Archive for the ‘Portables’ Category
The Dell XPS One will hit retail on November 19 according to
this teaser on Dell.com. Apparently no one told Dell that everyone and their grandmother has already seen what the XPS One looks like, both inside and out. Still, we’re with Engadget in pretending to be totally surprised. [Via
Engadget]Sony Ericsson’s much-anticipated announcement today turned out to be an utter disappointment. Only three phones were announced, all of which were leaked well before the announcement. You can read all the specs and details at
GSMArena although we don’t see anything “new” or “special” about these devices. SE is recycling designs and new phones within a product class carry identical feature sets. The only bright spot is the revelation that the W890i will come with version 3 of their Walkman software. Oh and the K660 and W890 actually come with both EDGE and 3G. Amazing!
In SE-related news that is interesting however, we’re hearing rumors about a successor to the P990i and P1i in the form of the P5i. For all we know, this device could be in the fantasies of those SE-fans on eSato but we’re hoping for the best!
If you’ve always wanted an email address ending with @live.com, then boy are you in luck. Microsoft has opened up registration for @live.com email IDs for good and you can snag yours at http://get.live.com [Via CNET News]
Apple updated Quicktime to version 7.3, fixing seven bugs in the process. Six of these bugs can allow hackers to gain access to a PC as they can bypass QT’s security layer altogether. Recommended update if you use Quicktime. [Via TG Daily]
Popularity: 44% [?]
- By Vivek on Nov 7, 2007
Another weekend is behind us folks and it barely made its presence felt. Not a lot happened over the weekend, as you might imagine. But we have a job to do, and we’re going to do it damnit!
New phones from Sony Ericsson could be unvelied on November 6, or so sayeth CellPassion. We’ve already seen leaked shots of the W890 and the W380 while the K660 was made official by SE. So really, the only thing to look forward to is the confirmation of the existence and specs on the W890 and W380. Maybe, just maybe, if we’re lucky, SE will unveil more than these three. [CellPassion via Boy Genius Report]
In more rumor-mongering, noises are being made about the Google Phone/OS/Whatever might finally be announced on November 5. It seems that the technology in development is a full-fledged mobile OS with tight integration of existing Google products. The OS will be open and distributed freely under an ad-supported revenue model. Whatever it is, we hope it’s good. This kind of hype is usually only reserved for Apple products. [Via The New York Times]
Firefox has released version 2.0.0.9 and we recommend you download it. The release contains bug-fixes for problems found in earlier versions. Download it here.
The Wall Street Journal now has over a million subscribers for its online edition. Quite a milestone, we must say. A lot of websites, including The New York Times have ditched their pay-for-access models and are now completely free in order to attract more visitors. In such a time, it’s a wonder that WSJ.com has managed to attract such a large subscriber base. [Via Yahoo! News]
Swedish glam-rock band Lamont has collaborated with, wait for it, The Pirate Bay, to freely distribute their music via P2P. Their new album is available in multiple file formats and over 100k users downloaded it on the first day. It’s a sign of musicians finally warming up to the idea of P2P distribution. Besides, a lot of music fans will go out and buy CDs of music that they like. [Via TorrentFreak]
Popularity: 34% [?]
