCrunch tips line. Sometimes people will write in to tell us about their day, using us as an archaic, vacuum-esque livejournal. Other times (and quite often), internet newbies fail to realize this isn’t a store, and ask us when we’ll have such and such item in stock. Less often, we’ll get random little gems of self-created goodness that I’m never quite sure what to do with; they’re not news, per se, but they’re still rather interesting.
Such is the case with this concept video (after the jump) from Swedish design house Ocean Observations. It looks rather flashy and neat, but I’m left wondering: would anyone use it?

It’s like OS X’s Expose feature, tweaked for iPhone app screens. Tap the home button, and up to 9 pages of homescreen are shown in a grid. Tapping any of the displayed pages will jump you directly to that page, allowing you to skip from page 1 to page 8 without swiping 7 times. If Apple provided this as one of the home button behavior alternatives, would you use this? It seems to me like the primary use would be launching a specific app; if that’s the case, why not just use search – which can already be tied to the home button?

◘ Source ►TechCrunch

How-to design a Web Page

2009-10-07T02:25:00.000-07:00

A good web page design requires forethought, planning and a willingness to alter the initial strategy. Before writing even the first bit of code or setting the first icon on screen, it is necessary to know why the web page needs to be created, and that will often guide how to build the site. Secondly, using the reason for the page's creation as a guide, the writer must construct the page logically and must be aware of certain things that can trip up even an experienced web page designer

Knowing the Why Often Reveals the How

When building a website, the first thing to determine is the primary reason for the website. This should be something that can be answered in one sentence. For example, "The primary purpose of my website is to tell people about my business." Or, "I want my website to show off the Role Playing Game I made that I can't get anyone else to publish." The "why" will often reveal a great deal about the "how." For example, a business site should be an even split between selling the company's services and informing the public about the company. A web page detailing how to build a desk might put pictures next to the text describing how to do things to help the viewer understand the process.

To sum up, let the website's reason for being guide how the page or pages are laid out.

The Keys to a Successful Design

The purpose of a web page is to communicate to the intended audience. Or put more simply, it's designed to tell the visitor some information or insight. When in doubt, keep it simple. While having 20 videos, a dozen links and a bunch of animated pictures may look cool to the creator, it takes the risk of distracting the visitor from the reason they came there in the first place. So, when in doubt, simplify.

Also, consider how long it takes for the page to load. While bandwidth is much less of a problem than it was even a decade ago, it is still a consideration. The longer it takes for a page to load and be viewable, the less likely the viewer is to stay and see the page. Consider using multiple pages to contain and manage the information in question. This also allows for better organization and a better chance of conveying the information. A picture or video that is useful, but not critical to the page might be better linked to the page, rather than on the page itself.

One HTML trick for faster loading is to define the size of the pictures or objects to be loaded on the page. Most browsers will stick a "placeholder" in that spot while the picture loads and will load the rest of the site in the meantime. Also, avoid using background pictures unless they are fairly small and simple, as they can clutter a web page and slow down the loading time of the page, neither of which is beneficial.

Next, if the web page is part of a website (and most are), be sure there is a clear, obvious and easy-to-use index of the pages in the site, which can allow visitors to navigate to other pages within the site. This is especially critical in business-oriented sites. Fortunately, most web page building software packages include this feature.

By the way, be aware of an HTML tag called the "anchor" (A NAME="anchorname"). This allows visiters to maneuver within the page itself. It is an independent tag that functions with a variation on the standard hyperlink (the format is A HREF="pagename#anchorname"). This can be very handy for the written portion of the page, allowing you to expand on key points without disrupting the flow of the web page, but keeping all the information on one page, and it can be used to link from other web pages. I personally use this feature regularly on the site I manage to link to current seminars our company has planned which appear midway down the seminar page, but which we "tease" on our main page. The anchor tag allows the visitor to go directly to the seminar details on the seminar page.

If you are using javascript or vbasicscript with the page, be aware that not all browers support this, either because of the browser's age or because the owner decided to turn it off and leave it off. Be sure to use the NOSCRIPT tag to cover these circumstances.

One other little trick that can help tremendously with layout is to use tables. Most web page building software can create them, and if set to a border of zero, they are invisible on the page, but allow for a much more flexible presentation of the information.

In summation, a good web page should be kept as simple as possible without losing information, have an easy-to-use index if it is part of a website, and be well organized and linked, if necessary, within the page.

Conclusion

Good web page design is as much art as it is a science. A good web page is built for a reason, and focuses on that reason with every aspect of its design. It is not overly complicated for the sake of being fancy, and has a logical, easy-to-follow organization.

RegCleaner-4.3 -Tutorial

2009-10-07T02:16:00.000-07:00

RegCleaner 4.3 is designed to clean the Windows registry of old and unneeded entries. RegCleaner 4.3 is the last version of the program that is available to use for free. You can use RegCleaner to remove not only registry entries but also shared files and shortcut files. Version 4.3 of the program is still available for download.

Installation

You can install RegCleaner 4.3 by first downloading the setup file to your desktop (see Resources). When you double-click on the file, the Installer window will appear. If you do not want a new start page or shortcuts added to your desktop, uncheck the top two boxes. The program unpacks the needed files and copies them to your system when you click the "Next" button after accepting the license agreement. When the files have been copied, you will see a shortcut on your desktop for RegCleaner.

Tabs

When the program is opened, you will see a row of tabs across the top of the program window. "Software," "Startup List" and "Uninstall Menu" are the three tabs that you will use the most. The Software tab lists all of the software currently installed on the system. Startup List displays all of the programs that load when Windows starts. Uninstall Menu displays all programs that can be removed through the "Add/Remove Programs" option in Windows. Items in the list can be removed manually by placing a check in the item and then clicking the "Remove Selected" button.

Cleaning Options

Within the Registry Cleanup selection there are various options that you can use to clean entries from the Windows registry. There are four options to choose from: "OLE Cleaner," "Orphan File Reference Finder," "Automatic Registry Cleaner" and "Do Them All." The "OLE Cleaner" option will clean unused and invalid object linking and embedding entries. The "Orphan File Reference Finder" option will remove registry entries that point to a file that no longer exists. The "Automatic Registry Cleaner" option will clean all registry entries that are possible to remove automatically. You can also select "Do Them All" to have the program automatically run each option.

Cleaning the Registry

You can clean the registry on your system by running the Automatic Registry Cleaner. This option is found by going to the Tools drop-down menu and then selecting the option for "Registry Cleanup." Click on "Automatic Registry Cleaner" to have the program scan and display a list of entries that you can delete. You can select items one at a time or go to the "Select" drop-down menu and choose "All" to select all items. Click the "Remove Selected" button to remove all checked items from the Windows registry.

Kid Who Sued Amazon Wins, Kindle Now Safer Place for Your Books

2009-10-02T07:28:00.000-07:00

The kid who sued Amazon for eating his homework just won in court, to the tune of $150,000.

Yep, remember the kid who had his notes from George Orwell's 1984 deleted along with Amazon's mass eradication of the work from all Kindles? That little mofo just won in court, splitting a $150,000 settlement with a co-plaintiff and the law firm, which will be donating its portion to charity.

As much as this sounds like a Disney live action film from the 1990s (you can just see Jeff Bezos portrayed caricature-like by Paul Giamatti, can't you?), the real outcome is that Amazon no longer can just do what it wants to content on Kindles, just because it owns that content.

☼ Source ►Gizmodo

HTC-Leo or HTC HD 2 !

2009-09-30T08:14:00.001-07:00

The buzz word in the portable space appears to be HD at the moment, with the latest bandwagon member being HTC and its HD 2 (formerly known as the HTC Leo, maybe).

The Leo—sorry, HD 2—if you'll remember, was that big and beautiful handset that was saw earlier this month. The 4.3-inch screen was impressive, but so too was HTC's ability to work around Windows Mobile's lack of support for multitouch capacitive screens.This latest reveal/leak allegedly shows that HTC had second thoughts about a mini-USB connector, as this version, if the real deal, now sports a micro-USB.

Battery life was rated at 1200Mha, and the name change for the phone, HD 2, was discovered while snooping around in the Bluetooth settings.

☼Source ►Gizmodo

Mystic Apple Tablet!

2009-09-30T07:56:00.000-07:00

Steve Jobs said people don't read any more. But Apple is talks with several media companies rooted in print, negotiating content for a "new device." And they're not just going for e-books and mags. They're aiming to redefine print. Several years ago, a modified version of OS X was presented to Steve Jobs, running on a multitouch tablet. When the question of "what would people do with this?" couldn't be answered, they shelved it. Long having established music, movie and TV content, Apple is working hard to load up iTunes with print content from several major publishing houses across several media.

Two people related to the NYTimes have separately told me that in June, paper was approached by Apple to talk about putting the paper on a "new device." The R&D labs have long worked on versions of the paper meant to be navigated without a keyboard or mouse, showing up on Windows tablets and on multiple formats using Adobe Air. The NYTimes, of course, also publishes via their iPhone application. Jobs has, during past keynotes, called the NYTimes the "best newspaper in the world."
A person close to a VP in textbook publishing mentioned to me in July that McGraw Hill and Oberlin Press are working with Apple to move textbooks to iTunes. There was no mention of any more detail than that, but it does link back to a private Apple intern idea competition held on campus, in their Town Hall meeting area in 2008, where the winning presentation selected by executives was one focused on textbook distribution through iTunes. The logic here is that textbooks are sold new at a few hundred dollars, and resold by local stores without any kickbacks to publishers. A DRM'd one-time-use book would not only be attractive because publishers would earn more money, but electronic text books would be able to be sold for a fraction of the cost, cutting out book stores and creating a landslide marketshare shift by means of that huge price differential. (If that device were a tablet, the savings on books could pay for the device, and save students a lot of back pain.)
Apple also recently had several executives from one of the largest magazine groups at their Cupertino's campus, where they were asked to present their ideas on the future of publishing. Several mockups of magazines were present in interactive form. It is presumed that more talks took place after the introduction and investigatory meeting. Some magazine company is also considering Adobe Air as a competing option for digital magazines, but without a revenue/distribution system that iTunes has, it seems unlikely.
I haven't heard anything about traditional book publishers being approached yet, but given the scope of the rest of the publishing industry's involvement, it's not hard to imagine they're on board as well. (If you know something, please drop me a line.)
Another source corroborates that the January announce date others have reported is correct within the month, with this information heard from a high level.
Some I've talked to believe the initial content will be mere translations of text to tablet form. But while the idea of print on the Tablet is enticing, it's nothing the Kindle or any E-Ink device couldn't do. The eventual goal is to have publishers create hybridized content that draws from audio, video, interactive graphics in books, magazines and newspapers, where paper layouts would be static. And with release dates for Microsoft's Courier set to be quite far away and Kindle stuck with relatively static e-ink, it appears that Apple is moving towards a pole position in distribution of this next-generation print content. First, it'll get its feet wet with more basic repurposing of the stuff found on dead trees today.

☼Article source ► Gizmodo

Courier:Microsoft secret tablet flashed.

2009-09-30T07:46:00.000-07:00

We’ve waxed poetic about Apple’s mythical Tablet recently (and even seen some more evidence to support it). But Microsoft, too, has a rather attractive looking tablet-like device in the speculative stages as well: the Courier.

Now, a leaked video of the Courier’s user interface sheds more light on some of the design aesthetic behind this still unconfirmed device that appears to be part tablet and part digital planner, with a dual-screen hinged design and pen and finger controls.

In the video, unearthed by Gizmodo, we see a very fluid interface where any item can be drag and dropped easily. The overarching metaphor is apparently dubbed the “infinite journal,” where items can be clipped and stored from the web, annotated and highlighted, moved around, and modified with a palette of drawing and design tools.

An on-board camera handles bringing in visuals and documents from the physical world as well. Everything is searchable for later retrieval, with a Courier Pen handling text input duties. Of course the device overall is a touchscreen, and designed with finger control and gestures in mind as well.

Easy Publishing, But No Apps?

According to the video, publishing from your Infinite Journal is easy, with pages and sections exporting to Courier files, Powerpoint presentations, or PDFs. And according to Mary-Jo Foley, the device will run Windows 7 … but not be able to install Windows 7 applications. Say what?
Yep — apparently that’s because someone up high thinks the first generation of Microsoft Tablets failed because the apps weren’t specific to the form factor. There could be some truth in there but still — we hope for Microsoft’s sake they come up with a better alternative app store than what they’ve done with the Zune HD to-date.
Check out the video below and let us know what you think: are you sweating this device? Which interests you more: the mythical Apple Tablet, or the mythical Microsoft Courier?

Source ►TechCrunch Image by ► Gizmodo ☺☺☺

Xobni Brings Twitter To Your Inbox

2009-09-30T06:55:00.000-07:00

Earlier tonight, Xobni quietly released, at least to some users, a new version of its Outlook plug-in that brings Twitter streams into your email in an intelligent way. Instead of acting like any other Twitter client and showing you the full stream of everyone you follow, it shows you only the recent Tweets of the person whose email you are reading, whether or not you follow them on Twitter. (A Xobni blog post went up briefly about it and then was taken down, but not before I was able to grab the screenshot at right).

Instead of replicating Twitter outright, it shows you the Tweets in the context of an email to help you learn more about the person with whom you are communicating. This is consistent with the way Xobni brings up similar information about a contact from Facebook or LinkedIn or Skype. If you don’t know the person, it gives you some more context. If you do, it gives you something personal to talk about. (Threadsy, which launched at this year’s TC50, also shows Tweets in context alongside emails).
With both the full Facebook stream and now Twitter built into the product, chances are you’ll see what each contact has been doing recently. Xobni also lets you reply via Twitter, and follow a contact from within its application.
One of Xobni’s investors is Vinod Khosla, who told me a few weeks ago that Xobni is getting “great traction.” I’ve since heard that the product is approaching 3 million downloads.

Source: TechCrunch

Microsoft Releases Free Anti-Virus Software

2009-09-29T15:05:00.000-07:00

Alright Windows users, no more excuses for not having up-to-date anti-virus or anti-malware protection. Microsoft has released its new Security Essentials software that offers real-time protection against viruses, spyware, and other malicious programs. It’s also free.
Although there are lots of anti-virus and anti-malware programs available (many which are also free), perhaps the Microsoft name and easy integration into Windows can help users who might not be familiar with some of the available programs get and stay protected.

Microsoft says that Security Essentials is designed to run quietly in the background (no constant UAC alerts) and that it doesn’t hog CPU or memory usage. A constant complaint about some of the bigger name security suites is that they slow down the computer’s overall performance. Security Essentials also uses what Microsoft calls its Dynamic Signature Service, which is supposed to ensure that users are always protected and up-to-date, without having to wait for the next scheduled download.

Like any other standard security product, you can schedule full or quick system scans, exclude certain file types of processes from being scanned, and designate how you are alerted of various actions and what you want the default step to be.
Security Essentials is free — and no sign-up or registration is necessary — but you need to have a genuine copy of Windows XP SP2 or SP3, Windows VistaWindows Vista, or the upcoming Windows 7Windows 7. Security Essentials will also run in Windows XP mode in Windows 7 — so if you plan on running XP mode to keep compatibility with older stuff, your security won’t be compromised.
With viruses and malware a constant threat to Windows users all over the world, it’s about time Microsoft offered an actual security package. One note, however — if you already have an anti-virus or anti-malware program installed, make sure you uninstall it before installing Security Essentials.
What do you use to protect your computers against viruses?

Source-Mashable.com

Sony Ericsson MH907 "Motion Activated" Headphones

2009-09-21T05:39:00.000-07:00

They won't change how we listen to music forever, but these earbuds are pretty cool. Listen to music normally with one in each ear, but pull one side out and music automatically pauses. Calls are received/ended in the same way.
You don't need to press any buttons, as the earphones use Sony Ericsson's 'SensMe' technology to sense your body. They come in chrome and yellow/white, and will be available worldwide this week for about $55 (39 Euros). The one bummer: you'll need a Sony Erisson phone with a "Fast port" connector. You can check for compatibility here:

New Asus E-Reader- Folds Like a Book

2009-09-14T11:19:00.000-07:00

Computer maker Asus, known for its line of Eee PC netbooks, is working on an e-book reader that will have two touchscreens and when laid open will resemble a hardcover book.
Asus showed a prototype of the device at the CeBIT trade show in March. But now additional details have trickled out.
An Asus representative confirmed to Wired.com the company will probably show the device at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.
Asus’ e-reader will likely have color touchscreens, a speaker, a webcam and a microphone, along with the capability to make inexpensive Skype calls. Despite all those features, Britain’s Sunday Times reports, somewhat unbelievably, that it may be priced lower than its competitors from Sony and Kindle.
The e-reader market is one of the hottest consumer product categories this year. Just the last few months have seen a slew of new product announcements. After introducing Kindle 2, the updated version of its e-reader, Amazon launched a broadsheet reading device called the Kindle DX. Last month Sony introduced a $400 wireless e-reader with a 7-inch screen and cut the price on its older models to offer the cheapest e-book reader in the market. Meanwhile, two other companies — iRex and Plastic Logic — plan to offer new large-screen readers later this year or early next year.
But all e-readers, available and planned, are black and white. Asus’ product will likely be the first to offer a color screen. The move, coupled with unexpected features such as speakers and mic, is the only way the company can stand out in a crowded market.
With dual screens, the new Eee e-reader could give readers a user experience similar to paper books. The device could also offer readers the option of using the second screen to browse a web page. The best part about the device, though, would be the price tag, says the Times report. The cheapest version of the Asus Eee reader could lost about £100, equivalent to $165.
While Asus has a well-deserved reputation for making extremely inexpensive computers, that price may be too low for even it to match, given the promised feature set.
For Asus, getting this mix of features and price right is essential if it has to make a dent in the e-reader market at this stage.

Promote & Publicize Your Latest Blog Post With An Email Signature

2009-09-14T10:49:00.000-07:00

If you are a blogger like me or even if you happen to like a blog post by another hand, using your email signature could be the easiest way to spread the word. There’s no promotion like self promotion. Quite logically, wouldn’t we like our first readers to be the ones we touch base with through emails? It should be the easiest job in the world to enlist their help to promote your blog. In the ‘Digg’ and boost world of the WWW, grabbing a few eyeballs is what counts. Think of the humble email signature as a no cost viral way to publicize your blog.
Adding a link to your latest blog post not only spreads the good word but also spices up your signature. If you write about something specific, then a blog post signature link adds to your ‘brand’. In today’s ever changing world, an active signature could be like those 30 second filler adverts which play in staccato sequence. They grab our attention because they keep changing.
All it takes for a little bit of PR are these two ways and of course the habit of writing regular and relevant blog posts.

BlogSigs

BlogSigs attaches the link to your latest blog post in your email signature. This utility with a simple function works with a number of email clients like Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail and Entourage.
Additionally, there’s also a Firefox add-on available which makes it the right fit when we send mails using the browser. The Firefox add-on, though free, comes with a BlogSigs promotion link in all emails. Purchasing a BlogSigs Registration Key removes the BlogSigs promotion link (note: the add-on is still not compatible with Firefox 3.5.2).
To get back to the Windows version, here’s how it runs from the system tray.

BlogSigs can be setup using the single configurable window.

On the first run, BlogSigs detects the signatures saved for your Outlook accounts. If not, create a signature from the Outlook Menu path – Tools – Options – Mail Format – Signatures.
In the BlogSigs options window, choose the accounts you want to use BlogSigs for.
Specify the RSS feed of the blog you want to use. BlogSigs pulls the latest post from the RSS link and sends the headline as a part of the signature.
Append an optional stylized text before the blog post. Set the update in days, hours or minutes for BlogSigs to update the link.

The little app worked well notwithstanding a few errors. BlogSigs is a 646KB download and compatible with Windows 2000/XP/Vista and Mac OS X.

WiseStamp Email Signature

This Firefox add-on nearly came head of the class in the brief review I did last year in my post on 5 Ways To Create Custom Multiple Signatures In Gmail. Just to refresh, WiseStamp lets you setup rich personalized signatures using a simple WYSIWYG Editor. The app supports Gmail, Yahoo Mail, AOL and Hotmail.
If you have come over from my earlier post, WiseStamp has added a few new features since then. Automatically sharing of blog posts is what caught my eye.
WiseStamp’s Feed tab allows us to easily include our favorite personalized feed and it automatically updates in our email signatures. Now we can share not only our latest blog posts but also bookmarks, videos, pictures, events and much more. This is a excellent way to promote your blog.

Download and install the WiseStamp add-on.

Access it from the browser’s Tools menu or right click on the little WiseStamp icon near the bottom right of the browser (Right Click – Edit signature).

Design your signature in the WYSIWYG editor.

Click on the RSS tab, enter a Feed title and the Feed URL. WiseStamp automatically validates the URL and OK’s it.

You can preview the signature before clicking on Apply and OK.

Open your email account to compose a new email. Right click on the little icon located on the formatting toolbar or the one at the bottom of the browser window to choose a signature (i.e. if you have more than one). The signature gets automatically inserted with the latest blog post.

Download the WiseStamp Firefox add-on for rich email signatures.
Familiarity may not breed contempt but it certainly lays the grounds for boredom. In a medium where it takes seconds to go from reading a mail to consigning it to the trash, an interesting link attached to the signature might just make someone pause. Who knows, following that link may make someone’s day a lot better.
There are of course many, many innovative ways to promote your blog post. Using your email signature to showcase your latest blog post is comparatively a modest one.

Free Ebooks-That don't suck!

2009-09-14T10:14:00.000-07:00

If you’re a fervent reader and nerd like I am, you’ve probably encountered quite a lot of writing online. However, most of them are either absolute garbage or entirely illegal.
It’s hard to find good, legal reads online – unless you know where to look. There are several sites that offer classic out-of-copyright writing, or publishes new e-books online as promotions.
If you know where to look, you can feast on these completely free Ebooks for all the time you’ve got, and today is the day we’ll show you where to look.

Planet eBook

Planet eBook is a classy site that offers classic literature for free. These books, because they’re out-of-copyright, can be offered to you in an entirely legal fashion.

