iProdReviews

Xbox price cut works as it thumps PS3 in Japan

2008-10-04T20:11:00.000-07:00

As if to prove that money really does talk, Microsoft's newly cheap Xbox 360 has only gone and done the unthinkable and risen from the foot of Japan's console sales charts.

Enterbrain figures for September show that Nintendo's Wii came top on 109,548 sales, but that the habitual runner-up PS3 was overtaken by the Xbox 360. Sony's machine sold 33,071 units, compared to MS's 53,547.

First time not to be last
Microsoft managed to beat Sony for the first time since the two third-gen consoles were released by slashing almost a third from the price of the Xbox 360 in Japan last month.

Currently, the cheapest 360 sells for ¥19,800 (£106), the entry-level PS3 for ¥39,980 (£215) and the Wii for ¥25,000 (£134). Nintendo and Sony are expected to announce price cuts within the year, possibly at next week's Tokyo Game Show.

New Sony Cybershot DSC-H3 with Big Zoom

2007-08-22T02:11:00.000-07:00

For parents looking to capture and re-live their children’s back-to-school memories, Sony is introducing a super-zoom digital camera small enough to carry to any school activity.

The new 8-megapixel Cyber-shot DSC-H3 camera has a powerful 10x optical zoom lens for those close-up shots you don’t want to miss, and yet features a super compact form so you can take the camera along anywhere.

The model features high-definition component output, putting a high-resolution spin on the family slideshow. By connecting the new camera to any HDTV set with Sony’s VMC-MHC1 high-definition component cable (sold separately), families can see their digital photos the same way they watch their favorite TV shows – in full 1080 HD resolution. The camera is equipped with a built-in slide show function so you can view photos, complete with transitions choreographed to your choice of programmed music clips or by adding your own.

When the camera is connected to a new Sony BRAVIA® television, photos are optimized for television viewing with Sony’s new “Photo TV HD” mode. This mode brings the look of actual printed photography to the television set, reproducing high-quality digital photos by fine-tuning image parameters, like sharpness, gradation and color specifically for photographs.

Designed to Capture Great Photos

The DSC-H3 model includes a variety of features to ensure parents can document their kids’ activities, from football games to dance recitals and spelling bees. To begin, the new camera features a powerful Carl Zeiss ® 10x optical zoom lens, which makes it ideal for capturing every expression when shooting little stars from the audience. It also includes a long-range flash that lights up subjects farther from the camera. For group shots, moms and dads will appreciate the model’s face detection technology. It identifies up to eight faces in the camera’s 2.5-inch LCD screen, and automatically adjusts for correctly exposed, sharp photos.

To capture every touchdown, the high-zoom camera also includes Sony’s advanced sports shooting mode, which combines high shutter speed shooting and intelligent continuous auto-focusing. The camera will quickly focus on fast-moving subjects by predicting where they will be in the frame. This technology also helps to reduce shutter lag -- the time it takes for the camera to focus and shoot.

To reduce chances of blurry photos, the H3 model incorporates Super Steady Shot® optical image stabilization that minimizes blur caused by camera shake. This is an important feature when shooting at slow shutter speeds at full zoom. The unit’s high sensitivity (up to ISO 3200) will also capture well-exposed, natural-looking photos, even in challenging low-light conditions.

Equipped with Sony’s Dynamic Range Optimizer, originally developed for the Alpha digital SLR system, the new camera can analyze captured image data, and instantly determine the best exposure and tonality of each picture before JPEG compression. Other helpful in-camera functions include red-eye correction and photo retouching effects with filters.

The Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-H3 camera will ship next month for about $300. Additional accessories will include wide and telephoto conversion lenses, filters, batteries, travel chargers, sports packs and cases. The VMC-HD1 high-definition component cable is currently available for about $40. All can be purchased online at sonystyle.com, at Sony Style® retail stores (www.sonystyle.com/retail), at military base exchanges, and at authorized dealers nationwide. Pre-orders begin on Aug. 23 at www.sonystyle.com.

Dell XPS M1330 Reviews

2007-07-04T10:22:00.000-07:00

Basic Design

CNET says

The good
Unlike the bulky, unattractive 12-inch Dell XPS m1210, the Dell XPS m1330 has clearly been built with an emphasis on good looks and clean lines, ditching the earlier model's cumbersome, rotating Web cam and thick chassis. The system is slightly wedge shaped, going from 0.87 inch in the front to 1.3-inches in the rear. At less than four pounds, it's one of the lightest 13-inch laptops we've seen--nearly a full pound lighter than the popular yet hefty 13-inch Apple MacBook, and a touch lighter than the 12-inch XPS m1210.

The bad
The biggest drawback we found with the XPS m1330's design was the tiny, 2.75-inch touchpad, which we found to be particularly frustrating given the fact that there's plenty of room on the wrist rest for a bigger pad.

PC Magazine says

The Good
The great thing about the Dell XPS M1330 is that it manages to incorporate many of the desirable qualities found on Apple, HP, and Sony laptops. The overall design reminds me of the Sony VAIO VGN-SZ370P. It measures 1 inch thick, thanks in large part to an LED screen that's just a quarter of an inch thick. The 13.3-inch screen is significantly larger than the 12-inch screen of its predecessor, the XPS M1210, as well as those of traditional ultraportables. You can pick apart the differences if you place a regular lamp display, such as the one found on the Apple MacBook 13-inch (Core 2 Duo T7200), next to the Dell XPS M1330. The color contrast is noticeably better on the Dell screen's in scenarios such as viewing HD movie trailers and pixel-heavy images. Text is arguably slightly clearer on the XPS M1330 as well. I'm glad Dell went with a transflective screen rather than a matte-finished one, which washes out some of the contrast benefits of an LED screen, as evidenced by the Toshiba Portégé R500. With the XPS M1330, you can opt for a lamp-lit screen and save yourself $150, but an LED display is one of the many extras that I would suggest keeping

NoteBookReview says

The Good
The Dell XPS M1330 (starting at $1,299) features what can only be described as one of the “sexiest” designs we’ve seen on a Dell notebook. A sleek combination of aluminum and plastic with a colorful paintjob on the back of the screen, this notebook is an ultraportable with style. Measuring as thin as 0.87-inches and weighing 4 pounds, the XPS M1330 is a little heavier than some competing ultrportables but is still remarkably thin and light for a Santa Rosa- equipped notebook.

Keyboard, Ports and other external features

CNET says

The Good
The keyboard tray is brushed silver with black accents, while the lid is available in black, white, or red. Our review unit had the matte-red finish (Dell calls it Crimson Red), which looks great, but more color options (as with the newly revamped Inspiron line of laptops) would have been welcome.

Dell manages to squeeze a good number of extras onto the keyboard tray, including touch-sensitive controls for volume and media playback, an eject button for the slot-loading DVD drive, and a quick-launch button for Dell's proprietary Media Direct software. The biggest drawback we found with the Dell XPS m1330's design was the tiny, 2.75-inch touchpad, which we found to be particularly frustrating given the fact that there's plenty of room on the wrist rest for a bigger pad.

Rounding out the laptop's external features are a Webcam on top of the display and a small, credit-card-size remote control that pops into PC card slot on the side.

The LED-backlit display, also seen in the new 15-inch MacBook Pro, helps to make the system's lid thinner (less than a quarter-inch thick) while also extending battery life, although users should not expect the display to look any different than a traditional LCD laptop screen. With a native resolution of 1,280x800--the same as on the 13-inch MacBook--you get the best mix of screen real estate and readability.

With only two USB ports, some accessory-heavy users may feel shortchanged, but we suspect they'll be few and far between. The HDMI output is a welcome bonus, but we're not sure how useful will be until Dell adds a Blu-ray drive to the configuration options. Wireless 802.11n networking is rapidly becoming the new default for laptops, and we would have been disappointed not to see it here. We were also pleased to see Dell offer an optional mobile broadband antenna, with service from Verizon, AT&T, or Sprint.

Our prerelease review unit had a decent set of specs, but we'll have to wait until Dell's online configuration utility is live to see exactly what your options are. We do know the high-end 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7700 processor is available--our review unit featured a 2.0GHz T7300--as well as your choice of Intel's integrated 3100 graphics or Nvidia's GeForce Go 8400. A non-LED backlit display is also an option, but as it adds weight and thickness; we'd avoid it. Solid-state hard drives and Blu-ray optical drives are promised in the near future, but exact dates for those features making their way to the m1330'a configurator aren't known.

The Nvidia GeForce Go 8400 isn't the fastest laptop GPU out there, but it's at the upper end of what you can find outside of 17-inch desktop replacement systems. We got a very playable 33.3 frames per second in Quake 4 at 1,024x768, even with high-end options such as antialiasing turned on, meaning the Dell XPS m1330 has decent gaming chops, as long as your expectations are reasonable.

The XPS m1330 ran for two hours and 23 minutes on our DVD battery drain test, using the included six-cell battery. That's not bad, but nearly an hour less than the latest 13-inch MacBook, a testament to Apple's emphasis on battery life. Our DVD battery drain test is especially grueling, so you can expect longer life from casual Web surfing and office use. Dell offers a nine-cell battery option, but it's an exceptionally large battery for such a tiny system.

PC Magazine says

The Good
The full-size keyboard is as close as you can get to a Lenovo ThinkPad keyboard. Every key, with the exception of the top row (Fn keys), is full-size. As a writer, the size of the arrow keys is vital to my productivity, and Dell makes them just right. Even the mouse buttons and touchpad are reminiscent of the Lenovo ThinkPad T61—minus the pointing stick. Heat is not that big a problem, even though the XPS M1330 uses high-performance parts. The palm rests are warm, but not uncomfortably so. As measured with a Fluke IR thermometer, temperatures got up to 91° F. It helps that the palm rests are covered with brushed aluminum, which acts as a heat retardant. But toward the front bezel, the base got as high as 103°, which is tolerable depending on your sensitivity to heat; I consider anything above 100° uncomfortable. Temperatures decline as you move back toward the battery, which reaches 95°. Overall, I would say the M1330's heat is manageable. Lenovo is in the same boat with its ThinkPad X60 (Vista), whereas Sony's SZ series does a better job of containing heat.

In the Dell XPS M1330, you'll get a lot of the same features found on the Sony SZ Series, if not more. Dell emulated Apple laptops by going with a slot-loading DVD burner. This allows for greater flexibility with the design, but that also means you won't have the option of upgrading to larger, specialty drives such as a Blu-ray burner. This is odd because the XPS M1330 comes with an HDMI-out port, which is typically bundled in tandem with a high-definition optical drive and is rare for an ultraportable. But the port is still a valuable asset for video and PowerPoint presenters. Of course, you'll need a display that supports HDMI-in. I suspect Dell will integrate HDMI-out ports across all of its XPS laptops, and it's been added to the M1330 merely for the sake of consistency. You'll find two USB ports, one on each side. The FireWire port and a 160GB hard drive are a boon for video editing. Dell also incorporates two features from HP's Pavilion line to help optimize your media experience. These are a Media Center remote that fits into the ExpressCard slot and two headphone ports for sharing. I think both of these are great additions.