- By Vivek on Nov 5, 2007
Looks like a lot of leaks are happening these days. Sometimes it’s music, sometimes it’s prototype cellphones, and now it’s Rock Band. The game is still a few days away but a Best Buy store in the US put up a demo unit for sale by accident. Someone bought it and is now selling it on eBay. Best Buy wants it back is offering a full refund plus a $100 gift card for it. [Via
Engadget]
In more news on lawsuits, a company called Wi-LAN has just sued 22 companies for patent infringement. Apparently the lawsuit has something to do with Wi-Fi and DSL products. Among the 22 companies are biggies Apple, Dell, Belkin, D-Link, HP, Sony, Texas Instruments, Intel, and Lenovo. We’re pretty sure this case will be thrown out pretty soon. [Via REUTERS]
So, get this. The Nokia N95 has an accelerometer. It is also sensitive and can do cool things when appropriate code is executed on the device. In a simple example, some guys put up this interesting video of a ball rolling around on the screen. Based on how you tilt and move the N95, the on-screen ball moves accordingly. Not very exciting, but think of the possibilities. If you doubt the power of an accelerometer, just think of the Wii and that should dispel any and all doubts. [Via thenokiablog]
ODF drops ODF. Confusing? We thought so. The OpenDocument Format group has dropped its OpenDocument Format and will now back an obscure format from W3c, called the Compound Document Format. We have no idea why they would pick a new format whose name itself sounds complex. Oh well, it was good while it lasted. [Via ArsTechnica]
Napster is losing less money now. The firm posted a lower quarterly loss compared to the same quarter last year. The loss was $5.1 million against $9 million last year. The narrowing of losses was attributed to revenue from new mobile-based and computer-based services. Hey, maybe next year they’ll only lose $1 million. [Via Yahoo! News]
Apple quietly updated its MacBooks today. They have been given a Santa Rosa boost with an Intel X3100 graphics chip compared with the GMA 950 in previous versions. Also, the MacBook Pro now gets a new configuration option in the form of a 2.66GHz processor. [Via Laptoping]
Popularity: 37% [?]
- By Vivek on Nov 2, 2007
Lucky number seven today! We haven’t been getting too many comments to our round-up posts but we’re eager to hear what you have to say. What you like, what you despise, suggestions, whatever. Bring it on folks. At least then I don’t have to keep cribbing about the lack of good news to summarize. Wait. Never mind. I’ll still be cribbing about that.
Eye-Fi SD cards are now shipping. In case you are not familiar with what’s so special about these cards, here’s a hint: what starts with Wi and ends with Fi? Give up? Wi-Fi! Yes, dear readers, these SD cards can turn any ordinary digital camera into one that can send pictures to your computer or any one of 17 online photo service wirelessly. The card costs $100 and is available in a 2GB capacity right now. They definitely to make one for mobile phones that come with browsers but lack Wi-Fi. Seriously. [Via Engadget]
In another highly successful Apple product launch, Leopard sold 2 million copies in its first weekend. It seems as though the $129 price is not stopping anyone with Tiger to grab Leopard as well. The press release mentions that Tiger had the best launch for any Apple OS until now.
Everyone’s favorite savior against the RIAA/MPAA/etc., The Pirate Bay, is developing a new P2P protocol of its own. It will use the .p2p (clever) extension and be backward-compatible with the .torrent extension. According to TPB, this move comes as response to certain new additions to the source code of BitTorrent being closed. TPB also claims that the protocol will be developed to deter spammers and anti-piracy organizations from the ground-up. [TorrentFreak]
Briefly Noted:
1. The 40GB PS3 features cooler, less power intensive 65nm chips.
2. Intel is having trouble meeting processor demand for laptops.
3. Panasonic unleashed a new, $500 Blu-ray with support for the latest BD-Video Final Standard Profile 1.1.
Popularity: 35% [?]
- By Vivek on Oct 31, 2007
Oh what a start to the week! Lots of good news stories came in today and we had a really hard time picking the ones we thought were most important for your consumption, dear readers! But we’ve come up with the following 5 that we thought were big. Enjoy.
Nvidia has upped the stakes in the graphics card game once again, this time by launching the mid-end 8800 GT card. It consumes 80W less power than it’s elder sibling, the 8800 GTX, and runs considerably cooler as a result. The card also sports a thinner profile and will be available for between $199 and $249. [Via DailyTech]In continuing good news for Intel, its new Penryn processors have been getting the thumbs up from reviewers all over the interwebs. The quad-core desktop processors have been described as the fastest processors out there for any task imaginable. The speed can be attributed to the blazingly fast 1333Mhz FSB and 45nm architecture. Pricing should be revealed very soon. [Via
I4U News]
On the other hand, in continuing bad news for Sony, the PS3 losses could climb as high as $1 billion this fiscal. While Sony has been selling a lot more PS3s since the price drop, demand is lower than the other systems. Sony hopes to reach the break-even point by the second half of this fiscal. We think that ain’t gonna happen. [Via GameDaily BIZ]
Samsung is now shipping a 16x dual-layer DVD burner, which it claims is the world’s fastest dual-layer burner. It can write at 20x on regular DVD media. It’s available for $80 and also features enhancements such as LightScribe. [Via TG Daily]
Lenovo’s first consumer-oriented notebook went on sale in the US today. The Lenovo L3000 Y410 (who comes up with Lenovo product numbers?) features a 14.1″ display, Core 2 Duo T5450, X3100 integrated graphics, 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD, Vista and integrated 1.3MP webcam. The laptop starts at $699. [Via Laptoping]
Popularity: 36% [?]