However, Planet eBook doesn’t just give you any piece of ‘free literature’. Right now, they offer about 60 books to their readers, all of which have been carefully selected. True, you won’t have the buffet of thousands that you’ll find on other sites, but you can be assured that each and every piece of writing on Planet eBook is of outstanding quality.
Furthermore, if you feel like a book is ‘missing’ from it’s collection, you put it up as a suggestion.

All books on Planet eBook can be read on the site, but can also be downloaded as a PDF, both in a 1-page and 2-page version.

ManyBooks

ManyBooks works in the same way as Planet eBook, they offer pieces of classic literature for free that are out-of-copyright. However, where Planet eBook presents a carefully selected array of literature, ManyBooks handles in bulk (as the name truthfully implies).

At the time of writing, there are 24,741 completely free eBooks available and although it might be true that not all of them will read your socks off, I’m sure you can find some good reads in the better part of them. To select a book, you can browse by author, title, category or language, or you can browse through the site’s recommendations.
Not only does the site offer an amazing number of books, it does so in an incredible number of formats. Although you might not be able to read it directly on the site, you can check out one of the mirrors or choose between a dazzling 25 different filetypes to read it on your desktop, mobile, or eBook device.

Classic Reader

Classic Reader takes a conceptual place in between Planet eBook and ManyBooks. It offers noticably more books than Planet eBook (3,629 titles at the time of writing), its material is still more selected (by a 1-man Canadian company) and controlled.

Perhaps the major distinction with the two previously mentioned sites is that there are no eBooks available for download. Alas no PDFs, ZIPs, or anythings — the eBooks are all meant to read online, on the site.
You can browse the author or title list, or filter content out by looking into a specific genre: fiction, non-fiction, young readers, poetry, short stories, drama or classical.

PublicBookshelf

Contrary to the three previously mentioned sites, PublicBookshelf is NOT filled with works of classic literature. Instead, PublicBookshelf relies completely on new, promising authors who publish online as a means of promoting their printed books. As such, you won’t be able to download the books, but will often find an Amazon link to support the author (who – with the books on this site – is often still alive).

PublicBookshelf – focusing entirely on romance novels – is a great site to sample the writing if you’re looking for something fresh, but it’s also a great site if you’re looking for a good read. Check out their top novels for reading directions, or venture off into the depths of the site and discover treasures of writing yourself.
I hope you’ve got 4 fresh bookmarks for completely free ebooks that will be able to satisfy the literacy-vampire that’s inside of you. If they are not enough, check out where to get more romance e-books, 6 more e-book sites, where and how to read comic e-books, and how to make your own e-books from Wikipedia.
If you know of any other sites or have something to say about the ones discussed above, head for the comments section below.

10 Tips to Safeguard Your Facebook Privacy :D

2009-09-14T08:55:00.000-07:00

Facebook statistics show that it has 250 million active users each with an average 120 friends. More than 1 billion photos are uploaded every month by its users, over 70% of whom use applications like games and quizzes in Facebook. Unfortunately, most users don’t know the implications of entering personal information, making friends, and playing games on Facebook.
This guide will show what you can (and cannot) do to safeguard your Facebook privacy.

1. Organize Friends in Lists

What do you do when your boss, mother-in-law, or a casual web acquaintance sends you a friend request on Facebook? Use Friend Lists. Friend Lists are the foundation of your Facebook privacy settings. Select Friends from the top menu, and use the Create link to create friend lists like Co-workers, Family, College Friends, etc. Your friends can’t see your lists, so you can name them whatever you like.

Tip: On your left sidebar, all your friend lists may not show up by default. Click More to see all of them, and drag and drop those you want above the separator.

2. Customize Profile Privacy

Click Settings > Privacy Settings > Profile. Select which parts of your profile will be seen by whom

If you choose Customize in the drop down, you can be more specific. This is where the Friend Lists you created before become really useful.

Also go to the Contact Information tab and choose how you want your contact information to be shared on the Internet.

3. Set Facebook Privacy Level of Photo Albums

On the Photos tab of your profile page, click Album Privacy. Here again, you can use your Friend Lists to set the privacy for each photo album.

Note that your profile pictures go into a special album that is always visible to ALL your friends.

4. Restrict Search Visibility

Click Privacy > Search to set your visibility when someone searches Facebook for people. This is an important way to safeguard your Facebook privacy. You can also select what will be visible in the search results.

5. Control Automatic Wall Posts and News Feed Updates

Your actions in Facebook such as comments, likes, appear as highlights on ALL your friends’ home pages. You cannot use friend lists here, only turn them on or off.

Go to Privacy > News Feed and Wall and choose whether you want your boss or ex-girlfriend to know that you’re in a relationship.

6. Set Facebook Wall Privacy

Go to your profile page, click Options > Settings under the status box.

Here you can control whether your friends can post to your Wall, and who can see the posts made by your friends.

7. Avoid Appearing in Advertisements

Facebook has two types of advertisements: third-party and Facebook. Third-party advertisements are currently not allowed to use your pictures, but there is a setting to disallow it if it is allowed in the future.

Go to Privacy > News Feed and Wall > Facebook Ads tab to turn this off.

The Facebook ads shown to your friends are about ‘social actions’ like becoming a fan of something. You can turn this off at the bottom of the page.

8. Protect Yourself from Friends’ Applications

Go to Privacy > Applications, and click the Settings tab and uncheck all the boxes. These settings control what information about you is visible to applications installed by your friends. By default, these are set to visible. This means that your religious, sexual, and political preferences, pictures, etc. are readily available to one of the million worldwide Facebook application developers, each time any of your friends takes a quiz, plays a game, or runs any other Facebook app. This is obviously a Facebook privacy issue.

This is the most commonly misunderstood aspect of Facebook privacy. These settings control what applications installed by your friends can see about you, even if you don’t install the application yourself.
Why is this important? Because these settings will not change anything about what you are sharing with the applications you install yourself. For that, go to the next step.

9. Privacy from Your Applications

There is no way to control what applications see about you; it is an all-or-nothing affair. Take this quiz developed by the American Civil Liberties Union to check what anonymous application developers can know about you and your friends each time you take a quiz.
The Burton Group’s Identity Blog features the Facebook Privacy Mirror, an application that you can use to find out what applications know about you and your friends. If you really want to see exactly what profile data of each of your friends is visible to application developers, Privacy Mirror shows it in detail.
The only thing you can do is to authorize only those applications you require and trust. Go to Settings > Application Settings from the top menu. Change the drop-down from Recently Used to Authorized. Here you can see all the applications you have authorized to get access to ALL your profile information. Remove the ones you no longer need.

Also check the list of applications Allowed to Post and Granted Additional Permissions to remove unwanted ones.

10. Quitting Facebook? Delete, Don’t Just De-Activate Your Account

You can easily deactivate your account in Facebook from the Settings page. But deactivation will retain all your profile information within Facebook, including pictures, friends, etc. If you want to permanently delete your Facebook account, click here to submit a deletion request. Note that:

There is an unspecified delay between submitting your delete request and actual deletion.
If you login to Facebook, your deletion request is automatically cancelled.
There doesn’t seem to be any way to confirm that your request was completed.
Even after permanent deletion, Facebook says that copies of your photos may remain on their servers for technical reasons.

Also, note that once in a while, there is news of a Facebook hack or leak that can expose your information on the Internet. It is better to be safe than sorry by avoiding using Facebook for anything that may embarrass you.
I hope this article gives you a better understanding and insight into Facebook’s fragile privacy. Have any questions or concerns? Liked the post? Please tell us in the comments!

Acer Aspire Timeline AS5810T 8952 15 6 Inch Laptop 8 Hours Battery Life

2009-09-13T18:03:00.000-07:00

Averaging more than 8 hours of battery life, the Acer Aspire Timeline notebook PC series makes “all day computing” a reality. You’ll be able to remain productive as you work remotely from 9 to 5 without ever stopping to plug in and recharge, or keep yourself entertained throughout an entire coast-to-coast flight without worrying whether you’ll make it to the end of your movie. The thin and light Timeline 5810 (model AS5810T-8952) is made for modern mobile work and play with its 5.3-pound weight and thin measurements–less than one-inch thin at its slimmest point and just over an inch at its thickest.

At its slimmest point, the Acer Timeline measures less than 1 inch thin and the AS5810 weighs just 5.3 pounds.

Averaging more than 8 hours of battery life, the Acer Timeline sets a new standard for value, mobility and productivity.

Glossy clean FineTip keyboard in water lily design offers new typing experience.

The high-definition, 15.6-inch CineCrystal LED backlit widescreen display (16:9 ratio) offers 33 percent more energy savings than traditional notebook screens. And it’s one of the first notebooks to feature the new Intel CULV Intel Core 2 Solo SU3500 processor, which uses 1/6th the power of a regular mobile CPU–significantly increasing performance-per-watt over previous single-core processors. Additionally, the Timeline 5810 includes an 8x Super Multi optical drive with dual-layer burn support.
A Multi-Gesture Touchpad enables you to pinch, flick and swirl your fingers across the touchpad for more natural photo and video viewing as well as intuitive navigation of websites. The Multi-Gesture Touchpad allows you to scroll, zoom in and out and flip through web pages, photos, spreadsheets and more. An integrated Acer Crystal Eye webcam delivers smooth video streaming and high quality images for online chats and business video conferences, even in low-light situations.
Providing an elegant, high-tech design, a stylish brushed aluminum finish provides solid protection to the display and internal components, and the system is also lead- and mercury-free–making it easier to recycle. In addition, Acer has incorporated Intel’s Laminar Wall Jet technology for the first time, directing air flow in parallel layers, to keep the notebook significantly cooler.

Key Features

15.6-inch LED-backlight widescreen display with 1366 x 768-pixel resolution, 16:9 aspect ratio and 200-nit high brightness (Learn more)
Energy efficient 1.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Solo SU3500 processor with ultra-low voltage for extended battery life (Learn more)
500 GB hard drive
4 GB of installed RAM with 1066 MHz speed
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD with up to 1700 MB of shared video memory and support for DirectX 10 games (Learn more)
Multi-gesture touchpad supporting circular-motion scrolling, pinch-action zoom, page flip (Learn more)
Thermal-efficient cooling innovation ensures the notebook achieves comfortable skin temperature during use. (Learn more)
Crystal Eye webcam supports Acer PrimaLite technology, which consists of a premium sensor, firmware and lenses to provide superior video performance under low-light conditions. A built-in digital microphone helps keep background noise levels low and minimizes echoes.
8x DVD Super Multi drive with double-layer support. (See speeds)
Backup Manager software and easy launch backup key for scheduled and as-needed backups of your most important digital files. (Learn more)
Draft-N Wi-Fi wireless networking (802.11a/b/g/n) with SignalUp technology for enhanced antenna efficiency
Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000)
5-in-1 memory card reader
HDMI (with HDCP) and VGA video output
Stereo speakers with Dolby Sound Room audio enhancement transforms the experience of movies, music, and games.
Energy-sipping laptop thanks to low-power components and efficient technologies. (Learn more)
Windows Home Vista Premium operating system (Learn more)
Up to 8 hours of battery life with Acer PowerSmart Manager enabled and depending on configuration
Dimensions: 14.9 x 10.2 x 0.97/1.16 inches (WxDxH)
Weight: 5.3 pounds
Warranty: One-year parts and labor limited warranty with concurrent International Traveler’s Warranty

Networking, Connectivity & Expansion
With its integrated Draft-N Wi-Fi networking capabilities, this laptop provides up to five times the performance and twice the wireless range using 802.11n-compatible routers as you would with 802.11g networks. It’s also backward compatible with 802.11b/g networks (commonly found at Wi-Fi hotspots and in older home routers) as well as 802.11a networks (which has a higher throughput, but more limited range–great for closed office environments). This notebook also provides ultra-fast Gigabit Ethernet networking (10/100/1000).

4 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals–from digital cameras to MP3 players
1 HDMI output for connecting to a compatible HDTV or home theater receiver for uncompressed digital audio and video via a single cable
Analog video output: 1 VGA
5-in-1 card reader compatible with MultiMediaCard, Secure Digital card, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO and xD-Picture Card
1 headphone/line-out jack (with SPDIF digital audio support), 1 microphone jack
10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet

What’s in the box
This package contains the Acer Aspire Timeline AS5810T-8952 notebook PC, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, and operating instructions
It also comes with the following software: McAfee Internet Security Suite (trial version); CyberLink PowerDVD; Google Desktop; Acer Backup Manager; Acer GridVista; Acer PowerSmart Manager

Learn More

15.6-Inch Widescreen Display with True 16:9 Aspect Ratio

The 15.6-inch LED-backlit display (1366 x 768 pixels) presents true 16:9 aspect ratio with high-def resolution and fast 8ms (millisecond) response time for high-quality media playback as well as increased readability in low-light conditions. And the LED backlight technology is 33 percent more energy efficient than standard CCFL LCD screens.
Video is powered by the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD, which uses shared video memory (providing up to 1700 MB of video memory as allocated by the system memory). This graphics card is built with Intel Clear Video technology, which delivers clearer, more detailed images by eliminating many of the jagged edges and video artifacts seen when viewing interlaced content and features powerful color control to ensure videos are not too dark, overly bright, or washed out.

Energy Efficient Intel Core 2 Solo Processor

Offering the latest in ultra-low voltage processing power, the single-core Intel Core 2 Solo SU3500 processor has a has a power consumption rating of just 5.5 watts and a 1.4 GHz speed that’s paired with a fast 800 MHz front-side bus (FSB) and extra-large 3 MB L2 cache. (An L2, or secondary, cache temporarily stores data; and a larger L2 cache can help speed up your system’s performance. The FSB carries data between the CPU and RAM, and a faster front-side bus will deliver better overall performance.)
Designed for use in ultra-thin laptops to balance the competing needs of high performance with battery consumption, the Core 2 Solo processor delivers enhanced performance for today’s demanding applications such as CAD tools, 3D and 2D modeling, video editing, digital music, digital photography and gaming. And Intel’s Smart Cache technology enables smarter, more efficient cache and bus design for enhanced performance, responsiveness and power savings.

Palm Centro Smartphone-Sold one million.

2009-09-12T11:30:00.000-07:00

Palm announced that it has sold its one-millionth Palm Centro smartphone, demonstrating the $99 product's mass appeal to customers ready to get all the power of a smartphone at the price of a traditional mobile phone. Palm is now shipping Centro in 10 countries worldwide, including Hong Kong, Singapore, India, the UK, Germany, Spain, Ireland, France and Italy, and its already-rapid momentum is set to grow as Palm debuts the product in additional countries around the globe.
"The Palm Centro is flying off the shelves because users who want to step up to a smartphone see it as the perfect first choice," said Brodie Keast, senior vice president of marketing for Palm, Inc. "It has everything a person needs to stay organized and connected with everyone who is important to them. We're very excited about the Centro's near-instant popularity in the U.S. and think it's going to be a huge hit as it continues to make its way across the globe."
First introduced in the United States last September exclusively with Sprint, and more recently introduced on AT&T in February, the fully featured Centro smartphone is available from both carriers for $99.99.(1) Centro has reached more young adults and women, as well as a broader range of household income, than any prior Palm smartphone. It offers customers an affordable, simple and fun option for staying connected and doing more with their mobile phones.(2)
"Smartphones are certainly not new to business professionals; however, now more than ever we are seeing consumers migrate toward these types of devices as form factors have become more appealing and price points are now competing with traditional mobile phones," said Ryan Reith, senior research analyst with IDC. "Palm's Centro plays right into the hands of the consumer looking for a more robust experience on their mobile phone. We definitely expect to see this trend continue worldwide."
Increasingly, consumers are making the shift from traditional mobile phones to smartphones, motivated by the desire to do more with their phones and the arrival of lower-cost devices. Smartphones accounted for 11 percent of all mobile phone sales in 2007 in the United States, and this is expected to increase to 35 percent by 2011.(3) A recent Palm survey of Centro customers highlighted this trend, indicating that 70 percent are first-time smartphone users. When compared to other Palm smartphones, Centro also is reaching almost double the number of women, more than double the number of customers under age 35, and nearly three times as many customers with a household income of less than $75,000.
Centro's full QWERTY keyboard and color touch screen make it easy to quickly type text messages, respond to emails, start instant message conversations, browse the web and more. It offers all of the great organizer functionality for which Palm is renowned, such as a detailed and integrated contacts list and a simple and handy calendar for juggling business meetings and get-togethers with friends.

Palm Treo Pro

2009-09-12T11:16:00.000-07:00

Palm introduced Treo Pro, an effortlessly usable smartphone for businesses that want to simplify their IT infrastructures and lower costs, and for users who want to stay on top of their professional and personal lives.

With its streamlined design and Palm® shortcuts layered on Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, Treo Pro is a unique combination of sleek simplicity and robust productivity -- including email, Wi-Fi and GPS capabilities(1) -- that meets the needs of businesses and end users alike.

Treo Pro, which will be available from Vodafone and O2 in Europe(2) and from Telstra in Australia, also will be available in an unlocked version in the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific.

“Businesses want the control and savings that Windows Mobile affords, in an innovative and elegant package that keeps their users happy. That’s where Palm comes in,” said Ed Colligan, president and chief executive officer, Palm, Inc. “Everything about Treo Pro -- from the hardware design to the packaging and accessories – embodies the elegant and simplified end-to-end experience that our customers expect from Palm.”
The Treo Pro smartphone lets IT managers support an increasingly mobile work force with the ease of use and robust feature set business professionals demand. Besides the benefits of lower costs and increased productivity, Treo Pro can deliver the increased security, easier device management and access to information on the corporate network that Windows Mobile 6.1 provides.
Users can quickly respond to business and personal email, access the web, stay on top of appointments and contacts, and use Wi-Fi or GPS on the go.(1) Treo Pro’s thin design blends a flush, high-resolution color touch screen and a full QWERTY keyboard with a removable battery that packs up to five hours of talk time and enough strength for the business user’s needs, offering a powerful yet effortless mobile experience.
“I’m really happy with Treo Pro -- it’s a technology leap from a device design and capability standpoint, enhancing Palm’s presence in the Windows Mobile realm,” said Wasif Malik, senior systems consultant, Student Educational Services & Mobile Solutions, Ohio State University Medical Center. “It’s cleverly designed for Windows Mobile, with a large touch screen, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and all the productivity applications for Windows Mobile 6 in a much thinner design.”
Palm Experience on Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
The Treo Pro smartphone, based on the popular Windows Mobile platform, helps optimize business processes by effortlessly mobilizing users with enhancements to the Windows Mobile 6.1 platform, including:
* One-touch Wi-Fi button -- Easy, fast Wi-Fi connection experience (802.11b/g).(1)
* Today screen enhancements -- Web search directly from the Today screen.
* Ringer switch -- Silences the device immediately.
* Screen saver -- Lets users know at a glance – without turning on the device – what time it is and whether they’ve missed a call or have a new SMS/MMS message.
* New voicemail indicator -- The center button flashes to let users know that a voicemail is waiting.(3)
* Dedicated email and calendar buttons -- Fast one-button access.
“Windows Mobile is delivering mobile solutions that help businesses address the changing competitive landscape,” said Andrew Lees, senior vice president of Microsoft’s Mobile Communications Business. “The Treo Pro smartphone brings together a powerful combination of Palm’s feature innovations and Windows Mobile 6.1, providing access to the information people need when away from the office.”
Lower Costs, Increased Productivity
With Treo Pro, businesses can quickly and easily deploy a secure, low-cost and compatible infrastructure for their mobile workforce by taking advantage of a tightly integrated Palm and Windows Mobile 6.1 solution, including:
* Microsoft Direct Push Technology(4) -- Direct connection to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 SP2 or 2007 gives users up-to-date email, contacts and calendars.
* Microsoft System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 -- With the deployment of Mobile Device Manager, the Treo Pro can deliver increased security, easier smartphone management, and access to information on the corporate network. IT professionals can confidently manage large Treo Pro deployments.
* Thousands of applications available for Windows Mobile -- Businesses can extend mobility beyond email to optimize business processes.
* World phone -- With high-speed UMTS/HSDPA network capabilities(5), Treo Pro is a sleek world phone that’s ideal for companies with an international work force.
* Integrated GPS -- Users can access maps, turn-by-turn directions and point-of-interest (POI) searches.(1)
* Support and training -- Palm shortcuts make Treo Pro so easy to use, businesses can spend less on training and support for their users. End-to-end enterprise support means companies can expand the scope of their mobile deployments without putting a strain on internal support personnel.
* Familiar Windows experience -- Users can browse the web with built-in Internet Explorer Mobile; open, view, and edit Word and Excel compatible files; review PowerPoint presentations and PDF files; and open ZIP files remotely.
Pricing and Availability
Treo Pro will be available in September in Europe(2) through Vodafone (from free to €399 with contract) and O2 (pricing is available from O2 direct sales and online business stores), and in Australia through Telstra (from free with contract). It will be available in the United States in the fall through the Palm online store (http://www.palm.com/store) as well as select Internet, retail and enterprise resellers for a suggested retail price of $549. The U.S. version is unlocked and unsubsidized, giving end users the flexibility to simply insert their existing active SIM card and immediately start using their Treo Pro without a new contract.
Detailed regional pricing is available from local resellers and distributors. Additional Treo Pro availability is scheduled to follow worldwide.
The Treo Pro smartphone comes with an international power charger, microUSB cable and a stereo headset (3.5mm). Other accessories designed exclusively for Treo Pro (sold separately) include a vehicle power charger, leather side case, travel microUSB cable, cradle, extra battery, TTY audio adapter, and replacement styli.
(1) Within wireless coverage area only. Wi-Fi within range of 802.11b/g Wi-Fi network. Some Wi-Fi hotspots require fee for usage. Email, web, and GPS require an account and data services at additional cost. GPS application not available from all carriers. Third-party software may be required. GPS coverage not available in all areas at all times.
(2) Treo Pro will be available from Vodafone in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands, and from O2 in the UK and Ireland.
(3) Within wireless coverage area only. Not available by all mobile service providers.
(4) Microsoft Direct Push Technology requires Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 with SP2 or Exchange Server 2007. Additional fees and software may be needed to comply with corporate IT policy. VPN may be required.
(5) More than 860 GSM networks provide coverage in 220 regions worldwide. Within UMTS/HSDPA data coverage area only. Actual data speeds vary based on network capacity and application design. Requires data services at additional cost.