The Dell XPS M1330 provides multiple ways to stay connected. Like many high-end ultraportables these days, you have the option of adding a cellular modem. Dell sent my unit with a Sprint EV-DO Rev A card. Although it wasn't activated, the prospect of high-speed Internet access wherever you can get a cell-phone signal is a very attractive feature. With EV-DO Rev A, you're looking at theoretical download speeds of 3.1 Mbps. On top of that, you have draft 802.11n support with the new Centrino Duo specification, Bluetooth, and 100MB Ethernet. Last, you'll find an integrated 1.3-megapixel camera that'll handle all your video chats, whether with Skype, MSN Messenger, or SightSpeed.

NoteBookReview says

The Good
The keyboard is full sized and very nice with cushioned keys and almost no flex. One surprise was a set of dedicated media keys directly above the keyboard, a nice feature not found on many ultraportable notebooks. What makes these media keys all the more impressive is the fact that they are LED backlit, flush-mount keys that are heat sensitive to touch. Press the keys with a pen and nothing happens … but glide your fingertip over a media key and the key will light up and respond to your touch. In a word, cool.

The touchpad provides excellent responsiveness and feels quite nice compared to the “cheap” touchpads found on many other ultrportable notebooks. The plastic touchpad buttons (made to look like brushed aluminum) are well cushioned with a near perfect amount of feedback. The fingerprint reader responds well with a firm, centered finger scan. In addition, the fingerprint reader is recessed so it won’t be accidentally triggered while you type.

While some ultraportable notebooks are thinner and lighter than the new XPS M1330, most of these thinner notebooks lack a built-in optical drive. The XPS M1330 comes equipped with an impressive slot-loading dual-layer DVD±RW drive which helps keep the notebook reasonably thin without sacrificing case strength.

Compared to the M1210 (right) the front of the Dell XPS M1330 (left) has dual headphone ports, microphone port, and multi-card reader. Compared to the M1210 (right) the front of the M1330 (left) the right side has an ExpressCard slot (Media Center remote), wireless on/off, slot-loading optical drive, USB port, and security lock slot. Again, compared to the M1210 (right) the left side of the M1330 has a power jack, VGA port, USB port, HDMI port, and Firewire port. The port selection of the XPS M1330 is remarkably good for a notebook of this size.

In addition, the Dell XPS M1330 comes with a two-megapixel web camera built in directly above the LCD. Unlike almost every notebook webcam currently on the market, the webcam built into the XPS M1330 is a remarkable performer. Brightness, color and contrast are all near perfect, and the face tracking feature lets you keep your face front and center during video conferences.

The Bad
The media keys are a little close together, so people with large fingertips may find themselves pressing two buttons at once. The only thing remotely negative we can say about the pre-production Dell XPS M1330 keyboard is that the palmrests were noticeably warm even while the notebook was idle. The heat wasn’t uncomfortable, but it was certainly warm.
The loading and ejecting functions of the slot-loading drive were a little noisy, but the overall operation was silent.

Overall Verdict for Dell XPS m1330

CNET says

Rating: 7.9 out of 10 (Very Good)

The good
Thin, sexy design; strong performance; backlit-LED display; included media remote control.

The bad
Small touchpad; some options (SSD hard drives, Blu-ray) not available yet; not as many color options as Dell's new Inspiron line.

The bottom line:
Dell has finally put design first with the head-turning XPS m1330 laptop, emphasizing both the "thin" and "light" aspects of the thin-and-light category without sacrificing features or performance.

PC Magazine says

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (Very Good)

The Good
Sleek chassis, thanks to the design overhaul. Integrated optical drive. Discrete graphics. Terrific performance. Great battery life. Video editor's hard drive. EV-DO Rev A option. Various colors to choose from.

The Bad:
HDMI-Out but no Blu-ray option. Nine-cell battery can turn it into a mainstream-weight laptop.

The bottom line:
The M1330 takes all the wonderful things from other ultraportables to create an ideal traveling companion.

NoteBookReview says

Rating: Not Available

The bottom line
Overall our first impressions of the sexy (I can’t stop calling it that) Dell XPS M1330 are overwhelmingly positive. If Dell would have put this design on the market two years ago (even with previous generation processors) fewer people would have purchased HP notebooks in 2006. While our complete review remains to be finished, the XPS M1330 is shaping up to be a remarkably well built and full-featured ultraportable notebook.

Related Laptop Reviews:
> Lenovo Thinkpad T61 Reviews

Nintendo and Wii Outstrip Sony

2007-06-25T23:08:00.000-07:00

Redherring: Nintendo briefly zipped past Sony in market capitalization on Monday to become one of Japan’s 10 most valuable companies as it elbows the PlayStation maker out of its decade-long dominance of the game industry.
Nintendo joined global household names such as Toyota Motor, Honda Motor, and Canon on the Top 10 list before its shares erased earlier gains and ended the day lower.

The Kyoto-based company finished in 11th place by market value, just above Panasonic maker Matsushita Electric Industrial and below Sony. Those companies, the world’s largest and second-largest consumer electronics makers, both have sales more than eight times as big as Nintendo’s.

“It is becoming quite clear that Nintendo is taking back its market share from Sony in the console market while well defending its stronghold of portable games,” Mizuho Securities analyst Takeshi Koyama said.

Windows vs. Mac vs. Linux - Which is more secure?

2007-06-22T05:04:00.000-07:00

According to a report released by Jeff Jones, the security strategy director in Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing Group, if you look at the number of publicly disclosed security vulnerabilities during the first 90 days of availability, Windows Vista turned out to be more secure than Windows XP, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Workstation, Ubuntu 6.06 LTS, Ubuntu 6.06 LTS - Reduced Component Set, Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10.8, Novell SLED 10 - Reduced Component Set and Mac OS X v10.4.

Question #1:Is Windows Vista really more secure than Mac and Linux platforms?

Question #2:If, despite reading the report, you’re still convinced that a Mac or Linux platform is more secure than Windows Vista, how do you bend your “reality” around this report?

Go ahead! Post your comments

Microsoft agrees to change Vista

2007-06-20T02:13:00.000-07:00

Microsoft Corp. has agreed to modify its Windows Vista operating system in response to a complaint that its computer search function put Google Inc. and other potential rivals at a disadvantage, the Justice Department and Microsoft said on Tuesday.

Under an agreement with the department and 17 state attorneys general and the District of Columbia, Microsoft will build into Vista an option to let users select a default desktop search program on personal computers running Windows.

The function, known as "Instant Search," allows Windows users to enter a search query and get a list of results from their hard drive that contain the search term.

The agreement was made public as part of a joint report that the Justice Department and Microsoft filed late on Tuesday with the court overseeing Microsoft's compliance with a 2002 antitrust consent decree.

As part of the deal, a Microsoft official said the company also had pledged to place links inside the Internet Explorer window and the "Start" navigation menu to make it easier for people to access that default desktop search service.

The changes will be introduced in a service pack, or updated version of Windows Vista software. Microsoft said it anticipates a test version of the Vista Service Pack 1 to be ready by the year-end.

Under the agreement, Microsoft also promised to provide additional technical information to third-party developers, such as Google, in order to optimize the performance of their desktop search service on Vista.

"These remedies are a step in the right direction, but they should be improved further to give consumers greater access to alternate desktop search providers," David Drummond, Google's chief legal officer, said in a statement.

The changes stem from a complaint Google filed with the Justice Department in December, in which it argued that a feature built into Vista that allows users to search a computer's hard drive did not leave room for competition from other desktop search applications.

Google said the feature violated the consent decree that monitors Microsoft's conduct as part of its settlement with the government.

"We are pleased that as a result of Google's request that the consent decree be enforced, the Department of Justice and state Attorneys General have required Microsoft to make changes to Vista," Drummond said.

The agreement is expected to be presented to the judge monitoring the consent decree, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, at a June 26 court hearing.

The Microsoft consent decree, which settled the government's landmark antitrust case against the company, is scheduled to expire in November. However, some provisions have been extended to November 2009.

Microsoft has called Google's complaint "baseless" and said it was in compliance with the antitrust settlement.

Source: money.cnn.com

i Want an Apple iPhone and i Want it now!

2007-06-19T05:59:00.000-07:00

Attention AT&T employees, Rogers Wireless executives and children of Steve Jobs: If you happen to have an Apple iPhone stashed somewhere, there is an unnamed celebrity living in New York who will pay $10,000 (U.S.) for the gadget.

The four-gigabyte iPhone will be released south of the border on June 29 with a slightly more reasonable price tag of $499 ($599 for an eight-gigabyte model), and the anticipation is clearly getting to some people.

The $10,000 offer was posted on the New York Craig's List website, and bids of up to $1,000 are as common on eBay as unworn wedding dresses.

Photographs of the pop star Madonna holding what may be an iPhone have swept across the Internet, receiving more scrutiny and skepticism than the Zapruder film, and Wired magazine has called the product release date "the June 29 retail rapture."

Excitement about the all-in-one iPod/phone/camera/computer/bragging right has reached a frenzy.

People across the continent are doing their best to be the first kid on the block to press their sweaty fingers against the touch-sensitive screen.

Both Apple and AT&T in the United States have received more than a million inquiries about the phone, and every celebrity within spitting distance of Mr. Jobs seems to be angling for one.

Comedy Central star Stephen Colbert recently made an appeal for the phone on his show The Colbert Report.

"There's some very disturbing news about this so-called revolutionary device: I don't have one yet. You see, I am a celebrity, which means I'm supposed to get things before anyone else," the comedian deadpanned. "But I've been checking my mail every single day since Steve Jobs announced this thing and, so far, I haven't gotten anything, except this stupid book."

Mr. Colbert then held up a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which will be released on July 21.

Even Google chief executive officer Eric Schmidt, who is a member of Apple's board of directors, admitted at the D5 digital technology conference at the end of last month that while he has held an iPhone, he does not have one of his own.

"I'm still waiting for mine," he said.

Other bold-faced names have taken a more active approach. Author and blog maven Arianna Huffington went directly to the source, asking Mr. Jobs the best way to score an iPhone.

"Don't go to an Apple store," he reportedly told her. "It will be a madhouse there. People will be lined up around the block, sleeping on the sidewalk to get one. Go to an AT&T ... store. Most people don't know that they will be selling them too."