- By Vivek on Oct 30, 2007
Someone definitely lost their job in a hurry at Sony Ericsson. Apparently, someone in Poland was able to get hold of a prototype device and the good folks over at SE-Center promptly reviewed the unit. Unfortunately, the review is in Polish so we have no clue what the reviewers thought of the device, but there are some fine pictures to ogle at in this
Flickr gallery.
While we admit that this is a terrific-looking device, we can’t help but scratch our heads on how the prototype got into the wild. There’s a lot of illegal stuff involved here especially since the device was sold to someone. But to match the leak is the fugly connector for headphones. The W series is SE’s Walkman series and we are extremely surprised that it doesn’t come with a 3.5mm headphone jack. Maybe this will be fixed in the production version. Other than the looks, 3.2MP main camera, and 3G with video call, there doesn’t seem to be much going for this phone. But then again, we can’t read Polish.
Oh, and don’t worry about the missing daily news update over the weekend. Since weekends are usually dead as far as technology news goes, we’ll be doing a weekend update instead. It should show up on Sunday evening (EST)/early Monday morning IST.
SE-Center [Via IntoMobile]
Popularity: 32% [?]
- By Vivek on Oct 28, 2007
What is up with all these slow news days? No seriously, what happened to the news? Yeah sure, Leopard came out today and everyone is basically spooging all over it. Anyway, let’s get this short post over with. And don’t forget to check out our Recommended Reading link at the end!
It seems like Nokia is gearing up to announce some new phones on November 2. We know they’re having an event next week and some
spy shots of the rumored N82 phone were released today. It’s worth noting that Symbian-Guru leaked the N81 and N82 a few months back and the N81 was indeed for real. The spy shots coupled with the fact that an official event is coming indicate that the N82 does exist. It’s rumored to come with 5MP camera, GPS, QVGA display, Wifi, Bluetooth, and a Series 60 OS. [Via Mobile-Review]
Sticking with leaks, Video Games Blogger has what they’re calling the final setlist for Guitar Hero III. Ordered by difficulty. We don’t know about you, but European Invasion has some very awesome songs. The final tier is sure to bring a lot of pain on higher difficulty levels. The big surprise? DragonForce have been relegated to the bonus tracks! Read the full list here. [Via PC World]
With the DS and the Wii minting money for Nintendo, the company has said that the Wii will not be getting a price cut any time soon. And we don’t blame them. It’s already the top current gen console at $250. The profit margin for Nintendo is pretty sweet and so why would they cut prices? [Via Yahoo! News]
If you keep track of security-related news, you ought to have heard of the Storm worm. Well, it seems like the worm is making its way out. But worms don’t go away that easy, do they? The worm is mounting DDoS on researchers as it can use its botnet to retaliate against anyone trying to probe the worm. Don’t malware authors have nothing better to do? What kind of a loser do you have to be to gain sadistic pleasure from making other people’s lives miserable? [Via ArsTechnica]
Recommended Reading: Run Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) from a USB Flash Drive
Popularity: 40% [?]
- By Vivek on Oct 27, 2007
Hello again to our daily news post. Another slow news day unfortunately, but we do have a couple of interesting stories! And another recommended reading at the end of the post. Today’s reading is from HowStuffWorks.com and is on nanotechnology.