HTC Mobile-HTC Touch2

2009-09-12T10:53:00.000-07:00

HTC have announced the HTC Touch2, which is a one of the first smart phones to run on Windows Mobile 6.5. Windows Mobile 6.5 enables the HTC Touch2 to utilize new services such as Microsoft My Phone and Windows Marketplace on their mobile.

It goes without saying that the HTC Touch2 is a full 3G touch-screen mobile. The Touch2 sports a compact design, ensuring it’s easy to hold and fit in your pocket or handbag.

The HTC Touch2 includes new HTC functionality such as TouchFLO, which is a new user interface featuring integrated weather updates and quick access to popular applications.

Windows Mobile 6.5 gives the HTC Touch2 award winning e-mail functionality with can easily be synced with Microsoft Exchange on your PC, as well as enabling multiple email account support.

The newly improved Internet Explorer Mobile enables all “PC” websites to be accurately display on the HTC Touch2. The new zoom bar enables text to be displayed at its optimum size while the pan and zoom functions ensure all content is displayed in the most user-friendly manner. The mobile browser also supports Flash, enabling all those flash videos and Youtube to run flawlessly.

The HTC Touch2 also comes with Google Maps and Youtube pre-loaded for easy navigation and video playback.

The HTC Touch2 features Windows Marketplace support, which means that applications can easily be downloaded to your mobile. Microsoft MyPhone is also supported making backup for music, email, contact and messages free and easy!

The HTC Touch2 will be available from October 6th in Europe

HTC Touch2 Specification

Model	HTC Touch2 (T3333)
Processor	Qualcomm® MSM7225™, 528 MHz
Operating System	Windows Mobile® 6.5 Professional
Memory	ROM: 512 MB RAM: 256 MB
Dimensions (LxWxT)	104 X 55 X 12.9 mm (4.1 X 2.16 X 0.51 inches)
Weight	110 grams (4 ounces) with battery
Display	2.8-inch TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen with QVGA resolution
Network	HSPA/WCDMA: Europe/Asia: 900/2100 MHz Up to 384 kbps up-link and 7.2 Mbps down-link speeds Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE: Europe/Asia: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz (Band frequency and data speed are operator dependent.)
Device Control	Zoom bar
GPS	Internal GPS antenna
Connectivity	Bluetooth® 2.1 with Enhanced Data Rate and A2DP for wireless stereo headsets Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11 b/g 3.5 mm audio jack HTC ExtUSB™ (11-pin mini-USB 2.0)
Camera	3.2 megapixel color camera with fixed focus
Audio supported formats	AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR-NB, QCP, MP3, WMA, WAV, MIDI, M4A
Video supported formats	WMV, ASF, MP4, 3GP, 3G2, M4V, AVI
Battery	Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery Capacity: 1100 mAh Talk time: Up to 370 minutes for WCDMA Up to 440 minutes for GSM Standby time: Up to 500 hours for WCDMA Up to 370 hours for GSM (The above are subject to network and phone usage.)
Expansion Slot	microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
AC Adapter	Voltage range/frequency: 100 ~ 240V AC, 50/60 Hz DC output: 5V and 1A

Samsung's latest mobile-Samsung Jet

2009-09-12T10:44:00.000-07:00

Samsung Electronics unveiled the latest in mobile handset innovation, Samsung Jet, at a series of global launch events in London, Dubai and Singapore. Samsung Jet enjoys the benefits of both advanced features of a smartphone and easy-to-use user interface of a conventional mobile phone.

Samsung Jet is not a simply another full touch mobile phone; it brings a brand new concept of mobile phone to today’s consumers. ‘Smarter than a smartphone,’ Samsung Jet supports the latest smartphone features which include multi-task manager and Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, bringing user-friendly menu navigations in a sleek and compact design.

Samsung Jet boasts world firsts in both display technology and speed of performance. Its pioneering 16M WVGA AMOLED display (3.1”) offers the most vivid and colorful full touch mobile experience available; the WVGA AMOLED screen provides a resolution that is four times higher than a WQVGA screen. Its 800MHz application processor delivers breathtaking speed and stunning performance, making Jet the fastest full touch handset on the market today.

With its eye-catching brilliant screen, Samsung’s latest TouchWiz 2.0 user interface gives an unrivalled user experience and includes iconic new features such as motion UI, smart unlock, and customizable widget screen, which are all perfect for managing your life at work and at play.

Samsung’s Dolfin Internet browser is designed to let users surf the net and access popular websites, especially social networking sites, with ease and speed. The browser enhances the mobile Internet experience by allowing users to view up to five web pages simultaneously and bookmark their favorite websites as widgets on the phone’s homepage. A built in ad-blocker, multiple downloading and background downloading feature, and multi-purpose address field, further enhance the experience while Dolfin’s unique one finger zoom enables users to zoom in and out of web pages using only one hand.

JK Shin, Executive Vice President and Head of Mobile Communications division, Samsung Electronics, explained, “Samsung Jet provides a seamless and unrivalled mobile experience as a result of our accumulated technology leadership and pursuit of perfect craftsmanship. Our aim is to deliver ultimate satisfaction to our consumers and I believe that Samsung Jet answers the calls of today’s mobile users who want smart features and easy-to-use user interface. This product perfectly reflects our consumer-oriented strategy.”

Unlike many smartphones that sacrifice features for form factor, Samsung Jet packs all of these into a super sleek body and super cool frame. Samsung Jet also boasts a host of multimedia features including a 5 mega-pixel camera, built-in GPS, DNSe & SRS Sound Effect technology for superior sound quality, and DivX and XviD video support for hassle-free video downloading and viewing.

Samsung Jet launches today at ‘Samsung Mobile UNPACKED’ events in London, Dubai and Singapore. Featuring the latest in live technologies and entertainment, the events will provide an exciting hands-on experience with the new handset. The events will also mark the culmination of a global teaser campaign, where one lucky winner from each country will unpack a Samsung Jet ‘live’ for the first time. For more information, please visit http://press.samsungmobile.com.

Samsung Jet _ Specification
Network		EDGE/GPRS Class 12 (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz) HSDPA 3.6Mbps (900, 2100 MHz)
Display		3.1” 16M WVGA AMOLED
Camera		5.0 Megapixel AF camera+ Dual Power LED Face Detection, Smile Shot, Panorama Shot, Blink Detection, Geo-tagging, Photo Editor
Video		D1 Video Playback/D1 30fps Video Recording MPEG4, H.263, H.264, WMV, DivX, XviD, Video Editor
Audio		Music Player with DNSe & SRS WOW Sound Effect Find Music, 3.5 Ear Jack, FM Radio/Recording MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, AMR, MIDI, SP-MIDI, i-melody, WAV, MMF, XMF, OMA DRM v2.1, WMDRM, DivX VOD
Value Added Features		In-house developed Dolfin Browser, WAP 2.0, One finger Zoom Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, Share Pix & Mobile Widget, A-GPS, On Board Navigation(3D Map), TouchWiz 2.0, Motion UI, Media Gate 3D, Multi-tasking Manager
Connectivity		Bluetooth® v2.1, microUSB (USB v2.0 Hi-Speed), Wi-Fi
Memory		2GB/8GB, External MicroSD slot (Up to 16GB)
Battery		1,100 mAh - Talk time : 2G/492 minutes, 3G/300 minutes - Standby : 2G/422 hours, 3G/406 hours
Size		108.8 x 53.5 x 11.9 mm

Background Information
SAMSUNG JET: ‘SMARTER THAN A SMARTPHONE’
Samsung Mobile is proud to launch the Samsung Jet - a high end innovation to mark a new chapter in full touch phones. Packed with features, Samsung Jet delivers the very best in power, speed and brilliance, all housed in a sleek and stylish design, to produce a unique touch experience.
Smart features with user-friendly interface
Samsung Jet’s innovative smartphone-like features take the handset to the realms of being ‘smarter than a smartphone.’ Opening up a whole new world of web experience, its high performance Dolfin web browser has been developed in-house and allows easy, super fast surfing. Samsung Jet also supports the option of multi-window browsing to surf several web pages simultaneously - up to five pages at any one time. Also, it allows for multi-window web browsing and for book marking widget to save your favorite websites.
Samsung Jet features a bespoke multi-tasking manager, making it little bit easier. In addition, the multiple background download, multi-purpose address field and ad-blocker ensure users only need to focus on what they really want to. Samsung Jet is the first feature phone to adopt the Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync Email system, with a more convenient user interface as a result of more streamlined push-email for business users.
Breaking away from multi-touch zoom technology which requires the use of two fingers and two hands, Samsung Jet gives our consumers the ultimate in usability, portability and convenience through the brand-new concept -‘one finger zoom,’ which enables one hand operation to zoom in and out. One finger zoom can be used not only for the Internet browser, but also for Photo browser and file viewer to see TXT, PDF and PPT files in four times bigger size - all just with one finger tip while you’re on the move
An Ultra Brilliant Display with AMOLED
The Samsung Jet has a display which offers unrivalled quality and brilliance for its users. The 3.1” Samsung WVGA AMOLED display is four times sharper than a WQVGA screen. Samsung Jet’s screen provides stunning, super bright and vivid images in perfect natural colors, with the very best high resolution display for viewing multimedia on the go.
Samsung Jet’s ultra brilliant display has a 180° viewing angle, gives a super fast touch response and is also very efficient in its power consumption. Thanks to WVGA AMOLED technology, Samsung Jet consumes 40% less energy than a mobile phone equipped with TFT-LCD display.
The remarkable image quality transforms mobile content into amazing visuals. Thanks to the 480dpi brilliance in its WVGA AMOLED display, Samsung Jet provides a high quality multimedia experience, transforming mobile video into pure viewing pleasure.
Speedy Performance with an Accelerated Application Processor
Samsung Jet takes the meaning of performance in full touch mobile phones to another level with its revolutionary speed, which is all thanks to the 800MHz Accelerated Application Processor.
This sophisticated high performance processor is Jet’s secret to speed and versatility, integrating multiple applications into one marvelously seamless experience. Instant response from a 3D touch interface matches the speed of touch. The accelerated application processor can integrate various functions such as navigation and viewing, so users can access them all without usual lag time or blurred visuals that can disrupt the pleasure of the experience.
Intuitive Interaction with TouchWiz 2.0
To ensure the most hassle-free and pure experience for its user, Samsung Jet features TouchWiz 2.0 user interface (UI), an upgrade from previous TouchWiz user interfaces seen on the F480 (Tocco in UK) and other Samsung full touch mobiles. Building on the strong reputation of the interface of the F480, Samsung Jet houses an advanced TouchWiz 2.0, giving outstanding touch capability in online browsing and a powerful and responsive reaction.
Multiple applications run both seamlessly and simultaneously through the use of Jet’s powerful application processor, enabling users to dip in and out of the features as they wish. With its intuitive 3D media gate UI and motion-response UI, users can enjoy a dynamic, content-based experience.
The 3D media gate on Samsung Jet offers easy access to six key multimedia features, such as Photo album, Music player, Video player, FM Radio, Games and Internet, all simply accessed by rolling a six sided cube UI on the screen.
Samsung Jet features ‘motion gate,’ Samsung’s own motion recognition engine which brings you access to your multimedia favorites as well as speed dialing just by tapping, tilting or flipping the handset.
To enhance the usability in full touch screen, Samsung introduces ‘smart unlock,’ a feature which enables users to unlock the phone and execute the menu directly by drawing an alphabet letter on the screen. Users can set up the menu that they want to go to directly according to the alphabet letters from A to Z. The ‘smart unlock’ technology allows users to program their own, customized movements in order to operate the handset, bringing the ultimate in personalization.
Samsung Jet has an online widget function to access useful mobile applications and get live information such as weather, news and search engines by online widget downloading. There are more than 30 widgets already available on Samsung Jet and users can download more from the website. These include a personalization widget to adapt the screen layout and wallpaper.
A three-page main menu and three-page widget screen offer quick and easy application search and reuse.
Powerful, Fun and Easy to use Features
Samsung Jet also has an A-GPS application, to provide navigation services in life-like 3D, to convey real places, information and directions in real-time. This incorporates 3D Map Navigation, GPS on Google maps and location-Based Services. The GPS system features Geo-tagging, enabled through a Geomagnetic sensor to send location information and updates on traffic conditions by SMS, link location information to navigation, and a compass. Samsung Jet’s GPS application can run on ‘Drive to’ or ‘Walk to’ modes.
When it comes to music, Samsung Jet’s unique features give users the option to operate simultaneous playback audio and scroll through the phone’s music library with superb sound quality.
For video, the DVD-like video playback recording (with D1 Video Playback and D1 30fps Video Recording) enables seamless playback without residuals and the ability to instantly download and play DivX and Xvid formats without converting, resizing and lateration - all in HD-like quality on its brilliant AMOLED screen.

The DUO Turns your Laptop into a Tablet PC

2009-09-09T13:26:00.000-07:00

The DUO is the perfect gadget for those who want a Tablet PC, but don’t really want to pay for it.

You can write or draw directly on the screen marking up documents or webpages on your desktop. Combining ultrasonic waves and infrared rays, the Duo instantly turns an ordinary laptop into a tablet. It easily installs via USB and its included software will take your computer to new heights. You can draw shapes, and you can use the included pen to write on paper and have the image appear on the DUO’s NoteTaker Software. Compatible with monitors, 17″ laptops, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 Tablet software. Lastly it recognizes multiple languages. The DUO retails for $119.95.

Nokia N900 Vs iPhone 3GS

2009-09-09T10:39:00.000-07:00

Nokia has its latest smartphone experiment out in the form of the Maemo powered N900. We call it an experiment as Nokia is still promoting N97 over this wonderful gadget. Yes I certainly believe that the N900 is the best smartphone that Nokia has produced till date and no matter what comparisions say, the N900 comes real close to beating the iPhone 3GS, in some ways it does. The same old issue with the Nokia is the weight and the usability. iPhone scores there.

N900 weighs 181gms and has a large thick structure, which isn’t the best for mobility. The good with the N900 is the strong OS + openness that the iPhone lacks, good browser and the physical qwerty (though Nokia screws up the spacebar again). One impressive thing the N900 has is the 600MHz processor and 256MB ram. This is one area where Nokia has been a miser since ages, however they give good backing to N900 which runs a desktop grade OS. Is this enough? Will the 768MB virtual memory help? Not sure, but the videos we saw looked impressive.

The camera and video recording specs of the N900 might be better but the iPhone scores with better usability and web integration. However a 32GB smartphone with a strong OS for $650 is certainly good. The N900 is IMO the best from Nokia yet, but only time will tell how well it does against the iPhone 3GS. The App Store and slick UI of the iPhone is hard to beat. But Nokia vs iPhone doesn’t end here…

Maemo powered N900 from Nokia

Contact Me

2009-09-09T09:53:00.000-07:00

Mail: wildchild_wahid@live.com

Messenger:

Yahoo- wahid_polin
Live- wildchild_wahid

Cell: +8801727328442

About Me

2009-09-09T09:42:00.000-07:00

Hellow ,I am Wahid .I am living here in Bangladesh in Dhaka city.I am 21 years old.I generally blog when i am not too busy with my studies.I am a student of Computer Science.Feel free to comment on my posts,thnx.

The Nokia 888 Can Change Shapes On The Fly

2009-07-31T00:15:00.000-07:00

Nokia is planning to change the way we think of mobile phones. Their new phone will come in the form of a device that will roll up and mimic a bracelet, bend over and clip to your pocket, wake you up in the morning, form to fit your face when you use it as a phone and more. So far Nokia’s calling this cell phone a personal mobile communication device. To me it looks like a revolution in the way you look at a gadget.

It uses a liquid battery, speech recognition, and a flexible touch screen. The touch sensitive body cover lets it understand and adjust to the actions you take. Sometimes the sensitivity is positively eerie! When the phone rings, the Nokia 888 forms itself into the shape of a phone. You can personalize these forms and record them. So it fits you the best and makes your brother crazy. It’s like the feeling of having an electronic pet, or maybe a butler. As it senses your moves, it understands what you want, and responds to you in the way you love. It learns you, and learns to fit you better.

Also e-motions lets you send forms to the other Nokia 888 users and it. It could be the shape of a heart or a small dance. This way he can tell you he loves you without words.

By the way, e-motions stands for electronic motions. It works just like a program, where you can create forms to send to your Nokia 888 friends. You can send a heart shape to your girlfriend and her 888 will turn into the shape of a heart. That flexibility can get you thinking of all sorts of great things to do. Make a call to your boyfriend, and wrap him around your wrist; give it a date to remember and it can start flopping around. There are hundreds of ways to give the 888 a chance to surprise you. Form follows function and Nokia now lets form follow you.

“Google GO”

2009-07-31T00:09:00.001-07:00

This good looking device comes to us from designer Tryi Yeh powered by Android known as the “Google GO”.

The Google GO isn’t a real Android phone. It is a concept from designer Tryi Yeh. Is not coming out soon and will probably never be built, but I am sure you would agree it has a beautiful design. The GO has touchscreen and slider functions.

The speakers and mike are positioned on the back which slides to reveal a camera and four customizable smartkeys for quick access to the mail, browsing and more. The buttons change depending on what you are currently doing. The GO comes with what seems an inductive charger, media hookup that uses Windows media centre like interface allowing you to watch TV on your phone or use your GO as a remote. Very likable and very realistic.

Source - Intomobile

Share a comment or problems with phones and networks.

Nikon D300s

2009-07-31T00:03:00.001-07:00

The world's best semi-pro digital SLR just got better. The Nikon D300s ($1,800; late August 2009) takes Nikon's two-year old D300 and gives it a modest upgrade, adding features like the improved 12.3-megapixel sensor from the D90, automatic Active D-Lighting, one-touch Live View, 24fps, 720p D-Movie recording with Autofocus, 7 fps shooting (8 with battery grip), and a stereo microphone input, while retaining the rock-solid build, spectacular 51-point AF sensor, and 3-inch, 920,000 dot LCD from the original.

More Apple Tablet PC Rumors

2009-07-30T23:57:00.001-07:00

According to recent rumors, the long-awaited Apple Tablet will be released in time for the holiday season this year and it will be subsidized by Verizon.

I’m hesitant to post rumors, especially rumors regarding Apple, and even more so regarding the Tablet, but I have heard from other reliable sources that Apple has been talking to Verizon. While they speculated that this could have been about the iPhone moving carriers, when you take this into account, the Tablet seems far more likely.

If the Tablet were subsidized, one big concern, price, would surely all but disappear. Apple continually claims that they can’t (or won’t) make a low-end netbook citing that they want to make the best, not the most. This could allow them to make the best, but at a much more affordable price point.

But as always this is still a rumor, yet their annual September event is fast approaching, so take it with a grain of salt.

ASUS F50GX F50GX-6X059E Notebook Intel Pentium T3400 with Vista Business

2009-07-30T23:27:00.000-07:00

Stylish, contemporary and versatile. The F50GX is designed to be the definitive notebook for the family. Powered by an Intel® Core™2 processor providing users with everyday computing efficiency the F50GX is the perfect addition to any household.

ASUS F50GX F50GX-6X059E Notebook Features:

Microsoft Windows Vista Business
Intel Pentium Dual Core T3400 2.2GHz Processor
NVIDIA MCP79MX Chipset
NVIDIA® GeForce® 9400M G Graphics
2GB DDR2 800MHz Memory
320GB 5400rpm Hard Drive
DVD Supermulti Drive
16.1" WXGA Colourshine (1366x768) HDMI
1.3 Mega Pixel Camera
Bluetooth
Battery Life: Upto 2.0hrs
Weight: from 2.85kg

Should You Get the New iPhone 3GS?

2009-07-30T23:18:00.000-07:00

The whole Internet, it seems, is currently fawning over the new iPhone 3GS. That's partially because the device seems to be a worthy upgrade to the iPhone 3G. (We're not sure we'd call it a successor, since it will be sold alongside the existing handset; it's more like choosing between the basic MacBook and the souped-up MacBook Pro.) We also lay responsibility for the hype, though, on the shoulders of one of our pet peeves -- the media's love affair with Apple.

At least one Web site refuses to swallow the story whole, though. The popular tech blog TechCrunch's M.G. Siegler recently wrote an opinion piece arguing that the iPhone 3GS might not be the best bet. But then again, he lays that blame squarely at the feet of AT&T, only backing up our argument that the media may love Apple a bit too much to give a fair assessment.

It's hard to argue with his logic, though. As Siegler points out, AT&T will not be subsidizing the price of the upgrade for existing iPhone 3G customers (as it did for the upgrade from the first-generation iPhone to the iPhone 3G). When the iPhone 3G launched, AT&T offered it for a single price, $199, to new subscribers and existing iPhone customers alike, regardless of whether or not their contracts were up for renewal. Not so with the iPhone 3G. If you jumped on the iPhone 3G last year, you'll have to either wait another year to get the discount, or pay face value for the 3GS ($399 for the 16-gigabyte version, or $499 for the 32-gigabyte). Of course, if you're new to the iPhone or AT&T, or if you bought the original iPhone back in 2007 and your contract is up for renewal, then you can get the new iPhone 3GS for the nice price of $199.

Even worse, AT&T has yet to lock up exclusivity of the Apple handset. Currently, the contract between the two companies is set to expire in 2010, though AT&T is trying to extend that through 2011. If it fails to do so, you can expect the iPhone to find its way onto other carriers pretty quickly. This means that Verizon fans just might want to wait a year before they sign up for a 2-year contract with AT&T just to get an iPhone (we're not promising anything, though).

Given these stumbling blocks, what's the point of upgrading to or buying the new iPhone 3GS? We've come up with a few pros and cons.