The website Macdailynews- .com suggests using Google Earth to track down the nearest iPhone retailer, and a Mississauga man has already snatched up the domain name for iPhoneCanada, which posts updates about the product's availability.

The device's legendary status has also earned the highest tribute of today's hipster culture: It's on a T-shirt - Got iPhone?

In Canada, some iPhonephiles are contemplating a pilgrimage to Buffalo or other cities in the northern United States before the device's as-yet-unannounced Canadian release.

Steve Smith of Oakville, Ont., said he will most likely drive to the U.S. in early July to pick up a phone, even though there is no guarantee he will be able to convert it to a Canadian service provider.

"I don't know much about unlocking phones, but I've got a cousin who does, so I'm going to probably turn to him before I go and get one," he said.

Mr. Smith says the frustration of not knowing when he can get an iPhone is almost too much to take, but he would not pay more than the ticket price.

"I've got two teenagers, so I've been through the whole Wii craze and the Tickle Me Elmo phase where you're just paying to say you've got it," he said.

"I've waited a year for this thing now, so I can wait another six months if I have to."

Source:theglobeandmail.com

How Big Will The iPhone Be? May be a $10 billion business

2007-06-18T06:10:00.000-07:00

Beyond the hysteria surrounding its June 29 launch, the iPhone has the potential for adding a totally new, $10 billion-a-year business within just a few years. If Apple can expand so-called smartphones from a luxury carried by corporate road warriors into an everyday tool for the masses--combining the functions of a BlackBerry and an iPod--Apple could soon see a new growth tear.

That's the kind of thinking that has some analysts pegging Apple's stock price at 160 and up. They contend that the blazing success of Apple's Mac and iPod lines on their own justify much of Apple's current value. JMP Securities' Ingrid Ebeling used conservative price-earnings ratio projections for 2008 to calculate that the Mac business, with revenues of $11.7 Billion and net margins of 11%, would be worth $42.70 On its own. The ipod, with $10.8 Billion in revenues, 12% margins, and a slightly lower multiple given slowing growth, would be worth $38.87. Add in $6.36 For other music products, $6.76 For peripherals such as Apple TV, $5.91 For software, and $14.18 Per share in cash. You're already at $114.78--With no help from iPhone.

What the iPhone adds is a chance to grab prime position in a much bigger, faster-evolving business. Apple is trying to use its design and software expertise to win consumers who mostly buy Plain Jane phone models from entrenched players. The success of the iPod has been remarkable, with 100 million sold since 2001. But more than 1 billion cell phones are sold each year.

If Apple's goal of selling 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008 seemed ambitious to some back in January when Jobs first unwrapped his new baby, few doubt it now. Wall Street speculation has gone from how much market share it can steal, to how much it can expand the overall smartphone market, based on Apple's entry and the competitive response it will elicit from incumbents such as Nokia (NOK ), Palm (PALM ), and Research In Motion (RIMM ).

PRICE BARRIER:
The answer may not come till 2009. By then, Apple should have begun creating lower-cost iPhone variants to reach consumers scared off by the introductory $499 price. It also will probably have moved into overseas markets and cut deals with more carriers to utilize higher-speed wireless networks. So while most analysts look for Apple to sell around 3 million units this year and 10 to 12 million in 2008, many figure that 20 million will move in 2009. Piper Jaffray (PJC ) Cos. analyst Gene Munster thinks Apple could sell more than 40 million iPhones in 2009--enough to lift revenues more than 30% that year, and earnings by 40%.

Still, Apple will need to execute flawlessly. In units built and shipped, the iPhone launch will dwarf anything Apple has attempted. It plans to have 3 million iPhones ready for sale on June 29, two sources say. (Apple won't comment.) And with its touch-screen keyboard, powerful battery-sapping processors, and a panoply of new applications, the iPhone is far more complex than the iPod. Glitches could lead to costly recalls and returns if buyers find the phone buggy or confusing.It's easy to forget that the iPod wasn't an immediate hit when it rolled out. Apple had years to ramp up production. Jobs did so expertly, often creating a sense of scarcity by running slightly short of demand. With all the buildup over the iPhone, pumping up demand will be the least of his concerns.

Source:businessweek.com

Related iPhone Stories:
>Bajarin: Apple iPhone will fly off the store shelves
>Tips for landing an Apple iPhone
>Growing Mac sales could rise with iPhone, Mac OS X

>3 million iPhones ready for sale on June 29

>Apple iPhone Accessories Shipping Before iPhone Release

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Blockbuster goes Blu-ray only

2007-06-18T05:37:00.000-07:00

World's largest movie rental chain, Blockbuster, has decided to drop HD DVD from its local store selection and opt for Blu-ray only strategy. Company has 1,450 rental outlets and 1,200 of them will expand their Blu-ray selection in next month.

Company has run limited trials since late last year in 250 stores that have carried both, HD DVD and Blu-ray, titles and according to the company, people have opted for Blu-ray title in more than 70 percent of the cases.

Blockbuster will continue its HD DVD selection in 250 stores and also in its online rental service, but all remaining 1,200 stores will be Blu-ray only starting July, 2007.

Blockbuster's decision might spark a "domino effect" through the movie rental industry, if other large rental chains follow the suit.

Source: AVS Forum

Xbox 360 gets GTA IV episodic content exclusively

2007-06-18T02:26:00.000-07:00

Texyt: Microsoft is paying an unprecedented $50 million for exclusive rights to publish two episodes of the forthcoming game, Grand Theft Auto IV, on its Xbox 360 games console, according to statements from a senior executive at GTA IV publisher, Take-Two Interactive.

Take-Two has already recorded the payments in financial filings as deferred revenue, explained Lainie Goldstein, Take-Two’s newly appointed CFO, in a conference call with analysts.

Microsoft is paying $25 million each for two separate downloadable packages that are expected to expand the Xbox 360 version of GTA IV with new play areas and features exclusive to Xbox 360 owners. The first will be released in March 2008, Goldstein said. Details of pricing have not been announced.

Other Xbox stories:
>Nintendo Wii outselling PS3 and Xbox 360 combined
>Microsoft hints at $199 Xbox 360
>Final Fantasy Skips Xbox 360

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Nintendo Wii outselling PS3 and Xbox 360 combined in North America

2007-06-17T04:44:00.000-07:00

According to the latest NPD sales figures, the Nintendo Wii continues to dominate the North American market, with Nintendo selling more consoles than both Sony and Microsoft combined.

During the month of May, 338,000 Wii consoles were sold, compared to 155,000 Xbox 360s and only 82,000 PlayStation 3s. The Nintendo DS did even better, moving 423,000 units during the month. The Sony gaming handheld, PSP, sold 221,000 units mainly thanks to a recent price cut. The PlayStation 2 continued to sell well, pushing 188,000 units for the month.

Overall, console sales rose 79 percent during the month to hit $221 million USD.

Source:
afterdawn.com

Bajarin: Apple iPhone will fly off the shelves and continue to gain consumer interest and demand

2007-06-16T05:58:00.000-07:00

"I have had a chance to play with the iPhone on a couple of occasions," Tim Bajarin reports for PC Magazine.

"I believe the iPhone will fly off the shelves and continue to gain consumer interest and demand. There are three key reasons why I think it will be a major hit and that Steve Jobs's prediction of selling 10 million units in the iPhone's first 18 months on the market is extremely conservative," Bajarin reports.

• It is already one of the most anticipated gadgets we've seen in the last five years. The device's multitouch user interface and ability to be used as both a media playback device and a mobile Internet connection will make it successful from the start. Like the initial iPod, the first-generation product will still be too expensive for the mainstream consumer, but it will get the kind of buzz and early user feedback that will arouse interest and technolust in the broader consumer market.

• [Apple's] decision to put a complete version of OS X and its Web browser Safari on the iPhone creates an extremely robust platform. This is perhaps Apple's greatest strength. [Apple's] highly successful digital ecosystem, which ties hardware, software, and services into a single elegant packaged solution [will help fuel iPhone's success]. In fact, this is the area in which all other smartphone developers will fail with their iPhone-like devices. They may deploy similar touch-screen navigation and tie their phones to some music and video download services, but the lack of a powerful operating system like OS X will hamper their ability to create a communications, entertainment, and Web-based ecosystem robust enough to compete with the iPhone.

• By using OS X and a full version of Safari, Jobs says, the iPhone "delivers the Internet in your pocket." In my own short time playing with the iPhone, this is the one feature that awed me. I could not believe that I had a full Web-browsing experience on something this small.

Bajarin writes, "The iPhone will be the hottest product within the tech community for quite a while, and at the very least, it is going to give handset makers such as LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson nightmares for the foreseeable future."

Much more in the full article - highly recommended - here.

Source.macdailynews.com

Securing Safari: How to run Apple's Web browser securely

2007-06-15T06:49:00.000-07:00

At least one of the publicly discovered flaws of Safari for windows can be used to launch drive-by malware downloads if a user is lured to a malicious Web site. Here are several steps you can take to disable various features in Safari to reduce the risk of hacker attacks.

Step 1: On Apple's Safari download site, Windows users have two choices -- Safari bundled with QuickTime or Safari as a standalone download.
If you wish to beta test the new browser, avoid the QuickTime bundle, which could potentially introduce additional security risks. You can download the browser without giving your e-mail address to Apple.

Step 2: During the Safari for Windows installation process, Apple gives you the option to install the Bonjour networking service and a software update utility that helps with the patching/updating process.
For security reasons, uncheck the Bonjour service installation. There have been serious code execution holes found in this service.
Install the Apple Software Update tool to ensure you receive fixes and security patches automatically.

Step 3: On Safari for Windows, choose Edit from the menu and ensure that Block Pop-up Windows is checked.
The shortcut for this is Ctl+Shift+K.
This option will prevent sites from opening another window through the use of scripting, or active content.
You should be aware that while pop-up windows are often associated with advertisements, some sites may attempt to display content relevant to your usage of the site in a new window.
Therefore, setting this option may disable the functionality of some sites.
Source: CERT/CC (Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center).

Step 4: On Safari for Windows, choose Edit > Preferences
In the General tab, you can set up many options such as Save downloaded files to: and Open "safe" files after downloading.
CERT/CC recommends that you save downloaded files to a temporary folder that you create for downloading files. For security reasons, be sure to uncheck the Open "safe" files after downloading option.

Step 5: Move next to the AutoFill tab to select what types of forms your browser will fill in automatically. In general, CERT/CC recommends against using AutoFill features because if someone can gain access to your computer, or to the data files, then the AutoFill feature may permit them even easier access to other sites that they would not otherwise have the ability to access.
However, if used with appropriate protective measures, it may be acceptable to enable AutoFill.
On the Mac, use filesystem encryption software such as OS X FileVault to provide additional security for files that reside your home directory.