It’s time for some earnings reports! On one hand, you have Microsoft whose entertainment division is finally making some money thanks to Master Chief. On the other, you have Sony whose PS3 continues to be a major loss maker. Of course, as always, Nintendo is still laughing all the way to the bank. [Via GameDaily BIZ]
SanDisk is suddenly feeling trigger happy as it just sued 25 (!) companies for patent infringement over USB mass storage device, or flash drives. Among others in the crosshairs are biggies LG, Kingston, and Corsair. The reason given by SanDisk is that it wants to protect those companies that already license its technology. Sounds to us like they want to get these 25 to pay up license fees to fill up SanDisk’s coffers. [Via CNET]
Nvidia could be gearing up to announce a new high-end laptop graphics chip – the 8800GTX which will essentialy be a mobile-optimized version of the desktop 8800GT. It would come in 256MB and 512MB flavors and the announcement could be coming November 19. [Via Electronista]
Finally, some good news for AMD. The company managed to increase its market share at the expense of rival Intel in Q3. Intel lost 0.4% of its market share to AMD during Q3 to end at 76.3% while AMD went up to 23.5%
This doesn’t quite count as news, but the buzz around the interwebs is that Leopard is awesome. It comes out today for the general public. In 16 hours 31 minutes as of this post.
Recommended Reading: How Nanotechnology Works
Popularity: 25% [?]
- By Vivek on Oct 26, 2007
Hello readers! Did you miss us? We went on a pretty long leave there, didn’t we? Sorry about that. Starting with this post, we’ll be giving you a daily dose of news. Like everyday. Each day’s post will summarize all the major technology news in the past 24 hours. We’ll also have external links for you to read the full stories! And we also promise to stay away from iPhone stories as much as possible! It’s freaky how iPhone stories still cause a big stir on a near-daily basis. But let’s get started with this new format.
One-by-one, all the phones announced on August 29 by Nokia are starting to ship. The N95 started shipping last week and today it was the turn of it’s younger Nseries sibling, the N81. The phone comes in two flavors, one with a whopping 8GB internal flash and another one with a microSD slot. The two versions cost 430 euros and 360 euros respectively.
Alienware computers will now be available for less, as long as you are willing to trade in your old hardware. Under a new program, Alienware will give you money for your old computer or hardware which will automatically mean a lower price on any Alienware computer. While still ridiculously expensive, $300-400 price reductions will entice a lot of customers. My 3-year-old Dell Inspiron 9100 will apparently fetch $364. If your old computer is an Alienware, you get an extra $200!
Dell is looking to expand its presence in brick-and-mortar stores and recently signed a deal with Staples, a major retail chain for office supplies in the United States. Customers will now be able to buy Dell laptops at retail outlets. Dell had already begun selling computers via Wal-Mart and this move is clearly a push to regain market share lost to rivals. [Via ArsTechnica]
HD DVD backers received a major shot in the arm recently when it was revealed today that the HD DVD version of Michael Bay’s Transformers sold about 100,000 copies in its first week in North America alone. While a drop in the ocean compared to the 4.5 million DVDs sold on day one alone, this is still a significant victory for the HD DVD camp. This is the record for high-definition video sales for either format. [Via TG Daily]
Finally, it seems that Microsoft finally decided to throw in the proverbial towel in its decade-long legal battle with the EU over antitrust issues. Microsoft has agreed to the demands of the EU which represents a major shift in attitude. The news of the move bumped Microsoft share prices. Open source developers and enthusiasts are still treading with caution. [Via Yahoo! News]
Popularity: 21% [?]
- By Vivek on Oct 23, 2007
Yeah the new iPods weren’t particularly shocking for those keeping up with constant rumors but the price drop on the iPhone was a jaw-dropping announcement. Also, it looks like the 4GB iPhone will no longer be available.
Moving on to the iPods, the family now has three different models. The iPod Classic comes in 80GB ($249) and 160GB ($349) flavors. You can choose between white and black versions for both models. The third-gen iPod nano (or fatty) is available in 5 colors with a 4GB version ($149) and an 8GB ($199) one. Finally, the last one launched today was the iPod Touch which is basically an iPhone but without the phone part. It features a widescreen touch-sensitive display and comes in 8GB ($299) and 16GB ($399) versions. Oh, and it’s only in black. Sorry guy.
The Shuffle also got an upgrade, sort-of. You now have a red version and four more color choices. And we don’t like Nelly Furtado either, but Apple apparently does.
Apple
Popularity: 15% [?]
- By Vivek on Sep 6, 2007