Why you should upgrade: The primary reason you might want to get the new iPhone 3GS is because it's the fastest iPhone so far. The current iPhone is sleek and fancy, but certainly not a speed demon. Many purely 2-D games stutter and freeze, and even basic tasks, such as opening a text message, can sometimes take up to 30 seconds. The iPhone 3GS packs a significantly faster processor, more RAM, and a new 3-D graphics processor capable of handling much more complex imagery (in other words, games will more realistic and run more smoothly). Game developers are loving this new processor, and you'll likely see a number of games hit the App Store that require the 3GS and won't run on older iPhones at all.

Then there are the other perks that come with the upgrade, like the upgraded camera with auto-white-balance, auto-focus, and video capabilities. Naturally, it won't replace your point-and-shoot, but it should finally bring the iPhone up to speed with most other feature phones. And don't forget the digital compass, which may not sound like a major feature, but will make finding your way using the included Google Maps app much easier.

Why you shouldn't upgrade: Besides the pricing issues described above, the iPhone 3GS isn't such a big leap forward in technology that current 3G owners will be driven to assaulting those eligible for the upgrade. The move to 7.2 Mbps HSDPA (double the download speed of the current iPhone 3G) is only useful in areas where AT&T will actually upgrade its network (no specific areas or time frame have been announced), and if you can keep a 3G signal for longer than two minutes. AT&T's service is almost universally panned, and is notoriously spotty in many major metropolitan areas.We can tell you that coverage in New York City (where the Switched offices are located) is infuriatingly inconsistent and often slow.

Also, if you already on an iPhone, then many of the benefits of the iPhone 3.0 software update -- cut-and-pasting ability, MMS, a landscape keyboard for all apps, and turn-by-turn directions using the GPS -- will come to you in the way of an automatic software download and installation.

Bottom line: For users of the first gen iPhone -- or some other aging handset, like (gasp) the RAZR -- the iPhone 3GS might be a worthwhile upgrade. Ditto those who don't own iPhones at all, as $199 is a competitive price for a pretty advanced smartphone, and it's simply the best for watching video and listening to music on the go (especially if you already use iTunes). Make sure to check with other AT&T customers in your area to find out about 3G coverage if you're planning on doing a lot of Web surfing or like to use apps that need a Web connection, though. Another option, if you're a first-gen iPhone owner, is an upgrade to the standard iPhone 3G, which AT&T will be selling for $99 with a two-year contract. The 3G is still a capable handset, and more advanced than most other phones at that price point, which often lack touch screens, and can't match the iPhone's Web browser or catalog of applications. We expect Google, BlackBerry, Palm, and Microsoft to slip into panic mode any day now.

Our advice if you're a current iPhone 3G customer? Wait. The smart phone market is changing so quickly you may regret dropping $399 on phone just because you're impatient. Besides, you have another year left on your contract to see where the burgeoning smartphone market is going. . Android, Google's fledgling smart phone OS, is just starting to come into its own, Palm is experiencing a resurgence, Windows Mobile will be getting a major update in the next year, and BlackBerry is not resting on its laurels either.

In other words we're just now entering the golden age of affordable and advanced smartphones, iPhone 3G owners, so sit back, check out the new releases, save your money, and revisit this decision again in a year.

HTC Hero

2009-07-30T22:00:00.000-07:00

We're going to need some real time with the device to make a final opinion, but we're cautiously optimistic that HTC has a winner with its new Hero. Here's what we've got from our first looks at the phone in London and NY:

* The beveled edges along the back makes the handset sit comfortably in the hand, and while the teflon coat doesn't necessarily feel revolutionary, it's going to make a world of difference after a couple of months riding in our grubby pockets. It's certainly solid, but much more so than other "brick" phones.
* The Sense UI (or as HTC terms it, "user experience") riding a capacitive touchscreen offers a people-centric approach to managing your information that is absolutely dreamy at first blush -- though it shares a lot of TouchFLO heritage. In fact, HTC promises to have a very similar Sense-branded experience for Windows Mobile.
* The on-screen keyboard also seems quite useable with a nice simulated haptic forced-feedback bounce when you strike each key in either landscape or portrait mode (which can naturally be deactivated). HTC has built its own touch keyboard from the ground up, and in our brief couple of tests we'd say it's probably the best touchscreen typing experience we've ever felt. It never lags behind, and has great colorful visual cues for its auto-corrected words -- green means it's suggesting a correctly spelled word, red means we've gone off the beaten path, and the T9-style multiple suggestions are heavenly.
* This intuitive one-hander isn't shy with the specs either as we've already seen in the official press release. Our only concern is possible sluggishness from the Qualcomm processor that cause the graphic transitions to stutter a bit and results in screen rotations that feel dangerously uncomfortable.
* We were told that the device we saw was running pre-production firmware so there's still time to tweak -- though not much with a July European launch.
* The Hero is not a "Google Experience" device. As such, you won't find the Google logo anywhere (no big deal) but you also won't be downloading any firmware updates over the air -- sideloading only kids. Not a deal breaker but an annoying and seemingly arbitrary limitation nonetheless. There's still a small lack of clarity of how updates will work with HTC's "mods" living on top of basic Android -- even if they're able to port in new Android versions seamlessly, we imagine there will be some breakage.
* For a device without a physical keyboard, the Hero seems a little thick up against its HTC Magic, Nokia N97, and iPhone 3G counterparts, but not overly so.
* HTC has confirmed that whichever (unspecified) carrier gets the phone in the US will have a modified version, both in software (carrier-specific services) and in hardware chassis tweaks. Just don't take our teflon away, ok HTC?
* Battery is the same larger slab that's in the myTouch, and HTC also claims to have done some vague, unspecified things OS-side to improve battery life as well. "Heavy users will be able to get through a day."
* The camera is responsive and seems to do a fine job at autofocus, but wasn't astonishingly great at first glance.
* The phone will be available for free on T-Mobile UK -- if only we could be so subsidy lucky in the US.

There are four videos for you after the break. The first shows Flash running at full screen on the HTC Hero courtesy of YouTube. The second, however, shows it failing when running a trailer from Yahoo Movies, just like Adobe did -- in fact, it crashed all four times that we tried it on what we were told was a Hero running the final build of the OS. Third one is a quickie showing the on-screen keyboard rotating from portrait to landscape and back. Lastly, we demonstrate the hardware a little bit and show off our lightning speed at typing. For the real completists, there's also a new gallery of hands-on shots from the NY launch event right below.

HTC Snap

2009-07-29T02:32:00.001-07:00

Style & Handling Summary

The HTC Snap is reminiscent of the BlackBerry Bold, with a spacious QWERTY keyboard that has a rather fetching bronze tint.

User Friendliness Summary

The relatively small 2.4-inch screen hinders the internet experience, but navigating with the track ball posed few problems. Syncing with email accounts such as Outlook and Hotmail was also simple to do.

Feature Set Summary

Camera:2Megapixel.

If you’re not a fan of touch-screens then the QWERTY keypad will appeal, but the main attraction of the Snap is the ‘Inner Circle’ feature. Select your most important contacts and one press of the green button will bring up all their emails. Genius.

Performance Summary

HSDPA and Wi-Fi ensure speedy internet browsing but the camera performed poorly, with just two megapixels and no flash – this was always going to be the case.

Battery Power Summary

Battery life is good.

The Verdict

The Inner Circle feature is genuinely helpful, but as smartphones go, there are better-equipped models on the market..

HTC has been so caught up with the Google Android/touch-screen whirlwind that we’d almost forgotten about its longstanding relationship with Windows Mobile. The HTC Snap, which offers both the aforementioned operating system and a full QWERTY keyboard, doesn’t even look like an HTC device. In fact, it resembles something more akin to the BlackBerry Curve range, albeit slightly longer and thinner.

Look and feel

The HTC Snap’s slim appearance helps keeps its weight down to an impressive 120g, and we actually found the bronze tinted keypad rather endearing. The QWERTY keypad consists of four rows, with the letters on the left of the pad doubling up as numeric keys. Above the keypad is a trackball that is surrounded by the call and call end keys, two hard keys and the home and back buttons. The keys are in close proximity to each other, though there is enough to distinguish between them all.

The trackball is certainly a welcome addition, but we found it a little loose and the overall result wasn’t as fluid as the BlackBerry experience. This is a shame as, due to the lack of a touch-screen, it’s the main means of navigating around the phone.

Operating on Windows Mobile 6.1, the Snap is compatible with Outlook and can even be synced with other email accounts such as Hotmail. Outlook is the only account that has push-email though.

Inner circle

The Snap’s unique selling point is its ‘Inner Circle’, which aims to prioritise emails from your most important or frequent contacts. Pressing the green inner circle key on the bottom right of the keypad will pull up any emails from your chosen contacts. It’s a great touch from HTC, and a genuine time saver.

With on-board HSDPA and Wi-Fi, all your connectivity needs are catered for and the experience was a real breeze. However, we did find the screen a tad on the small side, as excessive scrolling through webpages is necessary.

On-board GPS

The size of the screen also demeans the navigational experience as once again you’ll be using the trackball to scroll around Google Maps. Sadly, it also took us an age to get a GPS satellite fix, though this did improve when we switched on the QuickGPS feature in the accessories menu. Google Maps does include a useful search facility however, that enables you to find the nearest coffee shop to your current location for example, simply by typing in the word ‘coffee’. You can then call that venue directly, which is useful if you want to book a table.

HTC has included a two-megapixel camera that lacks features, in what appears to be nothing more than a token gesture. There’s no flash for one thing, and though you can select from a variety of white balance modes, our photos always appeared far darker than the conditions in which we were taking them. There is a video recording functionality, though the same issues occur.

The verdict

The HTC Snap is a very competent smartphone with some innovative features, most notably the ‘Inner Circle’. However, the majority of today’s flagship handsets are affectively smartphones, even if they don’t market themselves as such, and these outgun the likes of the Snap. A noble effort by HTC, but we just wonder if phones of this ilk have seen their day.

Toshiba TG01

2009-07-29T02:17:00.000-07:00

Style & Handling Summary

A good looking device with a minimalist design and an attractive WVGA touch-screen that dominates the front of the handset.

User Friendliness Summary

The TG01 is seriously lacking in terms of usability, with a clunky user interface, an unresponsive touch-screen and oversights in hardware finish.

Feature Set Summary

Toshiba’s device is lacking any kind of standout feature and setting up new applications is a long-winded process. It fails to compete with other hero handsets, most of which are far superior in terms of features.

Performance Summary

The TG01 is able to find and connect to Wi-Fi hotspots quickly, but the overall internet experience was glitch-ridden and the touch-screen’s lack of responsiveness was incredibly frustrating.

Battery Power Summary

On the plus side, battery life was above average.

The Verdict

A highly disappointing release from Toshiba, especially considering the hype surrounding its launch. It might look nice, but there’s not much else on offer.

Panasonic announces LUMIX DMC-FP8 digital camera

2009-07-29T01:59:00.000-07:00

Panasonic continues with its barrage of digital camera releases by unveiling the latest model in its new FP-Series, where the LUMIX FP-8 aims to achieve a careful balance between design and function. With that in mind, you can be sure that you won’t be shortchanged should you decide to bring this puppy home as a present to yourself or a loved one, as you can now capture your favorite memories in full 12.1-megapixels glory, thanks to its high-quality 28mm wide-angle, 4.6x Leica DC lens with folding optics, all stashed away within a futuristic-looking stylish body.

Apart from the relatively unique design, the FP8 will also boast advanced functions such as high-speed Auto Focus (AF) and Panasonic’s Intelligent Auto (iA) suite of technologies. The fast AF, when coupled with a high-speed start-up of only 0.95 seconds, will enable anyone to capture even the most fleeting of shots courtesy of the FP8’s fast response time. In addition, Panasonic’s iA, a popular feature on LUMIX cameras, will now include POWER Optical Image Stabilization (O.I.S.) that boasts double the repression power compared to the previous image stabilization system, MEGA O.I.S. You also need not worry about blurry images due to hand-shake generated during the pressing of the shutter button, or when capturing images under low light conditions using a slow shutter speed thanks to the improved POWER O.I.S.

Some of the features of the DMC-FP8 include :-

* HD Movies with VIERA Link Networking - Records dynamic HD motion pictures in 1280 x 720p at a smooth 30 fps, in addition to WVGA (848 x 480) and normal VGA (640 x 480). With HD component output capability, the user can enjoy watching photos and video in stunning HD quality by simply connecting the camera to a television via an optional component cable (DMW-HDC2)
* Scene Modes - Twenty-seven scene modes are available with the FP8, including the High Dynamic mode which helps to capture a scene with moderate exposure, even though the scene may contain both bright and dark areas together
* PHOTOfunSTUDIO 4.0 - Included with the FP8, this software allows users to view, edit and archive captured photos and videos with greater ease. The new PHOTOfunSTUDIO 4.0 features dramatic speed-up of operation and also allows users to store and sort for photos by a specific, recognized face in the image

You will be able to pick up the LUMIX DMC-FP8 this September for $299.95, where color choices are limited to black, red and silver.

Sony DSLR-A900, world’s highest megapixel camera

2009-07-24T23:32:00.000-07:00

Sony has announced a new SLR addition to its digital camera lineup, the DSLR-A900. The high-end camera takes photographs at a 24.6-megapixel resolution, and is a full-frame camera meaning its sensor is the same size as a 35mm film frame.

Phil Lubell, director of digital camera marketing at Sony Electronics said “The α (alpha) DSLR-A900 introduction solidifies Sony’s position as a leading camera manufacturer that can meet the demands of serious enthusiasts…It represents the best in sensor and image processing technologies and offers enhanced functions, performance and reliability so photographers can push their creativity to the limit.”

The A900 can accept both Sony’s proprietary Memory Stick as well as the more common Compact Flash cards, which gives you a little flexibility when it comes to saving your pictures. The camera can hold both cards simultaneously, which can give you a little additional space to save your pictures as well without having to switch out memory cards.

The A900 has a 3-inch LCD, can shot photographs continuously at a rate of one photo per every 5 seconds, and has an HDMI output to high-definition televisions. The DSLR-A900 is expected to sell for around $3000 for the body alone, and is compatible with Minolta, Sony, and Konica-Minolta lenses.

The camera is the first to use Sony’s new “Intelligent Preview” function. The function allows users to press a preview button, and then adjust things like white balance and exposure compensation before actually “taking” the picture. The changes you make to the photograph show up on the screen, which makes it easier to make minor tweaks.

I’m personally pretty excited about the preview function. I often find myself at shoots where I’m adjusting a lot of settings. With my current camera I have to take the picture, look at it, adjust, then take another picture, look at it, adjust….it gets tiresome for both me and the subject being photographed. I love the idea of being able to adjust things like my exposure on the camera while I’m looking at the picture, and being able to see in real time how the changes I’m making are affecting my image.

So, for three grand would you buy one of these?

12 Megapixel Camera Phone, the latest release from Samsung

2009-07-24T23:15:00.000-07:00

Samsung was the first to release the 8 Megapixel camera phone. Continuing the trend, Samsung is again the first to announce and launch its 12 Megapixel handset at Mobile World Congress 2009. Samsung is planning for the mass production of this latest 12 Megapixel handset before the end of February with its release in Europe first.

The Samsung’s 12 Megapixel camera phone, dubbed as the Pixon 12 (M8910) is featured with an AMOLED touchscreen display of 3.1 inches and a resolution of 720 x 480. Other specifications being its internal memory of 150MB, a microSD slot, FM radio with RDS, GSM / GPRS / EDGE, HSPA and GPS. As the reviews, the most attractive art of the phone is its integrated 12 Megapixel camera with 4000 x 3000 pixels, 28mm wide lens, xenon flash, Power LED flash and autofocus technology.

You can easily capture, browse and share your images on the brilliantly featured full-touch screen display. The Samsung Pixon 12 has an integrated and dedicated Camera Power Key, which offers you with one-touch feature for faster accessing of the camera. Just like any other advance digital camera of today, the Samsung Pixon 12 helps in aiming, snapping and capturing of images equally faster. It also offers fast saving of the image so that you can move on to the next shot within 2 seconds. The phone is also equipped with an internal memory of 150MB along with microSD card slot.

Measuring 108 x 53 x 13.8 mm in dimension, the new Samsung Pixon M8910 weighs approximately 120 grams. The phone supports video formats such as DivX, XviD, H.263, H.264, WMV and MP4. The supported audio formats are MP3, eAAC+, WMA and AMR. Although the phone has been set for its launch in Europe in June and other parts of the world by August. However, there’s still no news of the pricing yet.

Creative Zen x-fi

2009-06-03T09:07:00.000-07:00

Zen_xfi_review:::

Creative's newest flagship product is the Zen X-Fi, a high-capacity flash-based digital media player that adds Xtreme Fidelity (X-Fi) sound technology, a built-in speaker, a few wireless functions, and a whole lot of extra buttons to the company's original ZEN device.

Do these new features take what was already a solid device to new heights of excellence? Read my full review to find out.

This review is based on the Creative Zen X-Fi running firmware version 1.02.01.
System Specifications

Capacities:
8GB, 16GB, 32GB
Expansion:
SD card slot
Supported audio:::
MP3, WMA, AAC4, WAV (ADPCM), Audible
Supported video:
MPEG-4, WMV, DivX, XviD, MJPEG
Extras:::
Wi-Fi (16GB/32GB only), photo viewer,
FM radio, organizer, voice recorder
Display:
2.5” TFT (320 x 240, 16.7M colors)
Dimensions:::

3.3” x 2.2” x 0.5”
Weight::: 2.4 ounces
Colors:::
Black

Price:::
The Creative Zen X-Fi is available now in 8GB (no WLAN), 16GB, and 32GB capacities and carry respective MSRPs of $149.99, $199.99, and $279.99.

HTC Touch Diamond2

2009-06-03T02:34:00.000-07:00

The good:::

The HTC Touch Diamond2 boasts a sleek design with a larger and sharper display than its predecessor. The enhanced TouchFlo interface makes navigation easier. The Windows Mobile smartphone also features Wi-Fi, GPS, a 5-megapixel camera, and good general performance.

The bad:::

No U.S. 3G support yet. The onscreen keyboard is a bit cramped and the smartphone lacks a standard headphone jack. Call quality could be better.

The bottom line:::

The HTC Touch Diamond2 brings some notable improvements over its predecessor and promises to be a powerful touch-screen smartphone when it finally arrives in the U.S.

HTC touch magic

2009-06-03T01:45:00.000-07:00

Full Review and Specification for the HTC Magic:::

With an influx of Google Android phones on the horizon, the hype that surrounds these portals to the open application market may die down quickly. Thankfully, we’re still caught up in this wave of excitement, and that’s because the second Android phone has landed.

Look and feel:::

The HTC Magic will inevitably draw comparisons to the T-Mobile G1, as not only are they both Android devices, but they are both made by HTC and as such sport more than the occasional similarity. That said, the Magic is far more svelte than the G1 without a slide-out QWERTY keyboard adding to its weight.

There’s still the protruding cusp at the end of the device. On the G1 we assumed it was to help accommodate the hinge required for the slide-out keyboard but, due to the lack of aforementioned keyboard, we can only assume that it is now a kind of calling card for all of HTC’s Android devices. The ivory white hardware certainly affords it a striking look, but it is unlikely to be to everyone’s taste.

The 3.2-inch screen (the same size as the G1) dominates the fascia, while below are six solitary keys that sit either side of a trackball, which is reminiscent of that found on a BlackBerry. From left to right, these buttons are the home key, which will take you back to your home screen at any time, the menu key, which will bring up a list of options depending on the feature or functionality you’re currently in, the back key and the Google Search key (symbolised by a magnifying glass), with the call and call end keys lying below them. Although the buttons are not particularly raised they felt good under the thumbs, as did the trackball, which provides a genuine alternative to navigating via the touch-screen.

Android 1.5 OS:::

Google has upgraded its operating system to 1.5, also known as the ‘cupcake’, and this makes for an improved touch-screen experience. It’s a capacitive screen that, without getting too technical, senses electrons from your fingers and allows you to lightly swipe across the screen, whereas a resistive screen requires you to actually press down. It feels and looks slick and contributes to a hugely enjoyable user experience.

The HTC Magic has three home screens that can be switched simply by swiping your finger horizontally across the screen. The beauty of having three home screens is that you can choose to keep various applications or contacts separate from each other. For example, use one screen for all of your business apps, another for your music and video files and the third for all your downloaded applications. To customise each home screen, simply pull up the main menu via a tab found at the bottom of the screen, press and hold the icon you want until you feel a short vibration and then drag and drop it onto your chosen screen. To remove an icon or shortcut from the home screen, repeat the same process but drop it on the menu tab, which automatically transforms into a virtual dustbin.

As there is no actual keyboard, any text or numbers must be input via the virtual keyboard. Any time you touch a text field this keyboard will automatically appear. The process works flawlessly, but we did feel the keyboard was a little cramped when in portrait mode, so the thicker thumbed may find themselves hitting the wrong key on occasions. Thankfully, the Magic is equipped with an excellent accelerometer that transforms the screen into landscape mode when held horizontally. Due to the width of the screen, the keyboard is far roomier in this mode and thus easier to type. You can also switch on haptic feedback that will give a quick pulse each time you press a key.

YouTube application:::

Another bonus of the HTC Magic running on the Android 1.5 operating system (OS) is that you can record and upload videos to the likes of YouTube, something you couldn’t do with the G1. A YouTube shortcut can be found in the main menu, and what a treat it is. The video quality is exceptional and the service provides the full YouTube experience via a platform built for mobiles. For the best results, we recommend using a Wi-Fi hotspot (another string to the Magic’s bow) as at times the video froze while it rebuffed when using a data connection.

Camera credentials:::

So far so good. Now for the downside to the HTC Magic, and it lies with the camera. As we mentioned, the Magic can upload videos directly to YouTube. Simply click the menu key when in YouTube and, assuming you have an account, you will be given the option to do so. Great as that is, whether you want to be showboating the disappointing video that the Magic captures is another thing entirely.

Both the video camera and the camera itself suffer from the omission of a few crucial ingredients. There is no flash or zoom, for one thing. As a result, pictures taken in low or poor lighting really suffer, while the video camera takes a second or two for the lighting to adjust should you move the focus from a well-lit area to one in shade, for example. The camera is of the 3.2-megapixel variety, which, while it may pale in significance with the arrival of eight-megapixel snappers, should not automatically equate to a negative photograph experience. However, omitting a flash and a zoom is barely forgivable.