Step 6: The Security tab includes the most important settings to help reduce the risk of drive-by downloads. The Web Content section permits you to enable or disable various forms of scripting and active content. CERT/CC recommends disabling the first three options in this section, and only enabling them when you require the functionality of these features.

You should select the Block Pop-up Windows to prevent sites from opening another window through the use of scripting, or active content. However, be aware that while pop-up windows are often associated with advertisements, some sites may attempt to display content relevant to your usage of the site in a new window. Setting this option may therefore disable the functionality of some sites. Use Safari without plug-ins and Java by disabling the options Enable plug-ins and Enable Java. It is also safer to disable JavaScript. However, many web sites require JavaScript for proper operation.

You can also disable cookies and view or remove cookies that have been set.
CERT/CC recommends disabling cookies and enabling them only when you visit a site that requires their use. At this point, you should determine if the site is trustworthy (i.e., contains no malicious content and is securely designed) and determine whether you want to allow cookies to access the site’s content. After you are finished visiting the site, we recommend disabling cookies until you need to access a site that requires cookies.

You can limit cookies to the sites that you navigate to by selecting the option Only from sites you navigate to. This will permit sites that you visit to set cookies, but not third-party sites. Finally, we recommend selecting the Ask before sending a non-secure form to a secure website option. This will alert you when data is sent to a secure web site over an insecure channel.
Source: CERT/CC

Step 7: Safari (on Mac and Windows) offers a feature called Private Browsing.
You can turn this on via the Edit drop-down on Windows or from Safari on the Mac.
When Private browsing is turned on, Safari won’t store your Google searches, your cookies, the history of sites you’ve visited, your download history, or information from online forms you’ve filled out. If you’ve been browsing without private browsing turned on, just use Privacy Reset to empty your cache and clear Safari of your browsing, forms, and search history.

Source: content.zdnet.com

Apple Unable to Find iPhone Partner in Europe?

2007-06-15T06:34:00.000-07:00

A Vnunet.com article claims that European mobile operators are unwilling to concede to Apple's iPhone partnership demands.

"Operators consistently told us, not for attribution, of course, that they had spoken to Apple and found the company 'unbelievably arrogant', making demands that 'simply cannot be justified no matter how hot the product is'," Avi Greengart, a principal analyst at Current Analysis, wrote in an advisory on Monday.

"Several [operators] were adamant that they will never offer the iPhone."

The operators did not disclose to Greengart what demands Apple had imposed on European operators, he said in a phone interview.

Apple is preparing a US iPhone launch on 29 June. The company has previously promised a European release in the fourth quarter of this year.

In the US the device will be available only through mobile provider AT&T, previously known as Cingular. Apple has previously said that it is looking for a single partner for the entire European market.

Greengart suggested that Orange would be well suited to offer the iPhone, because it is the only operator that has significant Edge coverage in Europe.

The first version of the iPhone will feature an Edge radio, but lacks 3G capability. Edge is commonly referred to as 2.8G because it offers slightly slower data transaction rates that 3G.

Instead of partnering with an operator, Apple could opt to sell the iPhone through its existing dealer networks or partner with specialised mobile phone retailers such as Carphone Warehouse which has subsidiaries throughout Western Europe.

If Apple decided to sell the iPhone directly to consumers, it would have to sell the devices without simlock, allowing the buyer to insert their own Sim card.

This is not an option for the US market because several providers do not use Sim cards, and because operators use different network standards that prevent the iPhone working on some networks.

But going operator-free would pose a new challenge for Apple because the phone relies on the provider to power features such as the visual voice mail.

This allows the user to view and select the sender of a message, instead of having to listen to the entire queue of left messages.

This would force Apple to host voicemail or seek an outside partnership to bypass the voicemail services offered by operators.

If this story is true I am wondering what could have been Apple's iPhone partnership demands that the operators are cribbing about??

Surveys show massive Apple iPhone demand; customers ready and willing to switch to AT&T

2007-06-15T06:19:00.000-07:00

"AT&T Inc. stands a good chance of stealing customers away from other wireless operators by carrying Apple Inc.'s highly-anticipated iPhone, two new consumer surveys show," Amol Sharma and Nick WIngfield report for The Wall Street Journal. "Two-thirds of mobile-phone users who are interested in purchasing the iPhone aren't AT&T customers but would be willing to switch carriers to obtain the device, according to a survey in May of about 11,000 cellphone users by M:Metrics Inc., which tracks wireless industry trends."

"The carrier with the most to be concerned about is T-Mobile USA, according to the survey, with 12.5% of its customers expressing a high interest in the phone; followed by 8.1% for Sprint Nextel Corp.; and 6.7% for Verizon Wireless. T-Mobile is seen as especially vulnerable because it has a high share of users in the 18-to-24 age group," Sharma and WIngfield report. "Overall demand for the device is massive. About 19 million people in the U.S., or roughly 9% of cellphone users, are highly interested in purchasing the iPhone, even when armed with the knowledge they'll need to pay $499 or $599 to snatch up one of the two versions, and will need to be an AT&T subscriber, according to M:Metrics.

"In a separate online survey of 680 people who were shopping for iPods on the Internet, Compete Inc. polled consumers [and found that] 12% of respondents said they have postponed their wireless-phone purchases to wait for the release of the iPhone and an equal percentage said they had postponed their purchase of an MP3 player... [The research consulting firm] said 15% of its respondents were either likely or extremely likely to purchase an iPhone [and] a quarter of the people interviewed said they were either very likely or extremely likely to switch cellular carrier to AT&T to get the iPhone," Sharma and WIngfield report.

Full article (subscription required) here.

iTunes sets up shop in Bebo

2007-06-15T05:37:00.000-07:00

Apple has signed a deal with social network, Bebo, which sees the company selling digital music to the site’s 8.8m users in the UK and Ireland.

If the “experiment” goes well, the partnership could be extended to the whole of Bebo’s user-base. The deal makes a lot of sense and signifies the first time Apple has shown any real interest in exploiting the growth of social networks. Thirty-two percent of Bebo’s users are 16- to 24-year-olds, and Apple clearly sees this as an opportunity to wean this demographic off illegal downloads.

Apple iPhone Specifications and Requirements

2007-06-15T03:24:00.000-07:00

Apple iPhone's official list of Specification (specs):
• System requirements
- Mac or PC
- iTunes 7
- Internet access is required, and a broadband connection is recommended
- Mac: Mac with a USB 2.0 port, Mac OS X 10.4.8 or later
- PC: Windows PC with a USB 2.0 port and Windows XP Home or Professional (Service Pack 2)

• External Controls
- Volume Up / Down
- Ringer / Silent
- Power / Lock
- Sleep / Wake
- Menu Button

• Dimensions
- 4.5 x 2.4 x 0.46 inches / 115 x 61 x 11.6mm

• Weight: 4.8 ounces / 135 grams

• Input Method
- Multi-touch

• Operating System
- OS X

• Screen size
- 3.5 inches

• Screen resolution
- 320 x 480 at 160 ppi

• Storage
- 4GB or 8GB

• GSM
- Quad-band (MHz: 850, 900, 1800, 1900)

• Wireless data
- Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) + EDGE + Bluetooth 2.0

• Camera
- 2.0 megapixels

• Battery
- Lithium
- Up to 5 hours - Talk / Video / Browsing
- Up to 16 hours - Audio playback
(Battery life varies by use)

• Connectors and other input & output
- 30 pin iPod connector
- 3.5mm jack includes audio and mic support
- SIM tray
- Built-in speaker
- Built-in microphone

Source:macrumors.com

Sony Ericsson to Unveil 9GB Music Phone

2007-06-14T08:17:00.000-07:00

Sony Ericsson is launching six new phones, including a high-end Walkman model with 9GB Flash memory, redesigned display.

Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB will launch late Thursday in Berlin six new phones, including a high-end Walkman-branded handset with around 9G bytes of internal Flash memory, according to a company spokeswoman.

The music-centric Walkman will more than double the internal memory of previous models and will feature a newly designed media player and large-touch display for easy navigating. But, unlike Apple Inc.'s planned iPhone, the new Walkman will include a keyboard.

iProdReviews view point: Why do they have to even mention iPhone here? Walkman is a total no match for iPhone.

"Our new Walkman mobile phone isn't designed as a response to the iPhone but as a further development of the Walkman," the Sony Ericsson spokeswoman said.

Sony Ericsson will also unveil the latest in its line of Cybershot camera phones, a 5-megapixel device. Several new accessories will be introduced in Berlin, including a GPS (global positioning system) unit that can be connected to a mobile phone and new Bluetooth headsets.

What the Japanese-Swedish joint venture will not be announcing in Berlin is a new video game-mobile phone based on Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP) handheld device, the spokeswoman said. The blogosphere was full of rumors of a new PSP mobile phone after Japanese employees of Sony Ericsson last month filed a patent application with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office for a mobile phone with video game features.

"The patent is registered; we register many patents," the spokeswoman said. "But we don't have a PSP mobile phone in the planning. I can't say that we won't see such a device in 10 years but there are no plans to build one at the present time." The spokeswoman said that the company's current focus is on music, imaging and the Web, but not on the PSP.

Which isn't to say that PSP owners won't be able to make calls soon.

Last month, British Telecommunications PLC (BT) announced its work on a software-based Internet telephony package for the portable device. The system will allow PSP users to make voice and video calls across a Wi-Fi network. Later it will be extended to cover calls and messages to PCs, fixed-line phones and cell phones.
Source: PCWorld.com

Sony threatens PlayStation 3 hackers

2007-06-14T05:36:00.000-07:00

After reports surfaced that hackers had cracked the PlayStation 3's anti-piracy software, Sony America has declared that it will "aggressively pursue" anyone who is caught doing so. They have said the activity will merit legal action if caught.

"Unfortunately, hackers will try to exploit any hardware system software," SCEA spokesperson Dave Karraker said. "The best we can do as a company is to make our security that much stronger and aggressively pursue legal action against anyone caught trying to use an exploit in an illegal manner."

According to CVG.com, hackers have cracked the PS3 firmwares 1.10 and 1.11, which allow the consoles with those firmwares to boot pirated games. Although the games boot, so far hackers have not gotten any pirated games to actually play.

So far, despite diligent efforts, all consoles have been hacked but there are some repercussions besides legal action. Hackers run the risk of bricking their expensive consoles, as well as getting banned from the PlayStation Network.

"Naturally, any use of an exploit on the system software does void the warranty on the PS3 system... Which could be a costly mistake to see if you can run an old SEGA CD game on it," said Karraker.

Source: GI.biz

Sony may increase Blu-ray shipments by 600%

2007-06-14T02:46:00.000-07:00

TV Predictions: Sony said yesterday that it might increase shipments of Blu-ray players in the U.S. by 600 percent this year, according to an article from Bloomberg News.

The news service reports that Sony believes that Blu-ray sales will rise dramatically this year due to the exclusive release of several blockbuster films on the high-def DVD format.

Four of the eight major film studios are backing Blu-ray exclusively with only one (Universal) supporting HD DVD exclusively.

Sony shipped less than 100,000 Blu-ray players in the U.S. last year, but could ship up to 600,000 in 2007.

Apple’s disappointing iPhone message

2007-06-14T02:39:00.000-07:00

Macworld: One of the biggest questions surrounding the iPhone since its January preview was whether developers outside of Apple would be able to create software that would run on the phone.

And just 18 days before the iPhone’s June 29 release, Steve Jobs stood on stage at the Worldwide Developers Conference and told software makers that Apple had found an answer: a “sweet” way to support outside iPhone development.

Unfortunately, if you’re thinking that Apple really addressed third-party development in Steve Jobs’s keynote, you’d be wrong. While many people have clamored for support for widgets and applications, Monday’s announcement actually did nothing at all to address either issue. Instead, it told developers that since Safari on the iPhone is a full-fledged web browser, they can use Ajax and CSS to make nice, pretty Web-based applications.

Now, don’t get me wrong, you can do quite a bit with Ajax and CSS, as the demo of an Apple-created address book lookup tool showed. However, tools created using this solution are not true applications.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC T100 Specifications

2007-06-14T01:15:00.000-07:00

LCD: 3.0"(230K Pixels) Clear Photo LCDTM plus screen

Viewfinder: N/A

Lens Construction: 12 Elements in 10 Groups, 3 Aspheric Elements

Microphone/Speaker: Yes/ Yes

Lens Type: Carl Zeiss® Vario-Tessar®

Docking Station: Yes, via optional HD cradle

Recording Media: 31MB internal Flash Memory, optional Memory Stick® DUO Media, optional Memory Stick DUO PRO™ Media

Imaging Device: 1/2.5" Super HAD™ CCD

Megapixel:8.1 MP

Total Zoom: 10X

Optical Zoom:5X

Digital Zoom:0-2.0X (Precision)

Smart Zoom® Technology: Up to 6.3X (5MP), 8.0X (3MP), 8.5X (16:9 2MP) 25X (VGA Resolution)

Date/Time Stamp: No/ No

Erase/Protect: Yes/Yes

Media/Battery Indicator: Yes/Yes

Memory Stick PRO™ Media Compatibility: Tested to support up to 8GB Memory Stick DUO PROTM media capacity; does not support Access Control security function.

Color Mode(s): Black & White, Natural, Sepia, Vivid

Red-Eye Reduction:Yes (On/Off all modes)

Self Timer: Yes (10 seconds, 2 seconds, Off)

Still Image Mode(s): Burst, Normal JPEG, Exposure Bracketing

White Balance: Automatic, Cloudy, Daylight, Fluorescent 1, Fluorescent 2, Fluorescent 3, Incandescent, Flash

Movie Mode(s): MPEG VX Fine with Audio (640x480 at 30fps) (MPEG VX Fine requires Memory Stick DUO PRO™ media), MPEG VX Standard with Audio (640x480 at 16fps), Presentation Mode (320 x 240 at 8.3fps).

Power Save Mod: Yes (after approx. 3 min. of inactivity)

Scene Mode(s): Beach, Fireworks, High Speed Shutter, High Sensitivity, Landscape, Snow, Soft Snap, Twilight, Twilight Portrait

Audio/Video Output(s): Yes via Mutli-Use Connector

USB Port(s): Yes (Supports USB 2.0)

Battery Capacity: 3.6V, 960 mAh

Battery Type: Lithium-Ion NP-BG1

Limited Warranty: 1 Year Parts & Labor

Operating System Compatibility: Microsoft® 2000 Professional, Me, XP Home and Professional; Macintosh® OS 9.1/9.2/OS X (10.0-10.4)

Supplied Software: Windows: Picture Motion Browser Vers 2.0 + USB Driver

Bionz™ Engine: Yes (LSI with Dynamic Range Optimizer (DRO))

Choose any of these options:
> Check out the product features of Sony Cyber-shot DSC T100
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Sony Cyber-shot DSC T100 Features

2007-06-13T23:36:00.000-07:00

Features:
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100 fits an amazing combination of high-tech features into super-slim dimensions. It has high-resolution 8.1 MP imaging, a powerful 5X optical zoom lens and a huge 3.0" Clear Photo LCD Plus™ screen that lets you snap and share photos easily. Innovative technologies like Face Detection, in-camera retouching, D-range optimization and HD (high definition) output expand the possibilities of digital photography -- and the Sony Double Anti-Blur Solution lets you shoot in low light without flash to preserve the mood. The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100 is available in four colors, including silver, black and red.

Sleek, Ultra-Slim Vertical Design
With silver-accent case in matte silver, sleek black or chic red, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100 looks like no other digital camera -- and fits your lifestyle as easily as it slips into your pocket, briefcase, purse or handbag.

8.1 MP Super HAD™ CCD
More megapixels give you more detail and definition when you make big prints or crop in tight on your subject. The advanced Sony® Super HAD™ (Hole Accumulated Diode) CCD design allows more light to pass to each pixel, increasing sensitivity and reducing noise.

Carl Zeiss® 5X Optical Zoom Lens Design
With 5X power to zoom in on our subject, this ingenious Carl Zeiss® lens design brings you closer to the action -- and optical zoom also operates in movie mode, so the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100 can follow family sports action with ease. Macro and Magnifying Glass modes are also provided for super-sharp close-ups and miniature hobby photography.

Face Detection-2
By automatically controlling focus, exposure, color and flash, this new Sony feature reveals faces in shadow, makes skin tones look more natural and eliminates harsh facial glare -- to help bring out every expression on every face in every shot, so you’ll capture the personalities and emotions that make memories come alive.

The Sony Double Anti-Blur Solution
With Super SteadyShot® Image Stabilization and high sensitivity (ISO 3200), the DSC-T100 compensates for shaky hands, minimizes blur, brightens images and allows flash-free shooting to preserve the mood -- and Sony Clear RAW™ Noise Reduction reduces the picture noise that can ruin low-light shots.

3.0” Clear Photo LCD Plus™ Screen
The huge, bright 3.0” screen of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100 is styled to fit flush against the camera back for a clean-line look, with Clear Photo LCD Plus™ design to make photos look more natural even in sunlight.

Simple Setup Controls
A quick press of the Home button opens your user-friendly GUI -- and you can select functions by simply moving a cursor vertically or horizontally to the appropriate icon. Function names and the on-screen Function Guide display make it easier to learn camera setup operations.

HD Output
Thanks to Sony, your photo album can go high-def -- with direct HD output2 to your HDTV screen, so you can share DSC-T100 still photos with family and friends in spectacular high definition clarity and detail. Your life never looked so exciting!

HD Slide Show with Music
It’s the high-definition viewing experience that makes photos come alive on HDTV screens, accompanied by your choice of visual effects and any of four preset musical selections stored in memory or your favorite MP3 tunes downloaded from PC to your camera for use as background music.

9-Point Auto Focus
Because an off-center subject can make your shot more interesting, the DSC-T100 can measure auto-focus precision at 9 points on your screen -- giving you greater creative freedom to compose your image.

D-Range Optimization
Powered by the exclusive Sony Bionz® high-speed processing engine, D-Range Optimization preserves image data in bright highlights and reveals more detail in shadows or backlit areas -- for great results even in difficult lighting conditions.

In-Camera Retouching
The DSC-T100 lets you add creative effects to photos after you shoot -- including soft edge filter to soften backgrounds, cross filter to place starry “dazzles” at highlight points, partial color filter to mute surrounding colors, even fish-eye filter to create interesting fish-eye lens effects.

In-Camera Red-Eye Reduction
Irritating “glowing eyes” can ruin even the most creative photos -- so the DSC-T100 provides in-camera correction at the touch of a button to reduce lingering red-eye effect that other systems might miss.

31 MB Internal Memory
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100 allows you to capture a large number of images without a flash memory card, so it’s great for traveling or for quick candid snapshots.

Memory Stick Duo™ Media Convenience
A built-in slot accepts optional Memory Stick Duo™ media or Memory Stick PRO Duo™ media -- the compact, high-capacity storage media that make it easily to upload photos to your computer or make lab-quality prints at home on your Sony Picture Station™ digital printer (sold separately).

25X Smart Zoom® Feature
The Sony Smart Zoom® feature intelligently “crops into” the central portion of interest in your photo, avoiding the image degradation of other digital zooms.

MPEG Movie VX Fine Mode
Captures VGA (640 x 480) audio/video clips at high frame rate (up to 30 frames per second), with length limited only by the capacity of your media.

Stamina® Battery Power
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100 provides up to 340 shots with a fully charged NP-BG1 Lithium Ion battery -- enough shooting capacity to cover a long weekend or a whole vacation.

Picture Motion Browser Software
Supplied software makes it easier to upload, organize and search photos on your PC -- and provides a convenient map view function to sort photos by location and display their origin on a world map by using an optional GPS unit.

Choose any of these options:
> See all the reviews of Sony Cyber-shot DSC T100
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Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100 (silver) Reviews

2007-06-13T05:18:00.000-07:00

The Sony cyber-shot DSC T100 fits an amazing combination of high-tech features into super-slim dimensions. It has high-resolution 8.1 MP imaging, a powerful 5X optical zoom lens and a huge 3.0" Clear Photo LCD Plus™ screen that lets you snap and share photos easily. Innovative technologies like Face Detection, in-camera retouching, D-range optimization and HD (high definition) output expand the possibilities of digital photography -- and the Sony Double Anti-Blur Solution lets you shoot in low light without flash to preserve the mood. The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100 is available in four colors, including silver, black and red.

PC Magazine Review for Sony cyber-shot DSC T100:

Editor Rating: 4 out of 5 (Very Good)

Bottom Line:
Sony cyber-shot DSC T100 is a new point-and-shoot Digital Camera that has a lovely design and takes excellent pictures, but it costs too much.

The Good/Pros:
Excellent performance and image quality. Exquisite product design.

The Bad/Cons:
Way too pricey. No wide-angle end of the zoom. Slight distortion in non-telescoping lens.

The Review:
Sony's various point-and-shoot cameras generally have three things in common: They have exquisite product design, take pictures of excellent quality, and are overpriced. The 8.1-megapixel Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100 is no exception. That it possesses the first two qualities I mentioned nearly made it an Editors' Choice winner, but the steep price ($399.99 direct) knocks it out of contention....