Being a Google device, it is no surprise to find the Magic caters for all of its services. We’ve touched upon the search bar, but in addition, you can sync a Google Mail account to be alerted to any incoming mail as soon as it arrives in your inbox. Press and drag at the top of the home screen, where the battery life, time and data connection sit, and it will reveal all your notifications, such as emails and text messages. Other accounts can be set up in conjunction with the phone, but it’s only Google Mail that will be received in this push like fashion.

Street View:::

Google Maps is of course on board, and it provides as pleasurable an experience as ever. The Magic’s GPS provided a fast fix and it kept up with us as we wandered the streets of London, immediately adjusting each time we took a corner. However, the killer aspect of Google Maps on the HTC Magic is the inclusion of Street View. This service has been making headlines since its introduction to the UK in March, with many claiming it is an infringement of people’s privacy rights. All we can say, from a technology perspective, is that it’s a cracking addition from Google.

For those of you who have recently awoken from a coma or returned from an epic trip to the South Pole, Street View provides actual still footage of certain areas. The idea is that it aids you in your journey by displaying what you can see around you. In truth, most people probably use it to spy on their next door neighbours’ garden or to see if their car has been picked up in the footage. While it doesn’t cover the whole of the UK, users can view accessible roads (highlighted blue) when you select the Street View mode. What’s more, switch on the built-in compass and depending how you tilt the handset, the street view will adjust in accordance with it.

Android Market:::

The HTC Magic comes with a 2GB memory card to compensate for the miserly on-board 192MB RAM. The handset can support cards of up to 8GB – plenty of room for housing all the Android apps you’ll inevitably download. The Android Market continues to grow at an impressive rate, with 1,000’s of available applications ranging from ShopSavvy, which uses the Magic’s camera to scan barcodes before feeding back on the cheapest place to buy that product, to a George W. Bush Soundboard, which has a selection of ‘Dubya’s’ best sound bites.

It’s disappointing to find HTC has not included a 3.5mm headset port or, for that matter, an adapter, instead opting for its own headphones that connect via a miniUSB port. We found this set of cans uncomfortable, particularly as the ear buds were too big to fit securely in our lugholes.

The verdict:::

However, these grievances aren’t enough to deter us from what is the best Google phone to date. Granted, there are only two so far, but it bodes well for the future. If it wasn’t for the poor camera and video recording facility, we’d be awarding our second five star review in as many issues. Vodafone has shown a great deal of nouse by bagging the HTC Magic as an exclusive, and is sure to reap the rewards. If things continue in this manner, the haze of excitement surrounding Google Android devices may in fact be here for some time yet.

Q-Sound Solar Bluetooth Headphones Are Pleasingly Future-y

2009-05-29T22:02:00.001-07:00

I've got to give this Q-Sound headphone concept from Shepeleff Stephen top marks for its design. Not only does it look great, it is also innovative in its use of solar technology.

After all, it makes sense to power Bluetooth headphones with a small solar panel stretched across the headband—an area that could be easily exposed to the sun. Outside of that, the Q-Sound would also be able to handle calls or plug into a 3.5mm jack should the need arise. All-in-all the Q-Sound is a great idea—a concept I can definitely see transitioning into a real-world product.

MID Concept netbook

2009-05-29T21:27:00.000-07:00

If you ask me I like handhelds quiet a lot.In this note mid netbook really got me interested.I think it might drawn some eyes of those who r not a great fan of netbooks.
Right off the bat it is plain to see that this thing just looks good. It's designed more like a slider phone—which opens up portable possibilities beyond that of a simple netbook.

Features:

1.QWERTY keyboard with trackball
2. wide LCD touchscreen
3. 7 "action buttons" that can be used when the device is closed
4. two USB slots
5. microphone and audio input
6. SD card reader
7. stereo speakers
8. docking connector.

iPhone 4G Concept Is a MacBook In a Phone

2009-04-06T12:04:00.000-07:00

• Titanium and Glass.
• OLED screen
• 3G
• GPS
• Front camera for iChat
• Removable battery
• 3.2 Megapixel camera
• Video
• 32 GB

Sony Cyber-shot T 500

2009-02-07T05:05:00.000-08:00

We got a look at Sony's new HD-shootin', 10.1 megapixel Cyber-shot T500 today, and it seems to do what it says on the box. There was no Memory Stick in the display version, so we couldn't test out any HD recording, but the touchscreen interface did seem responsive, and mode switching from stills to video is a snap. Perhaps it was the lighting we were under, but the large LCD did seem to flicker a bit, and wasn't stunningly bright either, but otherwise we're big fans of the build quality of the device. Fashioncam this is not -- there's some heft, bulk and sharp edges here that will keep it away from your skinny jeans -- but the T500 is a fine entry from Sony, and at $399 it's pretty well priced for what it can do.

HTC Shift

2009-02-06T09:47:00.000-08:00

HTC Shift Unvield

The lucky lovelies over at pcdebolso.com managed to acquire (let’s ask no questions) a pre-production HTC Shift for five days, and proceeded to examine it both from the perspective as a compact, Vista-running UMPC and as a large, Windows Mobile-running PDA. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, the Shift although impressive doesn’t manage to succeed 100% in both categories; what is surprising, though, is that it appears HTC have made some bizarre concessions which in certain cases render the Shift less useful than a far cheaper device.

Vista, it seems, has been HTC’s main priority, and in that capacity the Shift functions as expected. With an 800MHz processor and 1GB of RAM it’s never going to be accused of running too fast, but the 40GB drive is healthy and the screen - running at a native 800 x 480 - clear and bright. What’s less impressive is the PDA flipside: the Shift runs a pared down version of Windows Mobile 6 that doesn’t even take advantage of the VGA screen, chopping off the sides with black bars (as in the image above). Similarly bizarre is that while in WM mode the only connectivity method is HSDPA - Bluetooth and WiFi, accessible to Vista, fail to show up in the connectivity manager. That means you could be in your office, surrounded by rich, syrupy WiFi, yet unable to connect because cellular signals don’t reach you.

Of course, it’s possible that one or more of the confusing decisions HTC has made will be changed in the production version; as it is, the Shift looks to be a passable UMPC but not the dual-mode, best-of-both-worlds device we were initially promised.

Serenata music mobile phone

2009-02-06T09:42:00.001-08:00

Samsung and Danish Audio equipment manufacturer, Bang & Olufsen have joined forces to bring us the Serenata music mobile phone. They seem to have managed to put together a unique and stylish mobile with music quality that we can just hope lives up to their brand names. This phone is going to be all about the music.

"Since we started our first co-operation with Bang & Olufsen, we have only been confirmed in our belief that both companies share a passion for innovation and consumer-focused technology. Serenata is another example of new ways to think of the mobile phone. I'm proud to say that our customers can see a true innovation of music player and mobile phone as we have opened a new era of mobile phones with Serene two years ago", says Geesung Choi, President of the Telecommunications Network Business in Samsung Electronics.

"We have high expectations to Serenata, as it is a result of our joint vision to constantly push the boundaries, and bring unique and exciting products to our customers", states Torben Ballegaard Sorensen, CEO of Bang & Olufsen.

The Serenata is built as a contrast between cool aluminum and a warm soft touch lacquer that gives an impression of elegance, slimness and craftsmanship. It uses a scroll wheel system for accessing menus and options. And in case you're a first time user of the phone, which you obviously will be, the companies have incorporated a 4 minute simulation to help you get accustomed to the usage of the phone. The Serenata has an integrated loudspeaker system and you can also listen to your tunes via the dedicated stereo EarSet 3. This mobile is capable of reading formats that include MP3, WMA Lossless 9.1, AMR and AAC. It uses an application called BeoPlayer that can access and organize all music files on the PC and transfer them to Serenata. Also through the Samsung PC studio, the users can synchronize the contacts, calendar and to-do list from their computer onto Serenata via Microsoft outlook.

Samsung's Serenata is a GSM handset that is 3.5G enabled with HSDPA connectivity and has 4GB of internal memory. It weighs in at 136g and has a 2.26 inch TFT-LCD display with a resolution of 240 x 240 pixels and 256k colors. It is Bluetooth enabled, although we have no confirmation on if it is A2DP compatible, but judging from the kind of music capabilities and the manufacturers themselves, I'm quite sure it will be. For PC connectivity it uses USB v2.0 high speed.

The price and availability of the Serenata is yet to be disclosed.

Willcom D4 - world’s first Intel Atom powered UMPC and runs Vista

2009-02-06T08:18:00.001-08:00

Willcom D4 (aka Sharp-built WS016SH) will be the world’s smallest QWERTY device that is capable of running Windows Vista Home Premium SP1, when it’s making its debut in Japan in June this year.

The Willcom D4 measures only 188 x 84 x 25.9mm and weights 470grams. The little device runs on the Intel 1.3GHz Atom processor, making its size so small, with pretty low power consumption and comparatively better battery conservation.

The Willcom D4 features a sliding / tilting 5-inch, 262k color, LED-backlit 1,024 x 600 touchscreen and a 64-key QWERTY keyboard. It’s got 1GB built-in RAM, a 1.8-inch 40GB disk, 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, microSD slot, HD audio codec with mono-speaker, n memory.

It comes with the Opera browser and equipped with wireless connectivities including the Japanese PHS (W-SIM) and 802.11b/g WiFi. And there is an optional Bluetooth companion handset that allows you to make calls over W-SIM.

The little device will be sold in Japan for about $1,254 and you’ll get to pay less if you’re willing to be bound by a 2-year contract. Willcom is reportedly experimenting with Android, so this device would possibly be released in an alternate form later this year or early 2009.

Nokia770

2009-02-06T08:04:00.001-08:00

The much maligned Nokia 770 is the subject of our next adventure in reviews. In my years of dealing with technology there is one major truism: no electronic product exists (and probably never will) that meets everybody's needs. This couldn't be more true with the Nokia 770. I hold it in high regard but it has some major limitations. But accepting those limitations and working within them I came to appreciate its functionality even more! On my recent trip to Australia I watched 4 complete movies on my "personal DVD player" (a.k.a. the Nokia 770 + ripped DVD's to MPEG-4 format... yes, I own the movies) on one battery charge. I had no less than 12 other passengers lusting over it simply for that functionality.

Physically the Nokia 770 is a solid beast... the buttons feel good and work well (although I rarely use the hard keys on the front... the touch screen takes care of that). The fit and finish of the product, although not glitzy, is clean and simple. No flash but a very sturdy product. I like the cover for the fact that I felt I could man-handle it without worrying about the large screen getting damaged in my briefcase. The screen is stunning. I have done a fair number of slideshows for people and the images really pop off the screen. The dedicated buttons along the top of the product are great.

They allow you to quickly jump to 'full-screen' mode and to zoom in on a picture or web page... which works flawlessly by actually zooming in rather than rescaling the text only. The touchscreen is great.... remind me why more manufacturers don't use touch screens???? They are so intuitive.

I believe that which makes it strong also hampers it's usefulness. Although it came out with a good basic set of applications, given the appealing form factor there has been an outcry for more functionality. There are some incredible apps that have been written by talented people... a media player, a mapper that will work with a GPS signal (although you must supply the map data) and some pretty fun games. The process to acquire these and maintain them are not consumer-ready.

The Good:
This product excels at a few things. It delivers a clean, quick, true web experience over WiFi (except it's flash version is a bit outdated and doesn't play embedded movies e.g. YouTube). It's screen is very clear and pleasant to gaze upon. It handles a nice variety of media (music, videos, pictures) in many popular formats. Its size is a perfect blend of portability yet big enough to see real content. The VoIP functionality is on par with a PC.

On the Fence: Battery life is approximately 7 hours depending on usage and screen brightness (pretty respectable but borderline.... mainly because if standby time from a full battery is about 3 hours.

So don't walk away from it for a couple days and expect much life from it unless it's plugged in. Open source software is exciting but to raise this product out of the niche of useful device to us geeks and a viable contender to the PMP's and UMPC's of the world the software has to be integrated or brain-dead-easy to install (e.g. Mac OSX software update panel). The current system of repositories is intuitive to those familiar with Linux and few others. Using RS-MMC cards is a bit unfortunate as the current trends it either mini-SD or micro-SD. You can buy them on the web but I would rather share cards with other devices.

The Bad:
Viewing Flash and embedded video on web pages isn't keeping pace with the web. To update the OS you have to wipe your entire system (yes, there is a backup utility but COME ON!). Web only accessible over WiFi or a paired Bluetooth phone connected to the internet via GPS (slow, expensive and pairing of even some high end Nokia's was unsuccessful!). Email and IM is tough without an integrated QWERTY keyboard (yes, I have an external Bluetooth keyboard but it's bigger than the product!) Also, in contrast to Nokia's consumer offerings that work very cleanly and reliably... pre- configured out of the box, the Nokia 770 requires a fair amount of hand holding and reading of the Maemo.org website to take full advantage of the product

Bottom line....
I think this is a great product to have sitting on your coffee table or on your jaunt to the local coffee shop to quickly access info from the web without whipping out your laptop or running back crying to your desktop PC.

I give it a 7.5 out of 10 stars. I use mine often and dream of the few tweaks to make it a kick-arse addition to any household and/or mobile lifestyle.

Xda Flint Handheld By O2 For The Education Market

2009-02-06T06:29:00.000-08:00

Personally I’m a big fan of handhelds, but I think netbooks are better and these devices already outran them. However, O2 doesn’t think that and they re-branded the HTC Advantage X7510 into the Xda Flint, and now the handheld has a new modern and more stylish design with a detachable keyboard.

The Xda Flint is based on Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, and it features an angled 5-inch touchscreen, a 3.0-megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, built-in GPS, 16GB of internal flash memory, Wireless LAN 802.11b & g, Bluetooth 2.0, GSM/GPRS/EDGE Quad-band (850/900/1800/1900), and also HSDPA.

According to O2, the Xda Flint is destined for youngsters & education market, as the handheld can read eBooks, take e-notes, and it has access to the Internet. Also, the re-branded Xda Flint supports Microsoft’s Direct Push Email, Internet Explorer, and Opera 9 browser, which were all well optimized for the touchscreen use.

What do you think? Would you choose this type of handheld over a netbook? Well, for there moment there no words about pricing or availability, but I can’t say that I’m not waiting for the Xda Flint to enter on the market.

DEVICE SPECIFICATION
Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
Modern, stylish design
Detachable keyboard
Angled 5” screen touch screen
3.0 megapixel color camera with autofocus and flash light
In-Built GPS
MP3 and Video playback
Wireless LAN 802.11b & g
HSDPA
Bluetooth ® V2.0
GSM/GPRS/EDGE Quad-band (850/900/1800/1900)
Supports Microsoft Direct Push Email solution
Internet Explorer and newly-included Opera 9 browser - optimized for touch-screen use
16GB of internal flash memory to hold more files than before

e-Loam F7 UMPC Looks Delicious While Being Functional

2009-02-06T06:07:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I’ve seen an interesting UMPC therefore I’m very glad that I ran onto the Shenzhen e-Loam F7. This handheld has an attractive design, but like always the most important thing about a device is its functionality. The e-Loam F7 UMPC is based on Windows XP, a 1.2GHz VIA C7-M proc, 1GB of RAM, and a 7-inch touchscreen.

The spec list continues with a 0.3-megapixel webcam, WiFi, Bluetooth, 2-in-1 card reader, but I have a couple of doubts regarding the Shenzhen e-Loam F7 – in the product description you can find a “8G BSANISK hard disk” , but I think this is a typo and the handheld features a 80GB hard-drive. The other doubt about the e-Loam F7 UMPC is that I don’t know if it features an optical mouse or not.

I guess there is still enough time to find out about it, and also I would definitely like to hear something about pricing and availability.

Nokia N97 Unvieled

2009-02-06T05:52:00.000-08:00

Nokia has just unveiled it’s newest high-end N-series smartphone, the N97. It does have some great features, like the 640×360 3.5-inch touchscreen with tactile feedback, QWERTY keyboard and a slider form-factor.

The N97 features an internal memory of 32GB, expandable to 48GB via it’s microSD memory card slot, it’s connectible via HSDPA and WiFi. The 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss glass camera can capture DVD quality videos at 30fps and take good pictures.

It’s battery can play music for 36 hours continuously, which is good for a smartphone. Unfortunately, like most Nokia cellphones, it does look bulky and it’s really pricy, at almost $700 without taxes and subsidies. Expect the N97 in stores in H1 2009.

Asus eee keyboard

2009-02-06T05:38:00.000-08:00

After a not-so-promising start, CES 2009 just kept on getting better and better. I am glad to say this thanks to the Asus HTPC keyboard concept which could represent the best product announcement at the Consumer Electronics Show. Some have called it the “Eee Keyboard”, some have said that this is a netbook, but you can call it “the most functional keyboard ever”.

The Asus HTPC keyboard features a 5-inch built-in display, a 1.6GHz Atom microprocessor, 1GB or RAM, Windows XP Home Edition (yeah, we didn’t understand this either), 16GB or 32GB SSD, Bluetooth 2.0, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, Wireless HDMI, 2x USB 2.0, VGA, and headphone and microphone ports.

For the moment we only know that it’s going to be available in the next 3 to 6 months as Asus wants to make sure that there is nothing wrong with their keyboard. The pricing remains undisclosed, but we expect it to be just a little too high. I guess it remains to wait until Asus makes an official annoucement about pricing and availability.

i-mate Ultimate 6150 (PDA phone)

2009-02-05T01:07:00.000-08:00

Features:

Windows Mobile 6.0
520Mhz Processor
2.0 MP Video/Camera
FM Stereo Radio
XGA Out
256 ROM/128 RAM

Dimensions:

Width: 2.3 inches
Length: 4.6 inches
Thick: .7 inches
Weight: 5.3 oz
Screen: 2.8 inches

Connectivity:

GSM Unlocked
Quad-band Phone
850/900/1800/1900
3G 850/1900/2100
Bluetooth 2.0
Wifi 802.11b/g/e/i
Micro SD

Applications:

Pocket Word
Pocket Excel
Pocket Powerpoint
Pocket Outlook
Pocket Explorer
Media Player
Voice Notes
Calculator
Skype

Asus Boasts 9.5-Hour Battery Life In Latest Netbook

2009-02-03T10:57:00.000-08:00

By Wahid Polin
February 3, 2009 05:00 AM

Asustek on Monday introduced an Eee PC netbook that the company claims offers a faster Intel Atom processor with the ability to run 9.5 hours on a single battery charge.

Asustek is taking preorders for the 1000HE through its Facebook site, which requires a membership to the social network to access. People who order through Asustek's group get $25 off the system's manufacturer suggested retail price of $400. The computer maker didn't say when the system would ship.

Startup Transera provides on-demand contact centers
According to Asustek's promo site, the 1000HE is powered by an Intel Atom N280, which has slightly better performance than the previous N270 chip. In addition, the chip consumes a maximum of 2.5 watts, which contributes to the longer battery along with an LED backlit LCD screen.

The system has a keyboard that's 92% the size of a standard keyboard and sports a 10-inch display. The machine weighs 3.2 pounds and ships with Bluetooth and 802.11n Wi-Fi support. The 1000HE also comes with a 160-GB hard disk drive and 10 GB of online storage at no additional charge.

The new mini-laptop includes Asus' Super Hybrid Engine, which allows people to control the CPU to lower performance to conserve power. To achieve 9.5 hours of battery life, the user would likely have to lower CPU performance, dim the screen, and turn off the system's Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and camera, according to the gadget blog Gizmodo.

Asustek launched the netbook category with the release of its first Eee PC in the fall of 2007. Since then, every major computer maker, including Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and Lenovo, has begun offering competing products.

Netbooks are the fastest-selling segment of the PC market. Shipments of the lightweight, ultraportables are expected to quadruple to 139 million units in 2013 from 35 million this year, according to ABI Research. The mini-laptops typically have screens of 10 inches or smaller, run either Windows or Linux, and cost less than $500. Many machines cost as little as $300.

BlackBerry Strom

2009-02-02T09:31:00.000-08:00

Fetures availavle:

Wireless email
Organizer
Browser
Phone
Camera (3.2 MP)
Video Recording
BlackBerry® Maps
Media Player
Built-in GPS
Corporate data access
SMS
MMS

Size and weight:

Size and Weight 4.43"/112.5mm (Length)
2.45"/62.2mm (Width)
0.55"/13.95mm (Depth)
5.5 oz/155g (Weight)

Data Input/Navigation:

SurePress™ touch screen
On screen keyboard: portrait SureType® and Multi-tap, QWERTY landscape

Voice Input/Output:

3.5mm stereo headset capable
Integrated earpiece/ microphone
Built-in speakerphone
Bluetooth® v2.0; mono/stereo headset, handsfree, phone book access profile, and serial port profile supported
M3 (Rating for hearing aids (PDF))

Media Player:

Video format support: MPEG4 H.263, MPEG4 Part 2 Simple Profile, H.264, WMV
Audio format support: MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, WMA ProPlus

Display:

High resolution 480 x 360 pixel color display
Transmissive TFT LCD
Font size (user selectable)
Light sensing screen

Notification:

Polyphonic/MIDI ringtones
MP3 ringtones
Vibrate mode
LED indicator

Approximate Battery Life:

Up to 15 days (Standby time)
GSM: 5.5 hours, CDMA: 6 hours

Memory:

Expandable memory – support for microSD™ card
1GB onboard memory
128 MB Flash (flash memory)

Modem:

RIM® wireless modem
Tethered modem capability

Email Integrations:

Works with BlackBerry® Enterprise Server for Microsoft® Exchange
Works with BlackBerry® Enterprise Server for IBM® Lotus® Domino®
Works with BlackBerry® Enterprise Server for Novell® GroupWise®
Integrates with an existing enterprise email account
Integrates with existing personal email account
Integrates with optional new device account

Device Security:

Password protection and screen lock
Sleep mode
Support for AES or Triple DES encryption when integrated with BlackBerry® Enterprise Server
FIPS 140-2 Compliant (FIPS Validation in Progress)
Optional support for S/MIME

Wireless Network:

UMTS/HSPA: 2100 MHz
North America: 850 MHz GSM®/GPRS networks
North America: 1900MHz GSM/GPRS networks
Europe/Asia Pacific: 1800MHz GSM/GPRS networks
Europe/Asia Pacific: 900MHz GSM/GPRS networks
Dual-Band: 800/1900 MHz CDMA/Ev-DO networks

Smartphone From Dell? Just Maybe

2009-02-01T11:51:00.000-08:00

By WAHID POLIN
Published: February2, 2009

The compact keyboard of Research in Motion’s BlackBerry turned mobile e-mail messaging into an addictive pastime. The slick touchscreen on Apple’s iPhone turned consumers on to phones as pocket-size Web portals.