Read the Sony cyber-shot DSC T100 full review here.

CNET Review for Sony cyber-shot DSC T100:

Editor Rating: 8.2 out of 10

Bottom Line:
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100 Digital Camera is a slim point-and-shoot whose generous feature set, great photos, and quick performance make it an excellent choice for a pocket camera.

The Good/Pros:
Great photos; relatively fast performance; above-average features for its class, including 5x zoom lens and nine-point autofocus.

The Bad/Cons: Buttons are a little small; no optical viewfinder.

The Review:
The latest in a long line of stylish cameras, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100 shares the same slim, metallic profile and signature sliding lens cover/power switch as the rest of the Cyber-shot T-series. Don't let the DSC-T100's pretty face fool you, though; this handy shooter proves that you can have plenty of substance with your style.

The camera's easily pocketable, all-metal body measures just 0.875-inch thick and weighs a bit more than six ounces. It comes in silver, black, and red, so you can have your choice of colors. Despite its sensibly laid out controls, the DSC-T100 still sacrifices some of its function for form; the camera's buttons feel smaller and more shallow than I would like and can be a bit tricky for large thumbs.....

Read the Sony cyber-shot DSC T100 full review here

PhotographyBlog review for Sony cyber-shot DSC T100:

Editor Rating: 4 out of 5

The Review:
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100 Digital Camera is the latest addition to Sony's ever-growing range of fashion conscious compact cameras. Aimed firmly at the fashionista crowd, this 8 megapixel model offers a combination of 5x inset zoom lens equivalent to 35-175mm and a massive 3 inch LCD screen, currently the most powerful zoom and largest LCD in Sony’s T-series. Less than half an inch thick, in addition the Sony T100 boasts high-definition output so you can take full advantage of any HD equipment already in your home. This year's killer feature, face detection technology, is obviously included on such a headlining camera, and the T100 is available in a choice of silver, red or black.

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100 certainly looks the part and has a great list of features, but can its performance and image quality match the camera's all-round style? Gavin Stoker took the Sony T100 for a test drive to find out....

Read the Sony cyber-shot DSC T100 full review here

Other Reviews:
Digital Trends has a review of the Sony Cybershot DSC-T100 and writes, "Since this camera is so small, there’s really no way to support it properly; you have to hold it with your thumbs and index fingers. This grip opens you to a world of shaky stills but fortunately, the DSC-T100 has optical image stabilization and high ISOs (3200 max) to help smooth out the jitters. Naturally, if you’re shooting with just available light (no flash), there’s noise galore in very dim scenes but this is to be expected with any camera that crams 8 million pixels on a 1 /2.5-inch CCD. ... I would’ve given this camera an Editor’s Choice designation except for one problem.

Although Sony promotes the fact this camera outputs HD-quality shots to your HDTV, the only way you can do it is by purchasing an optional accessory for at least $40. Bummer. Given its long list of other excellent features—8.2MP resolution, quality photos, optical image stabilization, a 3-inch LCD, excellent menu system and Face Detection--this should have had a higher rating. Still this is an excellent 2007 camera and does the T series proud."

Digital Camera Info has a first impressions review of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100 and writes, "The point-and-shoot market is saturated with 7-megapixel slim cameras that have 3x optical zoom lenses and hardly any manual capability. Enter the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100, which seems to one-up the competition on just about everything. The slim fashionable camera has 8.1 megapixels and a 5x optical zoom lens with image stabilization. Its 3-inch screen can be seen from just about any angle, and it has a movie mode that utilizes the optical zoom and allows some manual control.

It packs in all kinds of features like high-definition viewing, face detection auto focus, wide ISO range, and slide shows with music. The model at the show was preproduction, so its specs and menus aren’t finalized. We look forward to fully testing and reviewing the T10 when everything is finalized in a month or two. On first review, the T100 indicates that it’s definitely worth a double-take. If it can back up its solid feature set with solid imaging capability, then it’s worth the $399."

ComputerActive has a review of the Sony Cybershot DSC-T100 and writes, "If we’re being picky on close inspection there is some image softness at the wide end of the zoom and – though consistent results can be achieved at the opposite telephoto end – they would benefit from overall sharpening in an image-editing software package. ... Sturdy, well-built, attractively fashioned and, in most instances, quick to respond, the T100 will appeal to anyone wanting a better lens reach than the standard 3x, but a camera that’s still just a tad larger in height and width than a credit card."

Check out all the Sony Cyber-shot DSC T100 Digital Cameras for sales on ebay:

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Safari 3 Is Slower Than IE 7, Firefox

2007-06-13T00:05:00.000-07:00

Apple CEO Steve Jobs touted Safari 3's speed as one of its most appealing features. But in tests by Wired News, the first public beta of Safari for Windows is actually slower than both Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 2 when accessing Ajax-intensive web applications.

To test each browser's speed, I measured download times for the following test cases:
> Time to download the login page for Google Mail
> Time from login until the Google Mail index page appeared, with 50 messages, and all graphics and message status indicators
> Time to launch Google Calendar and display two subscribed
calendars

Using a Windows XP Service Pack 2 machine, I tested Firefox 2, Internet Explorer 7, and Safari 3, running the above suite at least three times for each browser. In between each suite I logged out of Google, cleared each browser's cache, history, cookies, and associated files, then shut down and restarted the browser.

The results show that Safari is slower than both IE 7 and Firefox in the login page and message index tests, in both cases by a substantial margin. Only when loading Google Calendar does Safari have a slight edge, clocking in at 12.8 seconds to IE's 17 seconds. But even there, Firefox has both the other browsers beat.

The verdict? Firefox may be getting bloated, but it's still the fastest Windows browser, particularly for running Google web applications.

Source:blog.wired.com

Movie studios fear Apple TV

2007-06-12T23:26:00.000-07:00

Several big name movie studios have announced that they are fearful of the future of their film industry should the Cupertino, California based company Apple succeed with its Apple TV offering.

Released earlier this Spring, Apple TV seemed poised to take on the movie industry by offering select downloads from their iTunes service featuring a robust catalog of movies. With Disney already on board with Apple offering new releases and several other smaller studios offering titles from their older collection, Apple already offers some 500 movies. This new wave of film availability has sent the bigger movie moguls reeling.

The likes of Sony, Universal and 20th Century Fox will be missing from the iTunes list until they can see Apple implement a more viable plan for battling internet piracy. Additionally, these studios, along with a few others, believe that offering the convenience of downloading movies for a discounted rate through Apple's service will inevitably drive the price of DVDs down. With DVD sales being the industry's bread and butter, and with many poised to make their money from the next generation disks, this poses a huge business threat for future productivity.

Apple has already proven with the music industry that it could single handedly force the price of CD sales down. For years, the average price for a CD was $13. Since the release of iTunes, research shows a significant reduction in pricing. This move was achieved by a sweet talking Steve Jobs who had convinced the music industry at the time that his 99 cent downloads would battle the rampant internet piracy that the industry was facing. Most of the record labels jumped on board and touted Jobs as their savior.

The movie studios are fearful that a similar thing can happen with movies. By offering a lower price for new releases and with Apple TV's ability to stream content to the consumer's television, this could severely impact the DVD market in both cost and amount of units sold.

Another major concern is the fact that Apple's vulnerable iPod can play any mp3 music that is loaded into it, regardless of whether or not it was purchased by legitimate means or not. The movie industry says they are waiting for something along the lines of a digital watermark to be implemented so that the media will not play on Apple TV unless the watermark is present. The big name labels are still in talks with Apple to negotiate how to handle the next wave of digital convenience. No word yet on whether or not the way you view your movies will change in the near future.

Source: LA Times

Tips for landing an Apple iPhone

2007-06-12T23:07:00.000-07:00

Apple CEO Steve Jobs recently gave free advice to a columnist asking how to get an iPhone when they go on sale: head to an AT&T store, Jobs suggested, rather than Apple's own retail outlets.

• Log on to Apple's Web-based store on June 29. The phone is set to go on sale at 6 p.m. that day, Jobs announced. Sign up for updates here. But forget trying AT&T's e-commerce site; the company says it won't be selling iPhones online, at least initially.

• Call a few local AT&T stores and see if you can get on their waiting lists or if your local sales representative has any tips about how that particular store is handling requests. Most will tell you it's all first-come, first-served, but practices appear to vary widely.

• Show up early at an Apple store or company-owned AT&T store before they open on June 29. Most stores say they will be keeping normal hours that day, although midnight parties at Apple stores don't appear to be completely ruled out. The big question is how many phones each store will stock. It has been speculated that Three million Apple iPhones will be launch?

• Wait until the June 29 mania dies down and hope that AT&T and Apple decide to allow locally owned AT&T franchises and resellers to carry the product as well. More locations should mean more units--and shorter lines.

Also check out the iPhone accessories even before it is launched.

Source:news.com

Lenovo Thinkpad T61 Review

2007-06-12T04:57:00.000-07:00

Find here all Lenovo ThinkPad T61 Reviews, Specifications and how/where to buy Lenovo ThinkPad T61.

Lenovo ThinkPad T61 Widescreen

is the best business laptop for those who love widescreens. A standard-screen model will be available with the same powerful Centrino Duo components. Fastest Intel components available. Excellent performance scores. Very good 3D scores. Fast hard drive. EV-DO antenna is now hidden. Fabulous keyboard and dual pointing devices. Lightweight chassis.

PC Magazine Review for Lenovo Thinkpad T61:

Editor Rating:4.5 out of 5 (Very Good)

Bottom Line:
The Lenovo ThinkPad T61 Widescreen is the best business laptop for those who love widescreens. A standard-screen model will be available with the same powerful Centrino Duo components.

The Good/Pros:
Fastest Intel components available. Excellent performance scores. Very good 3D scores. Fast hard drive. EV-DO antenna is now hidden. Fabulous keyboard and dual pointing devices. Lightweight chassis.

The Bad/Cons:
Batteries are not compatible with previous T60s. You'll need to upgrade the battery.

Review: An Intel chipset launch is never complete without Lenovo offering a new ThinkPad to take advantage of it. The Lenovo ThinkPad T61 Widescreen ($2,510 direct) is the latest in Lenovo's ThinkPad T-series of world-class laptops that have stood the test of time among corporate professionals. With the T61 Widescreen, you get the absolute best from Intel's newest Centrino Duo platform. The system is loaded with Intel's fastest Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, and discrete graphics from the available nVidia Quadro NVS 140M. When you factor in all the other intangibles (comfortable keyboard, lightweight chassis, and more), it's obvious why the Editors' Choice for business laptops couldn't go to anyone else....

Read the Lenovo ThinkPad T61 Widescreen full review here.

CNET Review for Lenovo Thinkpad T61

Editor Rating: 7.6 out of 10 (Very Good)

The Bottom Line:
Lenovo's 14-inch ThinkPad T61 shaves a few millimeters off the company's more mainstream R-series laptops, but still boasts the same, solid ThinkPad DNA along with IT-friendly features by way of Intel's new Centrino Pro platform.

The Good/Pros:
Internal roll cage protects LCD; 802.11n Wi-Fi for faster wireless throughput; very small A/C adaptor adds little to overall travel weight; Intel's Active Management Technology provides remote support.

The Bad/Cons:
New Centrino technology doesn't offer outsize performance gains.

Review:
Unless you put them side by side, you'd be hard-pressed to spot the physical differences between the two new Centrino laptops from Lenovo, the ThinkPad T61 and the ThinkPad R61. Both 14-inch models include all the important parts of Intel's revamped Centrino platform, including new Core 2 Duo CPUs, extra onboard Turbo Memory (for boosting access times), and 802.11n Wi-Fi. While the slightly bulkier Centrino Duo ThinkPad R61 aims for the sweet spot in the price/performance matrix, the more expensive Centrino Pro T61 is a little thinner, a little lighter, and adds Intel's Active Management Technology, allowing the IT department to manage the system from afar, even when it's in sleep mode or powered down...

Read the Lenovo ThinkPad T61 full review here.

Review from NoteBookReview.com on Lenovo Thinkpad T61

Editor Rating: 3.4 out of 5

The Bottom Line:
The Lenovo ThinkPad T61 14.1" widescreen notebook is easy to recommend as a laptop for those that want a highly durable system that provides powerful performance while on the go. The new cooling system design works wonders for keeping the temperature of the notebook down below 50C and limiting the need for the fan to run. The keyboard is as excellent as ever, the sturdy build is great, and the new port options are appreciated. I'd like to see a brighter screen option, in strong office lighting situations the screen can appear pretty washed out. Overall though the ThinkPad T61 does a great job of combining excellent usability features and performance, keeping the T-series well established as the leading portable business notebook.

The Good/Pros:
> Excellent build quality, magnesium internal cage in lid and body provide extra protection.
> Keyboard is highly usable, one of the best in the industry.
> System runs cool, even though it now has more powerful processor.
> FireWire and media card reader are nice new port options for the T-series.
> Great performance and good battery life with integrated graphics.
> Integrated WWAN and web camera are nice options to have.

The Bad/Cons :
> Screen brightness is lacking, in strong lighting situations screen appears washed out
> Would rather not have the Windows Live toolbar built-in
> T61 is thicker than the ThinkPad T60 and T43 notebooks
> Screen is not centered

Read the Lenovo ThinkPad T61 full review here.

Watch out for more reviews coming soon....

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How or Where to Buy Lenovo Thinkpad

2007-06-12T03:07:00.000-07:00

Check out the Lenovo Thinkpads for sales on ebay:

Shop/Buy Lenovo Thinkpad Online in US:
> Amazon.com > CDW.com > Computers4sure.com
> MobilePlanet.com > PCConnection.com > PCMall.com
> Staples.com > Zones.com

Shop/Buy Lenovo Thinkpad Online in UK:
> cheritononline.co.uk > dabs.com > hemini.co.uk
> uk.insight.com > PCWB.com > technoworld.com
> toyecomputer.co.uk > wstore.co.uk

Shop/Buy Lenovo Thinkpad at a Retailer in US:

Shop/Buy Lenovo Thinkpad at a Retailer in UK & other countries:

Please click Lenovo Dealer Locator

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Lenovo Thinkpad T61 Specification & System Requirements

2007-06-12T00:35:00.000-07:00

Operating System: Genuine Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium

System Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T7100 (1.8GHz 800MHz 2MBL2)

Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz

Display type: 15.4 WXGA TFT

System Graphics: Intel GMA X3100 GM965 w/ WWAN

Total Memory: 512 MB PC2-5300 SDRAM DDR2 667MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)

Pointing Device: UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad)

Hard Drive: 60GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm Optical Drive: DVD-ROM 8x Max, Ultrabay Slim

Wireless Card: Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN

Battery: 6 cell Li-Ion Battery

Warranty: 6465: Express - 1 Yr Depot Warranty

Each of the above items can be customizable which will either add up to the total cost or reduce the total cost.

Choose any of these options:

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Apple says iPhone supports third party applications

2007-06-11T22:54:00.001-07:00

After months of speculation ever since the iPhone was first introduced earlier this year, Apple Inc. has confirmed that there will be support for some third-party applications. However, developers will be able to create applications using the full Safari engine instead of writing code that works directly with the handset.

The announcement was made by Apple CEO Steve Jobs at this year's Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco. This move means that Apple is able to keep its iPhone interface secure. Developers will be able to use standard Web 2.0 + AJAX coding to create applications that will be able to be integrated with the iPhone services. Apple also said that no software development kit (SDK) will be necessary, developers will only need to understand web standards.

The company also revealed that there is no secret 12th application as has been speculated. "Third party apps can be live from day one", Jobs said. "This is how Google do it, how Saleforce do it and it means that the phone will stay secure." The iPhone is due out in the U.S. on June 29th.

Apple takes on Microsoft by releasing Safari Web browser for Windows

2007-06-11T22:45:00.000-07:00

"Apple Inc. will create a version of its Safari Internet browser for Windows, Chief Executive Steve Jobs said on Monday, challenging Microsoft Corp. in its key stronghold of Web access software," Scott Hillis reports for Reuters.

"The move by Apple, which has expanded beyond its Macintosh computer core with iPod music players that work with Windows and the upcoming iPhone, could let the company control how the vast majority of people use the Web at a time when services and programs are increasingly becoming Internet-based," Hillis reports.

"Jobs also said Apple would let outside developers create applications to run on its upcoming iPhone by tapping Safari, softening the company's previous position that the device would not support other software due to security concerns," Hillis reports."Speaking at Apple's annual developers' conference in San Francisco, Jobs put Microsoft's dominant Internet Explorer browser squarely in his sights, saying that test versions of Apple's Safari software were twice as fast," Hillis reports."'We assume Safari for Windows should increase market share and encourage Web site developers to allow for greater compatibility with Safari,' Soleil Equity Research analyst Shannon Cross said," Hillis reports. "'It should also help increase Apple's exposure to the Windows community and potentially attract a larger audience of switchers,' Cross wrote in a research note."

Full article here.

Growing Mac sales could rise with iPhone, Mac OS X Leopard, Steve Jobs keynote

2007-06-11T02:02:00.000-07:00

"Apple Inc.'s computer business may seem like it's taken a back seat lately to its flashy younger siblings, the iPod and iPhone, but Macs are still a key part of the family," May Wong reports for The Associated Press.

"Apple CEO Steve Jobs is expected to use his speech at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday to highlight the upcoming release of Mac OS X, showing that Apple remains a computer company even after dropping 'Computer' from its name in January," Wong reports.

"The slickness of its designs notwithstanding, the key to Apple's success and reputation for ease of use is its software and how well it integrates with its hardware," Wong reports. "Millions of Microsoft Windows users who don't own a Mac have now experienced Apple's touch by using iPods and managing their music through the iTunes jukebox program."

Wong reports, "After years of relatively flat sales, the number of Macs sold started to grow significantly in 2005. Mac shipments jumped 38 percent from 3.3 million units in Apple's fiscal 2004 to 4.5 million in 2005. Then they climbed 17 percent to 5.3 million in 2006."

"Analysts predict Macs will continue a double-digit growth rate, outpacing the industry, as Apple gets a boost from at least two more product debuts this year: the iPhone on June 29 and the operating system upgrade due to be released in October," Wong reports.

"Apple won't discuss the 'top-secret' features or other products it might announce at the Worldwide Developers Conference, but it's already known that Leopard's features will include Boot Camp, which lets users of Macs with Intel Corp. chips install Windows on their machines," Wong reports. "What remains unclear is how Apple will integrate Boot Camp and how much flexibility it will give users to toggle between the competing operating systems."

"'Macs are still central to what they do, and I imagine it'll continue to be that way,' said Richard Shim, a senior research analyst at IDC, a market research firm," Wong reports.

Full article here.

Microsoft, Games for Change Team Up

2007-06-11T01:50:00.000-07:00

Microsoft Corp. and Gamesfor Change (G4C) today announced a joint commitment to explore new ways tobring together the world of digital gaming with the world of social change at the fourth annual Games for Change Festival at Parsons The New School for Design.

As part of the announcement, Microsoft outlined an all-new socially minded global gaming competition, Xbox 360(TM) Games for Change Challenge,to drive awareness for games based on social themes. This world wide competition, set to launch this summer to participants in more than 100 countries, will challenge college students to come up with the best game based on the theme of global warming. Jeff Bell, corporate vice presidentof global marketing for the Interactive Entertainment Business atMicrosoft, made the announcement during the 2007 Games for Change FestivalExpo Night, following an introduction from Bob Kerrey, the president of TheNew School and a former Nebraska senator.

Microsoft and Games for Change will award cash prizes to the best entries. In addition to the prize money, which can be applied to the winner's education, winners will receive an invitation to visit Microsoft to present their entry to the Microsoft games management team for possible inclusion as a download in the popular Xbox LIVE(R) Arcade service. Finally, the first-place team or individual will also win the opportunity to become an apprentice at Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business as part of its internship program.

The students will develop games based on global warming usingMicrosoft(R) XNA(TM) Game Studio Express software. Launched in December 2006, XNA Game Studio Express has democratized game development by leveling the playing field for smaller game developers, non professionals and academics who wish to be involved in driving innovation and creativity inthe game design process. "The current generation of gamers is among themost socially conscious in history," said Suzanne Seggerman, co-founder and president of Games for Change. "We know from experience that young people are looking for ways to help make the world a better place, and who better to support this effort than an industry leader like Microsoft?"

The Games for Change Festival is part intellectual symposium, part game emporium. Now in its fourth year, the festival brings together academics, game creators, nonprofit representatives, business executives and activiststo discuss the impact of games on our culture and evaluate the potential for a new genre of socially minded video games. Festival-goers will also have the opportunity to experience some of the best new socially minded games in person during Expo Night, an evening reception where attendees can play games, meet each other, and enjoy food and drink in a lively and informal atmosphere.

"Microsoft is very happy to work with Games for Change in taking videogaming to a whole new level by bringing in brand-new concepts and people to the game-making process," Bell said. "We are passionate about the potential games have in expanding horizons, creating networks and helping design real-world solutions." More information about the Xbox 360 Games for Change Challenge will be available at http://www.xbox.com/g4c. More information about XNA can befound at http://creators.xna.com.