Richard Drew/Associated Press

The Axim by Dell suffered from lackluster demand.

Now Dell and other personal computer makers face a major test as they contemplate entering the mobile phone market: can they come up with that next great feature that will turn their products into the latest object of desire rather than the latest flop from a clumsy PC maker grasping at a new market?

For months, rumors have swirled that Dell — like its rivals Acer, Lenovo, and AsusTek — will jump into the booming market for sophisticated smartphones. While brutally competitive and fashion-conscious, the mobile phone market holds an obvious attraction for PC makers: high growth at a time when computer sales are expected to decline for just the second time in the last 20 years. In addition, the devices could open opportunities for PC companies, weighted down by low margins, to team up with telecommunications companies on profitable business and media services.

Computer firms, however, have suffered a string of defeats when it comes to consumer devices. And even savvy phone makers like Nokia, Motorola and Palm have struggled in the smartphone arena, which is dominated by R.I.M. and Apple.

Phones “are very different and much tougher than PCs,” said Ed Snyder, a telecommunications industry analyst with Charter Equity Research. The small devices place a premium on engineering and require attention to unfamiliar details like the inclusion of sensitive, always-on cellular radios. “It’s a much more difficult engineering problem, especially on a mass scale,” Mr. Snyder said.

Dell has been working on phone prototypes for months and evaluated both Google’s Android software and Microsoft’s Windows Mobile operating system to run it. Recently, some reports have suggested that company, which is based in Round Rock, Tex., will unveil a smartphone next month at a prominent mobile technology conference in Europe.

But people knowledgeable about the company’s plans say the company does not plan to announce a product anytime soon. Dell continues to debate whether its current design, said to be based on an ARM processor like the one in the iPhone, will prove unusual enough to impress consumers and worthy of putting into the market.

Meanwhile, the company is also exploring how to create a more powerful product that could ship in 2010 and introduce new features capable of challenging rivals. For example, Dell could put its Zing music software, originally intended for use in a line of portable music players, onto a smartphone.

Dell’s consumer device efforts are led by Ronald G. Garriques, who used to run the mobile device division at Motorola, and Dell has a team in Chicago, made up in part of former Motorola executives, dedicated to making smaller devices like netbooks, a popular type of bare-bones laptop.

Dell declined to comment Friday on “rumors and speculation.”

It is unclear if Dell could make a ground-breaking move in the mobile phone market, although the company has shown off several sleek new computers, including one of the thinnest laptops ever made. Dell’s new attention to design has helped it gain ground in the consumer market.

Dell’s previous struggles with consumer devices have become the stuff of legend. It shipped a hand-held digital assistant called the Axim, but dropped the device because of lackluster demand. The company entered and exited the television market in short order.

Dell has also ventured into the market for MP3 music players. Its first device, the Dell DJ, was a bigger dud than the Zune from Microsoft. A second player, based on Zing, was sent to product testers last year but was never commercially released. “Dell has been nursing along a digital music effort for a long time that did not bear fruit,” said Roger Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies, which analyzes the technology industry.

Phones present a fresh challenge.Dell may have an edge over its PC rivals, however, given that a vast majority of its existing computer sales go to large corporations and government customers, said Roger Entner, an industry analyst with Nielsen Research. The phone could be tied to Dell’s computers and other services like e-mail management.

“If any PC manufacturer can come into the phone market, it’s Dell,” Mr. Entner said. But it will not be easy. “Dell has to show on the business side the same level of integration that Apple has shown on the consumer side.”

OQO Announces the OQO model 2+ with Intel® Atom(TM) Processor, World's First PC OLED Display, and Worldwide 3G Capability

2009-01-15T23:22:00.000-08:00

Ultimate Productivity MID meets the increasing demand from highly mobile users for a powerful, pocketable, and affordable device

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7 -- Pepcom, CES -- OQO, Inc., creator of the world's smallest fully-functional Windows Vista(R) PC, today announced the new model 2+ with Intel(R) Atom(TM) processor, the world's first PC OLED display, and worldwide 3G capability. Based on the 1.86GHz Intel Atom processor and 2GB RAM, the OQO model 2+ offers performance up to twice as fast as its predecessor and includes an embedded touchscreen for easier input. For mobile professionals who need to work on the go, the model 2+ features Qualcomm's Gobi(TM) global mobile Internet solution, which supports both of the world's leading 3G cellular standards. These new features enable users to access their enterprise networks, business productivity applications, and the full Internet around the world. The OQO model 2+ will be available in the first half of 2009 with pricing starting at $999.

"OQO is excited to work with Intel to deliver the highest performing Mobile Internet Device (MID) on the market today," said Bob Rosin, senior vice president of sales and marketing at OQO. "The OQO model 2+ provides enterprise users and prosumers with everything needed to get all their work done as they move through their day -- full Windows, complete mobility, and immediate access to information and applications from wherever they are."

"The Intel Atom processor is rapidly becoming the foundation for Mobile Internet Devices that require high performance and full Internet to run the broad set of enterprise and consumer applications," said Gary Willihnganz, director of marketing for the Ultra Mobility Group at Intel Corporation. "The OQO model 2+ is an excellent example in the Productivity MID category which combines the high performance, low power characteristics of Intel Atom with OQO's proven system-level innovation in delivering small, pocketable devices."

The new OQO model 2+ is the world's first PC with an embedded Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) display. Users will immediately notice the screen's dramatically increased brightness and contrast with better outdoor readability, greater range of colors, extremely wide viewing angles, faster response time, and improved battery life. The integrated touchscreen is more robust and accurate than conventional touchscreen technology and supports stylus as well as finger-based input.

Key new features of the OQO model 2+ include:

-- Twice as Fast(1)
- Available with 1.86GHz Intel Atom Z540 CPU offering up to 2x improvement in processor-intensive tasks, and up to 5x improvement in multimedia performance
- Intel(R) System Controller Hub US15W with integrated 3D graphics
- DirectX 9 and H.264 video decode support in hardware
- 2GB RAM with 2.7x improvement in memory performance
- Up to 20% increase in battery life (3.5 hours with standard battery, and 7 hours with double capacity battery)
-- Vivid and intuitive interface
- World's first PC with integrated Active Matrix OLED display; 1,000,000 to 1 contrast ratio, color gamut up to 110% of NTSC, 0.01ms response time, and viewing-angle free
- Embedded high-grade touchscreen for stylus and finger-based input
- Native resolution of highly-readable 800x480 with 1024x768 and 1000x600 interpolated modes
-- World-capable
- Featuring Qualcomm's Gobi solution, the industry's only embedded multi-mode module with support for CDMA2000 EV-DO and HSPA
- Designed to operate on Verizon Wireless and Sprint networks using Qualcomm's hybrid mode alternative solution as well as SIM-based networks including GPRS/EDGE, UMTS, and HSPA with speeds up to 7.2Mbps
- Penta-band antenna for world coverage
- Verizon Wireless customers can roam internationally on the Vodafone network
- World keyboard and global power supply
-- Eco-friendly
- RoHS compliant (reduced mercury, lead, cadmium, and other hazardous materials)
- Ultra low power consumption
-- Secure
- Computrace(R) support in BIOS for asset tracking and recovery and remote data delete
- LoJack(R) for Laptops(TM) support
-- TPM v1.2 embedded security
-- Affordable for every professional segment
- Pricing starts at $999

Like its predecessor, the OQO model 2+ weighs less than one pound and is truly pocketable with dimensions of 5.6"(W) x 3.3"(H) x 1.0"(D) and the best-in-class integrated backlit thumb keyboard. The model 2+ supports large external displays up to 1920x1200 with HDMI/DVI and VGA interfaces, offers Wi-Fi(R) 802.11a/b/g and Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR, and is compatible with the full range of OQO model 02/e2 accessories. These include the OQO docking station with embedded dual layer DVD+/-RW/RAM drive, as well as a wide range of cases, GPS and vehicle mounts, and power solutions including standard and extended batteries and the OQO air/auto power adapter.

Full specifications of the OQO model 2+ are available at: http://www.oqo.com/products/model2+/s...

OQO pioneered the ultra mobile PC category and has led the market with each innovation. With today's announcement, OQO has further established its commitment to leading this growing category and providing mobility solutions for worldwide markets.

With pricing starting at $999, the OQO model 2+ is available to order immediately from OQO and through OQO enterprise, government, and retail sales channels listed at http://www.oqo.com/. First deliveries are expected to take place during the first half of 2009.

About OQO

Based in San Francisco, California, OQO, Inc. has redefined mobile computing with its groundbreaking products, including the new ultra-small, powerful, ergonomic, and connected OQO model 2+. With an award-winning design, the OQO model 2+ is a full-featured computer running standard Windows XP or Windows Vista and a pocketable, dockable form-factor that gives the mobile professional true Anytime/Anywhere Productivity(TM).

"OQO", the OQO logo, and "Anytime/Anywhere Productivity" are trademarks of OQO, Inc. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. (C) 2009 OQO, Inc. All rights reserved.

(1) Benchmarking data based on tests using MobileMark(R) 2007 version 1.05 and SiSoftware Sandra 2008. Comparisons are to the OQO model 02 computer.

Yamaha YZF-R1

2009-01-13T23:41:00.001-08:00

The Yamaha YZF-R1 bike, launched in 1998, revolutionized the sport bike landscape by successfully combining the awesome power available previously in the true liter class (1,000cc) with the lightweight and responsiveness that a 600-class chassis affords.Over the years, despite maintaining its distinctive sharp look, the R1 has undergone technical up gradations to keep pace with the times. The 2006 edition features a short-stroke 998cc DOHC, 20-valve, liquid-cooled inline four-cylinder engine that produces a peak power of 175 bhp.The dual-valve fuel injection system uses motor-driven secondary throttle valves and 32-bit ECU for responsive, instantaneous power delivery. The refurbished Delta box V frame, revised forks and a 20mm longer swingarm facilitate superb handling in the R1. In 2006, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Yamaha racing in America, Yamaha released a Limited Edition yellow/white/black YZF-R1 in original Yamaha racing colours.

Yamaha YZF-R1 Technical Specifications

Yamaha R1 India
Key Features:

1. Light, powerful and packed with trickle-down MotoGP technology, the YZF-R1 is the most advanced Open-class production motorcycle ever built.
2. The YZF-R1 uses the YCC-T fly-by-wire throttle system for flawless response under all conditions.
3. Inline four-cylinder engine is the most powerful, tractable R1 powerplant ever, thanks partially to the world’s ﬁrst electronic variable-length intake funnel system.
4. Slipper-type back torque-limiting clutch greatly facilitates braking/downshifting from high speed.
5. Aluminum Deltabox frame and swingarm take Open-class handling to the next performance level.
6. Six-piston radial-mount front brake calipers and 310mm discs generate the kind of braking power a bike like the R1 requires.

Engine:

* Short-stroke 998cc DOHC, 16-valve, liquid-cooled inline four-cylinder engine produces more tractable power than ever.
* Yamaha Chip Control Throttle controls a 32-bit ECU fuel injection system for super-responsive, smooth, instantaneous power delivery.
* Yamaha Chip Control Intake electronically adjusts intake funnel length between either 65 or 140mm for an amazingly broad, smooth powerband.
* Two-piece ergonomically designed fuel tank carries fuel in the rear section, for good centralization of mass, while the front half contains a Ram-Air-fed airbox for increased power.
* Lay-down-design cylinder head optimizes weight distribution, straightens intake tracts for improved cylinder filling and allows frame to pass over instead of around the engine for great strength and a narrow chassis.
* Closed-deck cylinder block increases strength and allows a narrow engine in spite of big, 77mm bores.
* Narrow-angle four-valve combustion chambers produce a highly efficient 12.7:1 compression ratio; 31mm titanium intake valves and 25mm exhausts controlled by new, high-lift cams flow plenty of air.
* Light and strong nutless connecting rods with fractured big ends produce a quick-revving engine with excellent high-rpm durability.
* High silicon-content ceramic-composite cylinder sleeves ensure great heat dissipation for consistent power delivery and reduced friction.
* Close-ratio six-speed gearbox with triangulated shaft layout for great strength, compactness, and quicker acceleration.
* Ramp-type slipper clutch makes braking from speed into tight corners while downshifting smoother and therefore faster.
* Titanium underseat exhaust system (with stainless steel midpipe and catalyst) provides excellent cornering clearance and a broad, seamless powerband.
* 13-percent greater radiator capacity and an aluminum liquid-cooled oil cooler maintain stable operating temperature.
* Direct ignition coils, dual-electrode spark plugs and high-output magneto deliver extremely accurate, reliable firing.
* AC generator behind cylinder block produces a narrow engine with excellent cornering clearance.

Chassis/Suspension:

* A Deltabox frame tuned for optimal flex carries the lay-down four-cylinder stressed-member style for great handling and efficient aerodynamic penetration.
* A truss-type swingarm is extremely strong and tuned for optimal traction and feedback.
* Dual 310mm front disc brakes; new, six-piston radial-mount calipers and Brembo radial-pump front master cylinder with adjustable lever deliver amazing braking power and feel.
* Fully adjustable KYB inverted telescopic front fork with 43mm tubes has been revalved to complement other chassis changes.
* Piggyback rear shock now offers both high- and low-speed compression adjustability, rebound damping and a new, twist-style spring preload adjuster.
* Light, five-spoke wheels enhance acceleration, deceleration, handling and suspension action.

Additional Features:

* Cool headlights provide great illumination and distinctive style, while the LED taillight is light, bright and highly efficient.
* Adjustable LCD illumination and multifunction digital gauges: adjustable shift light, odometer, dual tripmeters, water temperature, air temperature, full-time clock, lap timer and large 15,000-rpm analog tachometer.
* A fairing with big Ram-Air intakes and screwless windscreen provides maximum aerodynamic efficiency and engine performance.
* Sticky 120/70-ZR17 and 190/50-ZR17 radial tires for incredible grip and precise handling.
* Forged footpegs are extra durable and light.
* Extensive use of hollow bolts and lightweight fasteners helps trim overall weight.
* 8.6 AH battery is compact and light.
* Durable #530 O-ring–sealed drive chain.
* Standard toolkit located in convenient storage compartment under passenger seat.

Features in a nutshellEngine

* Type 998cc, liquid-cooled, 16-valve, DOHC, inline four-cylinder
* Bore x Stroke 77 x 53.6mm
* Compression Ratio 12.7:1
* Carburetion Fuel Injection with YCC-T and YCC-I
* Ignition TCI
* Transmission 6-speed w/multi-plate slipper clutch
* Final Drive #530 O-ring chain

Chassis

* Suspension (Front) 43mm inverted telescopic fork w/adjustable preload, compression damping, rebound damping; 4.7″ travel
* Suspension (Rear) Single shock w/piggyback reservoir; adjustable for hi-/lo-speed compression damping, rebound damping, spring preload
* Brakes (Front) Dual 310mm discs; radial-mount forged 6-piston calipers
* Brakes (Rear) 220mm disc w/single-piston caliper
* Tires (Front) 120/70-ZR17
* Tires (Rear) 190/50-ZR17

Chassis

* Length 81.1″
* Width 28.3″
* Height 43.7″
* Seat Height 32.9”
* Wheelbase 55.7”
* Rake (Caster Angle) 24.0°
* Trail 4.0”
* Fuel Capacity 4.75 gal.
* Dry Weight 381 lbs.

Others

* Primary Reduction Ratio 65/43 (1.512)
* Secondary Reduction Ratio 45/17 (2.647)
* Gear Ratio - 1st Gear 38/15 (2.533)
* Gear Ratio - 2nd Gear 33/16 (2.063)
* Gear Ratio - 3rd Gear 37/21 (1.762)
* Gear Ratio - 4th Gear 35/23 (1.522)
* Gear Ratio - 5th Gear 30/22 (1.364)
* Gear Ratio - 6th Gear 33/26 (1.269)
* Warranty 1 Year (Limited Factory Warranty)

Price: Rs. 10 Lakhs (1 million Rupees) onwards in India

HP Pavilion HDX

2009-01-10T19:54:00.000-08:00

The good:
Massive 20-inch display; first system we've seen with the new Core 2 Extreme mobile CPU; pop-out remote control provides 10-foot interface; cool touch-sensitive controls.

The bad:
It's so big that it's a laptop in name only; expensive; HD DVD only--no Blu-ray; Core 2 Extreme CPU offers only slight performance boost; screen can't do 1080p; no DVI port.

The bottom line:
HP's massive 20-inch Pavilion HDX is a glorious example of conspicuous consumption--overpriced, overpowered, and overwhelmingly cool.

Specifications:
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo (2.4 GHz) ; RAM installed: 4 GB DDR II SDRAM ; Weight: 15.5 lbs ; See full specs

See all products in the HP Pavilion HDX series
CNET editors' review
Reviewed by: Dan Ackerman
Edited by: Matthew Elliott
Reviewed on: 08/02/2007
Released on: 07/30/2007

Pushing the physical boundaries of the laptop form, the massive HP Pavilion HDX is clearly more at home resting on a desk than sitting in your lap. Weighing an amazing 15.5 pounds and boasting a desktop-size 20-inch LCD, the HDX starts at $2,999--but our test unit was configured closer to $4,700, with high-end extras such as an HD DVD drive and Intel's flagship Core 2 Extreme mobile processor.

While it makes an excellent all-in-one entertainment system for the den, dorm room, or CEO's office, the screen doesn't display full 1080p resolution (which you'll want for HD DVDs) and the expensive Intel Core 2 Extreme X7800 CPU--while impressive--isn't worth the $725 upgrade. A more realistic configuration can make the HDX a worthwhile option if you want to combine home theater, gaming, and computing into one big yet somewhat portable package. You'll still need at least $3,000 to sit at the HDX's table, however, making it more of an intriguing tech showcase than something we expect to pass spousal purchase approval.
Price as reviewed/starting price $4,705 / $2,999
Processor 2.6GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme Processor X7800
Memory 4GB, 667MHz DDR2
Hard drive 240GB 5,400rpm (120GB x 2)
Chipset Intel 965
Graphics ATI HD2600 XT
Operating system Windows Vista Ultimate
Dimensions (WDH) 19.0 x 14.1 x 2.3 inches
Screen size (diagonal) 20.1 inches
System weight/weight with AC adapter (pounds) 15.5 / 18.1 pounds
Category Desktop replacement

The HDX takes its design cues from HP's current line of entertainment notebooks, such as the Pavilion dv9500t and dv6500, with a similar black-and-silver color scheme and subtle abstract pattern on the back of the lid. When closed, the HDX measures a whopping 19-inches across and weighs almost 16 pounds, even without its A/C adapter. It's the heaviest laptop we've seen since Dell's similar 20-inch XPS M2010 (a model that hasn't been updated in some time), which clocked in at 18.3 pounds. We could see this being moved occasionally from room to room, or on an extended family vacation, but a commuter laptop this is not.

A system this big needs more than the standard one- or two-joint laptop hinge. Instead, it puts the screen at the end of a heavy-duty arm, hinged at both the rear of the laptop and the back of the screen. Because the hinge is attached to the middle of the lid, you can angle the display slightly, but not as much as on, say, an old iMac.

On the first preproduction version of the HDX we looked at a few months ago, when closing the lid, you had to make extra sure the rear of the screen was pushed all the way back against the hinge, or it could hit up against the body of the system and potentially crack something. A little practice had us opening and closing the lid with ease, but those first few times were white-knuckle experiences. We're pleased to report that the hinge on this new version of the HDX is much improved, opening and closing easily, with virtually no chance of accidental screen abuse.

The full-size keyboard with separate number pad is as roomy as anything you'd connect to a desktop, and it still leaves plenty of space on the keyboard tray to allow for comfortable typing. Above the keyboard sits a row of touch-sensitive buttons, including quick-launch buttons for HP's QuickPlay media software, a toggle for the Wi-Fi antenna, and volume and EQ controls. We like these capacitive controls whenever we see them, admittedly perhaps because they look very futuristic.

The system's touchpad is similar to the one on the HP tx1000 tablet and is made of the same color and material as the rest of the keyboard tray, demarcated only by small, indented dots in the shape of a traditional touchpad and scroll bar. It looks cool, but we still felt a little too much drag when moving a finger across it and repeat our admonition that there's a good reason most other touchpads are made of a smooth, slick material.

A remote control, not quite full-size, but larger than the credit-card-size ones found in some laptops, sits in a special cutout to the left of the keyboard. You can use it right there, or pop it out to control Windows Media Center and other media apps. It would be overkill on smaller laptops, but we can easily see setting the HDX up on a tabletop and watching from a distance.

A basic Webcam, fingerprint reader, and single-tuner TV tuner round out the built-in features. Fingerprint readers are usually found only in business systems, but they can be useful on a consumer system for simply remembering your various log-ins and passwords--more convenience than security. The new (but still troubled) Cable Card platform will make older TV tuners look even more archaic than they already do. HP could have cut any of these to save a few bucks, but in a system that starts at $3,000, overkill is already the name of the game, so it makes sense that the company would include everything but the kitchen sink (the sink's a $500 optional upgrade).

The clear highlight of the system is its 20.1-inch WSXGA+ Ultra wide-screen display. With a native resolution of 1,650x1,050, you don't get true 1080p HD playback (a higher-res screen is reportedly in the works), but it's the same resolution you'll find on most 21-inch desktop LCD monitors. The screen was bright and clear, and HP's BrightView glossy coating made for excellent media playback and gaming.
HP Pavilion HDX Average for category (desktop replacement)
Video VGA-out, S-Video, HDMI VGA-out, S-Video, DVI or HDMI
Audio Stereo speakers with Subwoofer, headphone/microphone jacks Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data 4 USB 2.0, mini-FireWire, multiformat memory card reader, eSATA port 4 USB 2.0, mini-FireWire, multiformat memory card reader
Expansion ExpressCard slot PC Card and ExpressCard
Networking modem, Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth modem, Ethernet, 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
Optical drive HD DVD DVD burner, HD DVD, or Blu-Ray

As a home theater system, A/V ins and outs are very important for the HDX. HDMI is a must, especially if you opt for the HD DVD drive, although we think it may be time for the VGA and S-Video connections on virtually every laptop to get retired. One thing the HDX is missing is DVI, which would arguably be more useful for hooking up external monitors than VGA or S-Video. The eSATA port is a nice touch, and it means you can hook up an external SATA hard drive for additional media storage, but the 240GB of included hard drive space should be more than enough for most.

Since our review unit cost almost $1,700 more than the already hefty $2,999 starting price, you can safely assume we got pretty much every high-end extra. The base model is still fairly impressive, including an Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 CPU, 2GB of RAM, and a 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT video card. We jacked up the price by adding the latest Core 2 Extreme X7800 CPU ($725), a total of 4GB of RAM ($475), and an HD DVD drive ($325).

While we're happy to get our hands on a system with brand-new Core 2 Extreme mobile CPU, even Intel claims it's only around 8 percent faster than the fastest Core 2 Duo CPU. The big selling point is that Intel provides the chip unlocked, so overclocking is easier to do (although for a laptop, we'd generally leave that to the trained hands at your specialty PC vendor). The HDX did indeed post some impressive scores on CNET Labs' benchmarks, especially in the Photoshop CS2 test, where it easily beat another recent powerhouse, the Alienware Area-51 m9750. In other tests, the scores were much closer, which means you can safely save several hundred dollars by skipping out on the expensive CPU upgrade. Needless to say, using the HP HDX was a pleasure, with nary a blip, no matter how many applications we opened at once, even with the often clunky Windows Vista interfaces.

The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT is one of the first DirectX 10 GPUs for laptops, but for current-generation games, we've seen better frame rates from both the twin SLI Nvidia GeForce Go 7950GTX chips found in the Alienware Area-51 m9750 and even the GeForce Go 7900GS in the slightly older Dell Inspiron E1705. The HDX is a decent gaming rig, especially with its huge screen and big keyboard, but it's primarily a multimedia machine.

The HP Pavilion HDX ran for one hour and 33 minutes on our DVD battery drain test, about 20 minutes more than the Alienware m9750, but still a short lifespan, even for a massive desktop replacement system. Of course, powering that 20-inch display isn't easy, nor do we expect this laptop to remain unplugged for very long.

HP backs the system with an industry-standard one-year warranty, which seems stingy for a product that costs so much. Moving up to a three-year plan with accidental damage protection is $349, and might be worthwhile for your sizable investment. Toll-free telephone support is available 24-7 during your warranty period, and the HP support Web site includes one real-time chat with a tech rep as well as an extensive FAQ and documentation section.

Sony E-Book reader PRS-700

2009-01-09T08:25:00.000-08:00

Begin a new chapter with the PRS-700BC Reader Digital Book. Boasting an impressive 6.0-inch, touch screen display, this Reader uses paper-like E Ink® technology which makes it easier to read, even in bright-light situations. In addition to a built-in light, there's an interactive touch screen that lets you turn pages with the slide of a finger or activate the bookmark. You can also create annotations with a virtual keyboard, highlight text with a stylus pen, search for text in your digital book, and easily adjust the font size. A faster processor gives you quicker response times when opening content or turning pages. Ideal for travelers or people who like to read while on the go, the PRS-700BC holds approximately 350 digital books.

Note: Use of companion eBook Store limited to U.S. and Canadian residents. Certain titles may not be available for download based on place of residence.
6" Display1 with touchscreen display

A sizeable 6-inch display with touchscreen technology lets you interact with the Reader just like a real book. A simple movement with the slide of a finger lets you easily turn pages or activate the bookmark. It also features a virtual keyboard that can be used for quick annotation or search.
E-ink paper-like touchscreen display

The Sony® PRS-700 Reader Digital Book provides a unique way to experience reading. With its impressive 6-inch display1 , utilizing breakthrough E Ink® technology that's almost paper-like, making it easy to read, even outdoors in the sunshine. In addition, the screen allows for high contrast and high resolution, with a near 180º viewing angle.
Built-in LED reading light

A built-in LED reading light gives you the ability to read at night or other low-light situations without bothering others around you.
Search, annotation, and highlighting capabilities

The Reader Digital Book features annotation, highlighting, and search applications that heighten your reading experience. You can easily make annotations in your digital book with the virtual keyboard or highlight text you want to remember by selecting it with a stylus pen or with the touch of your finger. You can even search for text on your Reader with the virtual keyboard or by highlighting text.
Adjustable text sizes

The Reader Digital Book allows you to zoom in and out as well as adjust the text into 5 different sizes.
Ultra Portable

The Reader Digital Book offers a unique, on-the-go reading experience and is the perfect travel companion. Measuring 0.4-inches thin10 and weighing just 10 ounces7 (without cover), the Reader is more compact and lightweight than many paperbacks.
Long battery life

While most portable electronics lose power after only a few hours, the Reader Digital Book lets you turn up to 7,500 continuous pages (or up to two weeks of reading) on a single charge2.
Internal storage

The Reader Digital Book gives you the freedom to leave that stack of paperbacks at home. The internal memory will hold approximately 350 average size digital books4 and hundreds more with optional removable Memory Stick Duo™ media or SD memory cards.
Thousands of eBooks available

The Reader Digital Book allows you to search, browse, discover, and buy new releases, classics, and popular digital book titles from The eBook Store from Sony3 and other participating Websites3 . You can even go to other sites that have DRM Free eBooks in file formats supported by the Reader5 . This translates into an unbelievable amount of content suitable for the Reader.
Multiple formats supported

The Sony® PRS-700 Reader Digital Book isn't just about using it to read digital books. With the included eBook Library 2.5 PC Software, you can easily transfer Adobe® PDF documents6 , Microsoft® Word documents, BBeB® format, and other text file formats to the Reader5 . It also supports EPUB/ADEPT and connection with Adobe Digital Editions. You can even play back unsecured MP3s and AAC audio files. (Headphones not included.)

Lenovo Thinkpad X61 Tablet PC

2009-01-05T06:46:00.000-08:00

After the long wait for my X61 Tablet PC, it finally shipped and arrived four days later. Based on other users’ comments from the X60 and the few X61 owners who have already received theirs, I didn’t know what to expect, but the X61t blew all my expectations away. It is by far, the most functional and versatile machine I have used to date

Configuration:

processor:Intel Core2duo 1.8 gh

ram:2GB DDR2

Harddisk:160GB

Monitor:Touchscreen

Axiotron modbook

2009-01-04T07:29:00.000-08:00

Apple has long neglected the tablet community by not offering a tablet PC of its own. But now, another company has stepped into the breach with its take on a Mac-based tablet PC. The Axiotron Modbook ($2,629 list) is certain to pique the interest of Mac-based graphics designers and illustrators who prefer to work with a pen rather than a keyboard. Axiotron literally took an Apple MacBook 13-inch (Core 2 Duo), ripped off the lid, and fused a Wacom digitizer screen to the chassis. The Modbook is a slate tablet (rather than a convertible tablet that would have had the benefit of an integrated keyboard), but it's a better alternative to plugging a Wacom device into an Apple computer. This slate tablet doesn't come cheap, though, and it's available only through Other World Computing, an online Mac retailer.

Read the Axiotron Modbook full review

Axiotron Inc

http://www.axiotron.com
Price as Tested: $2,629.00 List
Type: Media, Tablet
Operating System: Mac OS X
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo T7500
Processor Speed: 2.2 GHz
RAM: 4 GB
Weight: 5.4 lb
Screen Size: 13.3 inches
Screen Size Type: widescreen
Graphics Card: Intel GMA X3100
Storage Capacity: 120 GB
Networking Options: 802.11n
Primary Optical Drive: Dual-Layer DVD+/-RW

HP Laptops can run 24 hours ,without any power!

2008-12-30T09:43:00.000-08:00

Believe it or not but Technology is going more and more advanced as HP laptops can run 24 hours ,without power.
HP has broken the battery backup barrier by introducing a laptop which can run 24 hours on a single battery charge.
While most of the laptops offer two-three hours of backup, 24-hour mark is like powering it with nuclear fuel.
No, HP is yet not using Uranium in its laptops, but yes, HP has announced an unprecedented milestone in mobile computing: up to 24 hours of continuous notebook operation on a single battery charge.

THe new HP EliteBook 6930p configured with an optional ultra-capacity battery delivers up to 24 hours of battery runtime.

(Source taken by indiatimes) Initial ENERGY STAR-qualified HP EliteBook 6930p configuration starts at only 4.7 pounds (2.1 kilograms). It features a 14.1-inch diagonal widescreen display and is available with an optional, mercury-free Illumi-Lite LED display. Designed and tested to last, HP batteries benefit from a combination of HP engineering and energy-efficient notebook components such as Intel solid-state hard drives (SSD) and mercury-free LED displays. For example, the highly efficient HP Illumi-Lite LED display boosts battery run time by up to four hours compared to traditional LCD displays, while the Intel SSD provides up to a seven per cent increase in battery life compared to traditional hard drives.

With up to 24 hours of battery life, business travellers can easily use an HP EliteBook 6930p continuously on the world’s longest scheduled commercial airline flight – linking Newark Liberty International Airport and Singapore Changi Airport – approximately 18 hours, 40 minutes. You can take more than 10 trips on the EuroStar train between London and Paris – approximately two hours, 15 minutes each direction – before recharging the battery. And, travel as a passenger by car from Maine to Florida using a notebook during the entire journey.

Well! HP EliteBook 6930p had made a new record But Dell won't fall behind its competitor. They will soon be breaking this record So watch out for Battery War!

Triton 1000 Luxury Submersible - $1,690,000

2008-12-26T09:49:00.000-08:00

The Triton 1000 is U.S. Submarines’ latest light weight, minimum volume 2-person configuration engineered specifically for deployment from megayachts. With an overall height of 1.8 meters and an overall length of only 3.0 meters the Triton will fit on many mid-level boat decks, and at 3.3 tons it can often be launched with existing davit systems.

In addition to its megayacht-friendly features, the Triton design provides for excellent visibility and high levels of comfort with luxury leather seating and full air conditioning for your rich and cultured tastes.

Although the Triton has been designed to be easy to pilot, with intuitive joystick controls and a computer based monitoring system, U.S. Submarine still provides piloting and maintenance training at no additional cost making this multi-million dollar purchase truly worth-it!

Dell’s ‘Adamo’ may be thinner, lighter than Macbook Air

2008-12-20T09:39:00.000-08:00

by wahid polin - December 20, 2008

New York,United States, December 20: ‘Adamo by Dell’ on Dell’s website may be a marketing path for its upcoming model of laptop. There is a speculation that Dell might be working on a thinner and even lighter laptop than Apple’s Macbook Air.

The dell’s website has been displaying one black page with words ‘Adamo by Dell’ ‘coming soon’. However, Bob Kaufman, Dell’s spokesperson has refused to comment by saying, “the company would not comment on speculation”.

If the rumors pan out, would Dell manage to beat design and cost of Macbook Air? Apple’s Macbook Air is a 13-inch, 3-pound system and prices only $1,800.

According to the estimates of Roger Kay, president of An Endpoint technologies analyst, dell might beat Apple on price, as the company would probably price its super-thin notebook less than Air by $400.

The website Uptownlife.net writes, “rumor has it that Dell is coming out with a computer called Adamo that will rival the MacBook Air”.

Dell is the second largest computer maker in the world. According to the financial earning statements of company, their net income fell down to $727 million from $766 million last year. Dell also had been a tough competition for leading computer makers such as Hewlett-Packard, Apple, and Acer in releasing new consumer notebooks.

Hence, Dell’s chief executive and founder Michael Dell now stresses on the ‘personalization’ of PC, which means new designs that are more stylish with multimedia capabilities.

On being asked about this new project, Dell's vice president of marketing, Michael Tatelman said, “I think we need to get some iconic products out there, so people associate Dell’s brand with other things”.

Now Samsung is also launching its X360 subnotebook, ‘lighter than air’. Though,the X360 subnotebook is lighter than Apple’s Air, it is slightly thicker than Macbook.

Now there are great expectations from Dell’s Adamo.

Nokia N97 - Nseries with touch and QWERTY Published by wahid polin at18 December 2008

2008-12-17T12:37:00.000-08:00

Nokia announced the launch of the Nokia N97. It is the first touch-enabled Nseries device and has a horizontal tilt-slide form factor. It transforms from a touch slate to a landscape QWERTY device. The device, which has an Internet and entertainment focus, runs on S60 5th Edition, has a customisable, widget-based, home screen and full support for Ovi services.It features a 3.5 inch (360 x 640 resolution) touchscreen with haptic feedback, 5 megapixel camera (with Carl Zeiss optics and dual LED flash), A-GPS and compass sensors, comprehensive connectivity options (WiFi, tri-band HSDPA, Bluetooth and USB), and 32GB of internal flash memory. Read on for more.The N97 is the most feature packed Nseries device to date and, by adding touch, it moves Nokia's high end Nseries into direct competition with touch devices such as the Samsung Omnia, LG Renoir, Apple iPhone and G1 Android Phone.Here are first few hand-ons impressions: In the hand the N97 feels pleasingly solid, with an extremely impressive slide mechanism - it is obvious a lot of testing has gone into the hinge mechanism. In slide closed mode it is equally solid, with no give. The keyboard, while limited by design constraints, feels good, though as ever it's difficult to come to any final conclusions with prototypes. Subjectively, the 'feel' and the design of the handset screams high end with materials that can not be fully appreciated in pictures (it has that caress-ability x-factor).It is a relatively large device, especially length-wise, but that's inevitable given the size of the screen and the inclusion of a QWERTY keyboard. There's the usual plethora of hardware features, including sensors (accelerometer, compass sensors and proximity sensors), integrated A-GPS, and connectivity options (tri-band 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth and USB). The large screen is a definite highlight - its widescreen 16:9 resolution is ideal for watching videos, but also works well for browsing the Internet. The touch screen is very sensitive, and there have been further refinements to the home screen to enable easier finger touch usage (the larger physical screen also helps with this). The UI can also be driven from the keypad using the D-pad on the left hand side of the keyboard, together with the on-screen softkeys and home key.S60 5th Edition has been updated to Nseries specifications for the N97. Extras include UPnP, Internet Radio and Nokia Photos applications and we can expect to see a lot more in this area before the phone is released.We'll report in greater detail in due course. Key features of the phone:Software:Runs S60 5th Edition. You can read more about S60 5th Edition in our Nokia 5800 preview. However, the N97 will have the Nseries version of S60, which means there will be a number of extra applications including Internet Radio, FM transmitter, Home media (UPnP) and Photos. The home screen can be personalised with Internet-aware widgets (based on WRT technology). Examples included in the press photos include weather forecasts, social networking (Facebook, Friendster, My Space) status summaries, and media collections. There are also indicators for time, profiles, email, application shortcuts and so on. Text input is via on screen keyboard (full screen QWERTY, pop-up QWERTY and alphanumeric), as is standard on S60 5th Edition, or handwriting recognition or via the QWERTY keyboard. Fully compatible with Ovi services including Maps, Music, Share and Games. Nokia Music store can be accessed from the device (touch optimised version) or from Nokia Music for the PC (an iTunes -Windows application). Nokia Maps now supports high resolution satellite imagery, 3D buildings (selected buildings) and richer map meta data. Pedestrian route finding and turn by turn, voice guided car navigation, are available as premium services.Internet focus with WebKit based browser, comprehensive RSS feed support and runtime technologies including Flash, WRT (widget).Introduces the social location (So-Lo) concept; the N97 has software that allows you to automatically update and share your location with friends and popular social networks. 'N-Gage compatible' device, which indicates that the N-Gage platform will be touch enabled by the release date of the N97.The devices being demoed at Nokia World are running an early version of the software. In the six months leading up to the release date it is likely to evolve considerably.Hardware:Physical dimensions: 117.2 x 55.3 x 15.9 mm (18.25 mm at camera area), and weighs approximately 150g. Tilt form factor with horizontal slide to reveal full QWERTY keyboard. The upper half of the device slides away from the bottom half and moves upwards in a diagonal direction. The slide is impressively smooth and when closed feels very solid in the hand (so much so its not immediately apparent it is a horizontal slide device). There are three keys on the front of the device: send and end keys and a home/menu key. On the left side of the device there is a slider lock and a microUSB port, on the top of the device is the power and 3.5mm audio jack and on the right hand side are the volume keys and the camera capture key. 3.5 inch, 360 x 640 (nHD) resolution resistive touch TFT screen with 16 million colours. The device can be driven using finger touch or stylus, or from the QWERTY keyboard. Haptic feedback for screen touches. This is provided via general vibra feedback, as on the Nokia 5800. 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and dual LED flash. The camera is covered by a sliding lens cover similar to that found on the N85 and N79.The camera is also used to record videos at VGA at 30 frames per seconds, but I've seen a demo of it recording and playing video back in a 16:9 resolution mode (also as on the 5800). The usual Share online application is present for uploading images and video to online services such as Flickr and Share on Ovi (available services likely to be expanded before launch). Integrated A-GPS and compass sensor (magnetometer) means that the N97 'intuitively knows where it is' and this is used by Nokia Maps, and for social location; also embeds location information into images and video. 3.5 mm audio jack (also used for TV-Out) and built in stereo speakers. Music playback time of one and half days (36 hours). There's also an FM radio and FM transmitter. microUSB jack (USB 2.0 HiSpeed) and supports charging over USB 32GB of internal flash memory microSD card slot with support for SDHC cards upto 16GB in size (giving total potential memory of 48 GB) WiFi, 3.5G (tri-band HSDPA - 900, 1900 and 2100 Mhz), quad-band GSM and Bluetooth connectivity (various profiles including HID, SAP, A2DP and AVRCP). 1500 mAh battery (BP-4L - the same monster as that used in the E71, E90, 6650 and N800). There is no stylus built into the phone, but one will be included in the box. The Nokia N97 is expected to ship in the first half of 2009 (presumably in June) with an estimated price of 550 Euro before taxes and subsidies.The N97 (117.2 x 55.3 x 15.9 mm) is larger than the 5800 (111 x 51.7 x 15.5 mm). Compared to the iPhone (112 x 56.9 x 12.5 mm) is a little taller, but slightly mm narrower. Quite impressive given the incluion of a QWERTY keyboard. N78 also shown.Press release extract:Nokia today unveiled the Nokia N97, the world’s most advanced mobile computer, which will transform the way people connect to the Internet and to each other. Designed for the needs of Internet-savvy consumers, the Nokia N97 combines a large 3.5” touch display with a full QWERTY keyboard, providing an ‘always open’ window to favorite social networking sites and Internet destinations. Nokia’s flagship Nseries device introduces leading technology – including multiple sensors, memory, processing power and connection speeds – for people to create a personal Internet and share their ‘social location.’“From the desktop to the laptop and now to your pocket, the Nokia N97 is the most powerful, multi-sensory mobile computer in existence,” said Jonas Geust, Vice President, heading Nokia Nseries. “Together with the Ovi services announced today, the Nokia N97 mobile computer adjusts to the world around us, helping stay connected to the people and things that matter most. With the Nokia N97, Nseries leads the charge in helping to transform the Internet into your Internet”.

Apple's New Laptop

2008-12-15T20:52:00.000-08:00

Apple's new ultra thin laptop is reavealed. Apple's chief executive Steve Jobs introduced a super-slim new laptop overnight,this personal computer that is less than 2cm thick and turns on the moment it is opened.

Always a showman, Jobs unwound the string on a standard-sized manila office envelope and slid out the ultra-thin MacBook Air notebook computer to coos and peals of laughter from disbelieving fans of the confference.

At the Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco, Jobs also confirmed the tech giant’s foray into online movie rentals, revealing an alliance with all six major movie studios to offer films over high-speed internet connections soon after they are released on DVD.:-)

Nokia Aeon: a Concept that Proves that the Nokia Design Team Really Exists

2008-12-14T22:05:00.001-08:00

Just when we thought we will still get the same boring clamshell and candy-bar designs
with no extraordinary stuff along with them, the Finnish research and development
team from Nokia came up with this: the spectacular Nokia Aeon concept mobile phone that gave all the people that saw it on the R&D section of the Nokia website thrills of anticipation.

And for a good reason. Do you remember the BenQ Black Box, or the Synaptics Onyx Concept? Do you remember the things that crossed your mind the next second you saw them? I do and I had the exact same thought when I saw the Aeon. When will I be able just to hold it in my hand and play with it?

The device, exactly like the BenQ concept phone, has a full touchscreen surface with, I hope, a dynamic application menu that changes according with the current feature displayed on the screen. Other details aren't possible to guess from the three pictures released by the Finnish mobile phone manufacturer on its website, but, the images taken at the testing site suggest that we might have the occasion, in our lifetime, to have this kind of Sci-Fi gadgets in our hands.

I just hope somebody up there, at the Nokia headquarters, still cares about the poor people that drool all over these pictures of touchscreen interface mobile phones and give a word to the production department to make us all happy! Go Nokia, go!

Benq Blackbox Mobile

2008-12-09T06:15:00.001-08:00

Tired of the restrictions placed on you by having any sort of keypad or set of buttons? Love the smooth feel of the LG Chocolate Phone? Well, BenQ is combining those two ideas with their new Black Box, a concept phone that is one big glossy touchscreen. What this means is that the user interface can change on the fly, presenting a touchscreen numpad when needed, music controls when desired, and so forth. Naturally, this is "just" a concept phone, but it does indicate that while they have given up on their German wing, the Asian designers at BenQ-Siemens are still hard at work.

Apple MacBook Pro with Multi-touch

2008-12-04T08:18:00.000-08:00

We pretty much knew it was coming, but Apple has finally released its new MacBook Pro ($2000-$2800). The new models sport multi-touch trackpads that let you pinch, swipe, and rotate simply by using your fingers, like you would on an iPhone. They also include the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors, ranging from 2.4-2.6 GHz, and built on a 45nm process with 6MB of cache. Nvidia GeForce graphics keep games running smoothly, and up to 4GB of RAM and high-capacity drives keep the power users happy. So the real question is, anyone looking to buy a used MacBook Pro?
If you want to stand out from the crowd and defy Apple’s aluminum design this black MacBook Pro would make a cool match for you. Available in the same 1.83GHz, 2.0GHz and 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo configurations as the factory models, these babies come in any color you can imagine. At the $2,649-$3,549 price tag you get a custom design with a high quality X2 Coating Technology with all the speed, versatility, and convenience of the original Apple design. All these magic available at ColorWare.

LP640 Versace -Lamborghini

2008-12-04T08:07:00.000-08:00

LP640 Versace Edition at Toronto Autoshow 2008, with the white-black trim in the door
Presented at the Paris International Autoshow, the Lamborghini Murciélago LP640 Versace is a special edition version of the LP640 Coupé, with all the same performance features. The only difference is the two tone white-black trim, shown on both the exterior and interior of the car. However, Lamborghini de Spa have also built 1 black LP640 & LP640 Roadster. It also features custom Versace leather seating and a Gianni Versace logo plaque inside the vehicle.[5] The Versace material costs $10,000 per seat. Lamborghini have also announced that they will only produce 20 units of this model.

Voodoo Envy 133 Laptop

2008-12-03T19:02:00.000-08:00

Price tag: $3599

For self-respecting millionaires who want to waste obscene sums on a notebook PC, it can be a frustrating world. Sure, you can spend $350,000 for the Ego Diamond edition, seemingly a clone of the old iBook toilet-seat notebook gussied up with white gold and platinum plates that are inset with diamonds in the shape of a tulip. Of course, those diamonds also spell a word, and the word is “Sucker!”

If you want to spend big bucks and get something more than floral bling out of the deal, the situation is tougher. The new Lenovo ThinkPad W700 retails for just shy of six grand, and it packs an impressive array of features: a 17-inch screen, 4GB of RAM, a Blu-ray drive, and even a built-in Wacom pen tablet. But this laptop hardly screams elegance. In fact, it looks like an ordinary ThinkPad that’s been force-fed Laptop Growth Hormone and then had every conceivable component jammed into its cruelly distended matte-black skin.

The Envy 133, from HP's Voodoo division, has the disadvantage of setting you back a paltry 3600 bucks, fully loaded. But it is a beautifully designed machine with lots of high-end components, including a 64GB solid-state drive. And you can blow $600--the price of two of those déclassé netbooks--on nothing more substantive than a Morrocan Blue paint job. Now that’s pointless extravagance!

Moller M400 Skycar

2008-12-03T18:59:00.000-08:00

Price tag: ?

The point of having vast coffers o’ cash, as any filthy-rich person will tell you, is to pay your way out of the mundane hassles that afflict the hoi polloi: traffic jams, military service, child rearing, flossing. Regrettably, aeronautics expert Paul Moller can’t help with flossing, but traffic jams he’s got covered.

Since 1962, Moller, a professor at the University of California, Davis, has been experimenting with fixed-wing planes that can take off and land vertically--the perfect profile for the fabled flying car. The latest incarnation, the M400 Skycar, can carry four passengers as fast as 375 mph while cruising along at 13,200 feet. As the Moller site says: “No traffic, no red lights, no speeding tickets.” Also, one hopes, no midair collisions, no terrifying plummets to a fiery death.

The site calls the M400 “personally affordable,” but it doesn’t quote a price. We all know what that means: If you have to ask, you can't afford it. But you don't have to ask, do you?

Motorola Aura Cell Phone

2008-12-03T18:55:00.000-08:00

Price tag: $2000

Extravagant cell phones slathered in diamonds and rubies are one of the surefire technological tools for separating fools from their money. Exhibit A is Le Million from GoldVish Communications: $1.45 million and ugly, ugly, ugly!

The $2000 you spend on a Motorola Aura may seem like chump change in comparison, but with the Aura, you actually get something useful for your dough. For one thing, there’s the 16-million-color, 300-dpi circular display. And Motorola seems to have lavished attention on the mechanism for opening and closing the Aura: “Custom-engineered rotating mechanism has 130 precision ball bearings that drive the assisted-opening blade--like opening the door on a high-end luxury car.” The rotation mechanism has a Swiss-made main bearing and carbide-coated gears, too. Oh yes, and once you’ve lovingly rotated the Aura open, you can use it to place and receive wireless phone calls!

Hardcore Reactor Extreme Desktop PC

2008-12-03T18:53:00.000-08:00

Price tag: $10,866 (fully loaded)

You know what your mom told you about not using the blow dryer in the bathtub? Well, she was right: You really shouldn’t do that. But Hardcore has found a way to violate the whole no-electrical-devices-in-liquid law without causing immediate death to anything other than a lesser person’s wallet.

The guts of the Hardcore Reactor Extreme are immersed in liquid coolant. Hardcore says that the coolant--which is circulated through the system at 2.5 gallons per minute--absorbs heat ten times more efficiently than air does. That means two things: For ten grand you'll get a system that's as fast as anything we’ve ever tested. And after you finish an evening of awesome gaming, your personal pastry chef can fry up some tasty, homemade donuts in the Reactor Extreme’s coolant.

Sony Ericsson W902 Mobile Phone

2008-12-02T07:31:00.000-08:00

Price: £345.63

Color:
Volcanic Black with 8GB memory card
Earth Green with 8GB Memory Card

Bluetooth:enable

Sandisk Memory Stick Micro M2

2G Network:
GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900

3G Network:
HSDPA 2100

Display Type :
TFT, 256K colors

Display Size:
240 x 320 pixels, 2.2 inches

Ringtones Type :
Polyphonic, MP3, AAC

Card slot:
Memory Stick Micro (M2), 8 GB card included

GPRS:
Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps

EDGE:
Class 10, 236.8 kbps

3G:
HSDPA 3.6 Mbps

Camera:
5 MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels, autofocus, flash, video (QVGA 30fps), secondary videocall camera

Sony Ericsson W660 Mobile Phone Review

2008-12-02T07:21:00.000-08:00

A dazzling handset with a music talent. Outspokenly tech and sporty, Sony Ericsson’s Walkman Series have so far seemed intended to attract men. A Walkman handset could hardly be seen in a lady’s hand, let alone that of a fashion sensitive female user.
The phone is finished in red and gold, Red being the dominant color with highlights of gold on a few details like the stripe along the sides of the device, the navigation keys, and the Walkman logo. A wrist strap eyelet is placed at the bottom of the battery cover and the phone has another camera lens on the front, above the display. The earpiece is marked by three horizontally placed dots. Circles are a repetitive decoration element; most of the controls in these handsets are of a round shape.
W660 offers UMTS, but no EDGE. The phone also has a slower GPRS Class 10 to offer, but mobile data transfers have been improved.
The piece is totally music-centered and the 2-megapixel camera lacks autofocus, making close-ups and text a tough job to shoot. There’s no LED or xenon flash either. Image quality is also least impressive. At the same time the camera of Sony Ericsson W660 deserves a compliment for its rich setting options and extra functions. You get white balance, automatic insertion of data into the images, various effects, a self-release timer, etc. Images do not look burnt out; exposure is spot-on. Sony Ericsson W660 also shoots videos, although the resolution of 176 x 144 is not impressive by any means.
All in all , Sony Ericsson W660 brings no innovations; it’s the good old applications and functions, but with a facelift. From the point of view of conventional users, however, W660 scores brilliantly in all aspects, except for the absence of EDGE.

Yacht with V-Hull Design Submarine by James Hur

2008-12-01T01:16:00.000-08:00

The unique features and elegant appearance of this cabin crew adds a whole new dimension to yachting. This long and slim profile yacht is specifically designed for high speed and to enjoy under sea explorations. There is a swiveling camera with infrared vision in order to expose the most astonishing views of the mysterious underworld life. This yacht sits in 100 feet platform having the capacity to accommodate up to 4 guests and 4 crew members. The V-hull design submarine is targeted towards daredevils who desire excitement of extreme expeditions as well as benefits of exclusive lavishness. The entire body is made up of layered LCDs for providing different color ambience and opacity.

G1 Phone Design for Google by Mike and Maaike

2008-12-01T01:10:00.001-08:00

This is a G1 phone designed for Google by two San Francisco designers, Mike and Maaike. This is a unique phone using the Google’s open source operating system called as Android. The handset is quite stylish and has a 3.2 inch touch screen and a slide out QWERTY keyboard. This phone also incorporates a compass that helps you to navigate Google maps by turning the phone. G1 is produced by Taiwanese manufacturers HTC and is also available on T-mobile. The only advantage or unique thing that this device has is the ease of Google into a mobile phone.

Aptera’s Super-MPG Electric Typ-1 e

2008-12-01T00:59:00.000-08:00

That’s right, you heard me, 300 miles to the gallon. It must have something to do with its 3 wheels or something. There are two innovative models that are already pretty much production ready, and could be open as early as next year!

The Super-MPG Electric Typ-1 e has been field tested and is all electric. As for the Typ-1 h, that should be out by 2009. There is even a third model already in the works, with a four-wheeled design.

It looks like some car of the future like some sci-fi movie of the past. You know, like that one in AI, if you even bothered to see that movie.

Okay, let’s see if the oil companies crack down on this guy due to its electric ness. I’m not certain this car is as green as it looks, as it appears to be only made for two passengers. We could use a family-sized one.
Now, the estimated price on the first model is about $30,000. Let’s see how it does.
Via : popularmechanics & coolest-gadgets

A fighter jet and a motorcycle made sweet love, birthed $82,350

2008-12-01T00:40:00.000-08:00

How many bucks would you spend to watch a Jet and a bike make love? Not very many I guess, but you must be curious to see the result of this rather unfortunate procreation. Meet MonoTracer! The futuristic looking vehicle is actually a real-life working model and is being built and sold by Peraves.

Gold Macbook Air with Bejeweled Rainbow Apple

2008-12-01T00:38:00.000-08:00

All the super rich geeks, watch out for this decked out 24 karat gold MacBook Air with a decorated version of the classic rainbow Apple. Folks at Computerchoppers are ready to entice their filthy rich clients with the shiny gold and colored sapphire. Maybe you find it a little flashy at first but you will definitely start loving it. There is no obvious change in the weight expect for few ounces here and there. Air is a standard 1.6ghz/2gb/80GB, with a 24-karat gold plating, polished exterior, and flat/crystallite interior.
The price: $5000 USD. However you will have to chip in another 3000$ for the rainbow which is 14-karat gold with 3.8ctw sapphires.

The 2007 Mercedes Benz SLR ''722 Edition

2008-12-01T00:12:00.000-08:00

The 2007 Mercedes Benz SLR “722 Edition”, based on the MB/McLaren SLR, boasts 650hp and a special race-tuned suspension. Rocketing from 0-60 in just 3.6 seconds, with a top speed of 209mph, it’s safe to say it has outstanding performance skills.

Lamborgini Gallardo Supereleggera

2008-11-30T23:56:00.000-08:00

If you tot that the standard Lamborghini Gallardo was a monster then what is the Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera? The Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera is what you get after putting the standard Lamborghini Gallardo on a diet and give it some vitamins. The Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera wais 100 kg less then the stock Gallardo and has an additional of 10 hp. The diet consists of changing the mirrors, the engine cover, the door panels, the tunnel`s covering with carbon fiber.

The car is powered by a v10 engine witch develops 530 hp and the weight/power ratio is 2.5 kg/hp making the Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera reach 0 to 60 in 3.8 seconds(the standard Gallardo does 0-60 in 5.8 seconds). The car can be fitted with some extras on purchase some of witch are 4 point seatbelt, rear video camera for making parking easier and carbon-ceramic brakes.

Mobile Solar Charger

2008-11-30T23:50:00.001-08:00

We can always dream of never ending batteries, but till then there is another useful gadget that lets us recharge our cell phone, mp3 player, video camera with the power of the sun. The Mobile Solar Charger was designed to help you recharge your batteries with the power of the sun when available or with the help of a car adaptor you can recharge your cell phone or mp3 player from the car. We can all see the benefits of it on a road trip or when camping, but how practical is it? How fast can it actually recharge our cell phone is not yet known.

Waterproof Audio Player From JVC

2008-11-30T23:39:00.000-08:00

JVC launched the “latest” audio player with the code name XA-AW33-W. I believe JVC. The features of this digital audio player are amazing:

It is waterproof and can float on water, just like a rubber ducky that can sing any song you want it to. The water resistance of this player is very high: 30 minutes under 1 meter deep water. Music files can be transferred by USB. Works with 4AA batteries (that means that
there is no way you’ll die of electrocution).

The JVC digital audio player can play MP3, WMA and also WMA-DRM formats. The
memory for this player is 256MB of memory.

The Little ''MatchBook'' -Epoq

2008-11-30T23:34:00.000-08:00

Another gorgeous by Epoq: just a little larger than a usual matchbook, this player has a 2,4″ QVGA LCD, 1 or 2 GB onboard memory, MiniSD slot and a pretty fast processor that can play AVIs at 25 frames/second. It even has an integrated speaker!
The features that this matchbook has are: 1 or 2 GB internal memory, MiniSD card, anti-scratch 320×240 LCD, a RockChip Processor, a built-in speaker and even FM radio( with up to 40 presets). Also, it sports sound/voice recorder and image viewer and e-book reader. The formats it supports are mp1, mp2, mp3, avi, bmp,wma, jpg and txt.

It has an integrate lithium battery that can be charged and an AC charger. It lasts for 3 hours of video or 8 hours of music. It can be bought at FirstToYou.com for 99,95$ (1GB) or 139,95$(2GB).

The Intruder:Cellphone Design

2008-11-30T23:32:00.000-08:00

The latest cell phone designed by Dennis Hopkins, “The Intruder” has a concept which some people can relate to a UFO, actually influences from that field is mentioned on his website to. But without the outer space resembling this cell phones design is pretty much targeted at women.

Its diameter is of only 2.5 inches and when closed it is just one third of an inch thick. When opened it measures 5 inches in length and the display holds 220 x 176 pixels. And last but not least, when someone calls you a ring of light appears from the sides of the phone.

The website of Dennis Hopkins doesn’t let you in to all the technology used so for now we just have to say good luck to women that now have at their disposal a phone looking like a powder compact.

Antelop Audio Isochrone

2008-11-30T23:14:00.000-08:00

How would you like to have the most accurate watch in the world? Don’t get scared about the fact that it is an atomic watch and the radiations are only a few inches from you, they won’t affect you. No, seriously! Just imagine, the Antelope Audio Isochrome M10 is 100,000 more accurate then you current quartz based watch.

The fact that is accuracy is almost close to perfect ensures a great quality in the digital sound and the video images because of their need to be synchronised.

So if you want a perfectly accurate time telling, close to perfect audio video you should buy the Antelope Audio Isochrome. Although you may find the price to be a bit high, I would say that 2200$ are money well spent for the quality this device provides you with.

Slimmest LCD

2008-11-30T23:10:00.000-08:00

Like the LCD televisions weren’t already thin enough, the guys at C|NET decided to out do themselves and designed the slimmest LCD-screen television that is on the market at this point. It is 10 inches thick and has a 58-inch JVC HD-58S998.

It seems though that this catwalk thin television has a problem with displaying perfectly straight vertical or horizontal lines, but if you aren’t blessed with eagle sight and you don’t have obsessive-compulsive syndrome, I don’t quite see why should you would be bothered by that.

Not to mention that according to C|NET, this devices creators, the price would be as shocking as the thickness of the television, meaning slim as it. Well, we don’t have the price yet, but still, f you want a DLP set that is close to perfection and you don’t want to your pockets to be as thin as the TV you buy, you should really consider taking a look at this

Brain Trainer,A Hand Held Game For Your Brain

2008-11-30T23:05:00.000-08:00

Well, nowadays everyone is going to the gym, everybody works out, everybody wants to build up muscles. But what about the brain? Doesn’t it feel a little left behind? Well, not anymore because thanks to the new Brain Trainer your brain will keep in shape.

The new Brain Trainer is a hand held game, created to insure the growth of your brainpower. The games with which he is equipped activate your frontal cortex, the part of your brain that is responsible with you creativity, memory and communication.

Devised by a Japanese neuroscientist, this gadget contains a series of games in which you have to count, add, subtract and many more other things, and all things that you do, you have to do as fast as you can. Besides battling against the computer you can also battle against yourself through the timing of your each session and trying to decrease the period of time through which you finish the game. So if you ever find like your loosing brain power just hook up your Brain Trainer with a couple of triple A batteries and start working on it.

E-Book Reader By Amazon

2008-11-30T23:04:00.001-08:00

Isn’t it a bit annoying reading a book online? I mean, firstly, you don’t have the actual feeling of holding a real book in your hands, not to mention that your eyes get more tired then they normally would have. Well, now you can forget all about that because from now on Amazon has released their E-Book reader.

The release of this device by Amazon is a very good approach to the market, having in view that this company is one of the largest book selling ones over the Internet. So this move is a sure strengthener for their business.

The Mobipocket software with which the gadget is equipped with provides the owner to directly download from the Internet to the reader, thus saving precious time and giving the book-lover the chance to actually hold something real in their hand when entering the fantasy world of books
The expected price for the public would be around 400$ but the cost cost for the continuous Internet access is unpredictable so on the whole this gadget could come to a fairly high cost.

Driv n Car Computer

2008-11-30T22:58:00.000-08:00

Well, now you can feel both as cozy as at home, and as active as in your office with the new Driv-N car computer. It can entertain you by playing MP3s or audio CDs, you can watch movies on the DVD player, you have XM online satellite radio, Internet radio, you can browse the Internet and at the same time remain connected to your home or office PC.

I guess that beats having to do acrobatic moves while writing something in your agenda that’s unsteadily placed on the passengers seat. And latest and greatest of all, the Driv-n can be totally voice controlled. And thanks to the permanent connection to your home or office PC you can access files from either one of the computers, you just have to speak their names.

The Driv-N can be set up either under the seat or in the trunk. Its framework is made solid aluminum and it has a multitude of touch screen options. The radio slides down to leave room for the DVD player. It can be set up either on the roof or on the headrest. A really important attribute of this already close to perfect device is that it survives crashes and when you turn off your car it shuts down properly making sure your data stays safe.

iPod Vibrator,.ohMyBod

2008-11-30T22:50:00.000-08:00

This is an appeal to all girls out there. Pleasure has met music in more ways then you can think of. The OhMyBod guys have designed the new iPod vibrator. The device vibrates in the rhythm of the song you listen to so you actually well feel the beat.

It is multi speed so that you don’t have to worry if you ran out of music. It is equipped with a universal headphone connector and a 3 feet long cord. It comes with a velvet pouch to keep it in when you’re not using it and you get an invitation to share your favorite tunes on Club Vibe on the iTunes iMix section.

B20.IRiver's mini DMB television

2008-11-30T22:45:00.000-08:00

IRiver has just announced the release of the all-new mini DMB television, the B20. It is equipped with 4 GB of flash memory which you can expand through the miniSD memory card slot. It has a 2.4-inch LCD display with 320 x 240 pixels and a range of colors of 260k. It also has a FM tuner that can be used also as a voice recorder. It supports MPEG-4, OGG, MP3, WMA, WMV9 formats and you can also view JPEG images on it. The battery holds for 26 hours of MP3 playback, 5 hours of videos and 4 hours of DMB TV. The price is set at 267$ for the 4 GB version and 213$ for the 2GB one.

DCX725 by Benq

2008-11-30T22:44:00.000-08:00

Benq amazes us once again with the launch of the new compact classy digital camera. The DC X725 is as small as 12.5 millimeters, and the material from which it is made of is steel, so it is stainless and more resistant. It comes in four different colors, black, red silver, or pearl. It has a 1/2.5 CCD and can go up to 3x optical zoom. The ISO sensitivity can go up to 1600 on photos and 4000 on videos. You can also increase the memory, as it has an SD/SDHC memory card support. The range of mega pixels is, for the time being, unknown, but we can assume it has more then the previous release of Benq that had 7.2. We also have no information regarding the price.

S3000,A6000,M8000 Pavillion Slimline by HP

2008-11-30T22:37:00.000-08:00

Three new models of desktop PC series have been launched into the market by HP. The three models of the Pavilion Slimline series are s3000, a6000 and m8000. The first one comes with 1GB of RAM, and you can pick either a AMD CPU or an Intel CPU, but for the later you have to pay an extra 50$. If not you can buy it for 500$. The PC can be set with a low graphic card, maybe a TV tuner and a Pocket Media Drive.

You can buy the a6000 at a lower price then the s3000. It’s just 330$ but you would be throwing off some memory because it has only 512 MB of RAM. But the bright side is that it comes with an Intel CPU, a Pocket Media Drive and a graphics card. But the “jewel of the crown” is the m8000. And the price says so to. At 950$ it has a DVD drive and again you can pick between a dual core AMD or Intel processor. All three models have Windows Vista preinstalled.

Flyclear card

2008-11-30T22:16:00.000-08:00

All of us who have been on a plane know about how long you have to wait before you can board because of the annoyingly thorough check-ups you have to pass before you can go on your trip. But from now on you can leave all those controls behind thanks to the new Flyclear card. And it only costs $99.95 a year and the fee for TSA of $28.

To get one, you have to go to a Clear center and present two official identification cards. Then you have to take a photo and give them your biometric information. They suggest that you should have a US passport, but foreign people are welcomed to.

So now you can eliminate the stress from your plane trips, not worry about those hidden pierces and miss a lot less planes. The Flyclear has already been put into function but for very few airports like Orlando, San Jose and JFK and the service is not available all day long. But there are plans to expand this technology.