Three million Apple iPhones for launch?

2007-06-10T00:16:00.000-07:00

According to a report by BusinessWeek's Peter Burrows, Apple Inc. may have a pleasant surprise for iPhone seekers looking to pick up their own iPhone on June 29th. Burrows cites industry sources as saying that three million iPhones will be available through Apple and AT&T stores around the United States at launch. If true, it would mean that pretty much all consumers interested in buying a model at launch will get one.

Still, Apple will need to execute flawlessly. In units built and shipped, the iPhone launch will dwarf anything Apple has attempted," Burrows wrote. "It plans to have 3 million iPhones ready for sale on June 29, two sources say." The report noted how the iPod wasn't a huge hit when it launched in 2001, but now has sold over 100 million units, helped by constant production increases.

"Jobs did so expertly, often creating a sense of scarcity by running slightly short of demand," Burrows implies. "With all the buildup over the iPhone, pumping up demand will be the least of his concerns."

Source: AppleInsider

Also check out the Apple iphone Specifications & System Requirements.

Mozilla Firefox 3 Alpha 5 Hits the Streets

2007-06-08T23:33:00.000-07:00

New alpha release is the first to include the much-anticipated, database-driven revamp of the bookmarks feature called Places.

Mozilla on June 7th made an early testing release of its Firefox 3 browser available for download, and this alpha version (code-named Gran Paradiso) for the first time adds the anticipated Places feature for bookmarks.

According to Mike Connor, director of Firefox development at Mozilla, the Places feature in Firefox 3 Alpha 5 represents the biggest upcoming change for the new browser version. With Places, your bookmarks and browsing history are stored in a SQLite database, which allows for better performance, more stability, and other features. (The previous alpha release implemented Places for browsing history.)

Places won't look much different initially, and in my brief look at the Gran Paradiso alpha, the user-facing portion of Places didn't appear to function any differently at all. "People with very large history or bookmark files will notice a big difference [in performance]," says Mike Connor, director of Firefox development at Mozilla. The database can be queried as needed, he says, rather than having to keep the full history or list of bookmarks in memory.
Going Places

Places will also be less likely to lose data in the event of program or Windows crashes. In fact, according to Connor, "We haven't figured out how to make Places lose data." For backwards compatibility and manual backups, Firefox 3 will save bookmarks in the traditional bookmarks.htm file when it closes.

For other bookmark upgrades, Mozilla is planning to enable bookmark tagging, and is considering building its own synchronization client into the browser capable of backing up and sharing bookmarks. Today, extensions from Foxmarks and del.icio.us can sync bookmarks; Connor says Mozilla is in talks with both groups to ensure their services continue to work with Firefox 3.

If you're thinking about trying the alpha, keep in mind that it's early testing software and not meant for everyday browsing. At a minimum, be sure to back up your bookmarks before installing it. The download is available from Mozilla.
Other Firefox 3 updates will include improvements to password handling, so that users won't be prompted to save credentials until after a successful login, and better add-on management, according to Connor. One change I had personally been hoping for, moving the downloads manager from a separate (and annoying) window to something more like an All-in-one Sidebar pane, probably won't make it into Firefox 3, he says. For a list of all the planned upgrades, see the Firefox 3 product requirements document.

These changes will no doubt please Mozilla fans, but don't get your hopes up for a radical step forward with the new Firefox 3, like the change from IE 6 to IE 7. Aside from Places and some support for offline caching, Mozilla doesn't have a "big killer feature" planned for the next Firefox, Connor says.
Instead, he promises, "It will all feel like an organic growth."

Source:pcworld.com

Microsoft hints at $199 Xbox 360

2007-06-08T22:34:00.000-07:00

Looking at a market analysis and seeing how well rival Nintendo is doing with its $250 Wii, the people over at Microsoft have started to turn around the ideas that they need a $199US console on the market. Thats what product manager David Hufford has hinted at. Hufford stated that he believes the $199 price point for XBOX is the sweet spot in the console market and even stated that Nintendo's strategy of bundling a game with the console is a fine idea.

Microsoft comments that its fully aware that Sony's PS2 is still selling strong at its $129 price point and was a good deal since mid-2002 when it was reduced to $199 just after 2 years on the market. Sony boasts some 120 million PS2s shipped with a majority of them being sold post-2002.

Microsoft claims that even though they already take a hefty loss per console sold, that its ready to take an even bigger hit to have the opportunity to sell more units. They believe in their product and feel that the sell of games will make up for the loss in the cost of console production. Hufford also was heard at hinting of emulating Nintendo's sales tactic and could possibly include a pack-in game to coincide with the price drop.

What do you think? Will this stratergy for XBOX sales from Microsoft work? Post a comment

Google and Apple destined for ’strategic alliance’?

2007-06-08T08:38:00.000-07:00

Fred Vogelstein of Wired speculates on a possible announcement at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference next week of a strategic alliance between Apple and Google. It’s not unlikely. Google CEO Eric Schmidt is on Apple’s board for a reason, and I don’t think that he got the seat because he and Steve Jobs share their iTunes playlists.

Google likes to makes strategic alliances, but not of great significance so far. The company has collaboration with Sun, without much to show, and this week announced a relationship with salesforce.com that leverages AdWords.

What could Google do with Apple, or more correctly, what does Steve want from Google?
Fred quotes Schmidt talking about what Google and Apple respectively bring to the party:
“We’re a perfect back end to the problems that they’re trying to solve,” Schmidt told me. “They have very good judgment on user interface and people. But they don’t have this supercomputer (that Google has), which is the data centers. What they have is a manufacturing business that’s doing quite well.”

Apple’s .Mac effort to create an online portal has been greatly overshadowed by Google, Yahoo, MSN and others. New Mac buyers could find Google’s search bar and an offer for Google’s set of applications. Or, how about a upload button to YouTube for iMovies or and upload button to Google for iPhotos, tighter integration with the Mac’s native iLife set of applications, given the Mac is the multimedia machine of choice.

Or perhaps, Google and Apple will carve out a Mac/iPod/iPhone-centric Google Apps for Your Domain, with some special touches added by the master of product design.
Another possibility: iTunes in the cloud. Wouldn’t it make sense to put playlists in a cloud so they could be accessed from the iPhone, your various iPods and anything else with connectivity?

What’s your guess? Post a comment.

Microsoft unveils red Zune

2007-06-08T07:38:00.000-07:00

MICROSOFT UNVEILED THE NEWEST EDITION of its Zune music player this week with an announcement that the new, brightly colored red Zune will go on sale at a retail location whose brand is closely aligned with the very same color - Target - and also at Target's online retail partner, Amazon.com.

The red Zune will be available exclusively at Target and Amazon.com for 30 days beginning Sunday and then will be available at the same retail locations where Zune currently is sold thereafter. Red Zune will retail for $220 and have the same tech specs as its Zune peers.

Microsoft declined to discuss the decision to partner with Target and Amazon.com on the debut of the red Zune, with spokesperson Sara Bell telling Marketing Daily that "Microsoft typically does not disclose the details of its partnerships."

However, the timing of red Zune's launch does coincide nicely with Father's Day, around which both Target and Amazon.com will market. Microsoft is not planning anything specific around Father's Day, "except to note to a variety of media that Zune makes a delightful gift for dads," Ball says. In May, Zune debuted a pink edition and launched a print media campaign called "Sync Pink" timed with Mother's Day. It quickly became the No. 2 seller in the Zune product portfolio.

Zune's next product release will be the special, limited-edition Halo 3-themed Zune, which go on sale exclusively at Game Stop stores on June 15 for $249.99. The device will be black with a screen printed with Halo graphics, will come in a special collectible box and will be pre-loaded with a collection of content from the entire Halo videogame series, including videos, soundtracks, trailers and artwork.

Zune still is struggling to gain market share in the iPod-dominated portable HDD market, though Microsoft is on track to sell 1 million devices by the end of June. However, the June 29 launch date of the iPhone is certainly a factor to consider when projecting how the rest of the year will play out for Zune. Many of its early customers were the same type of tech-savvy, early adopters who are waiting to get their hands on the iPhone.
In an attempt to build spirit among members of the Zune team, an "iPod Amnesty Bin" was placed in Microsoft's offices a few weeks ago. News of it hit the tech blogs immediately, prompting speculation that it was an initiative from on high to bolster Zune brand loyalty, which Ball disputes.

"The 'iPod Amnesty Bin' was a lighthearted gesture among Zune employees and was intended to be simply a humorous motivator for only the people who are working on the project," Ball says. "It was not a company-wide program, and the bin is no longer in the lobby of the Zune building."

Source:MediaPost Publications

Will the Apple iPhone be undone by its keyboard?

2007-06-07T22:28:00.000-07:00

For those in the audience enamored with the Apple iPhone -- especially those willing to look past the lack of 3G and requisite 2-year service agreement (This clause has been inexplicably dropped from the new Ads being aired on TV. for more information click here: Apple drops iPhone ‘requires minimum new 2 year activation plan’)-- there's really only one x-factor left: the touchscreen keyboard. We've all seen it done, but no one's ever seen it done right -- and Steve Jobs seems to think it's going to be off the chain.

So why is Dvorak, noted tech pundit, and goader of Mac users and iPhone fans, reporting that he's got insider information that the iPhone's keyboard is complete crap and "people are going to return the phone in droves"? Well, that might have something to do with the fact that he's Dvorak (really, what else would he say?), but we did consult a well trusted and connected source who, as it turns out, has heard the very same thing from multiple iPhone users, and who noted that an accessory keyboard to go with the device may become necessary if the touchscreen keyboard doesn't cut the mustard. Of course, we can only reserve judgment until we wrap our paws on a real production model, but we hope it all turns out well -- even if only because we're sincerely frightened of an iPhone-incited fanboy riot in the streets.

source:engadget.com

Apple drops iPhone ‘requires minimum new 2 year activation plan’

2007-06-07T05:58:00.000-07:00

Apple and/or AT&T have inexplicably dropped the following text from all iPhone ads:
"Use requires minimum new 2 year activation plan".

For example, here's the original iPhone "Calamari" ad via YouTube with the disclaimer underneath the "Only on the new AT&T" screen:

And here's the "Calamari" ad as it now appears on Apple.com (and on TV airings): http://www.apple.com

Originally all iPhone ads on Apple.com contained the "Use requires minimum new 2 year activation plan" disclaimer.

Final Fantasy Skips Xbox 360

2007-06-07T05:08:00.000-07:00

Owners of Xbox 360 may be disappointed to hear that, despite various rumors to the contrary, developer/publisher Square Enix currently has no plans to release a Final Fantasy game for Microsoft's next-gen console beyond the port of Final Fantasy XI.

According to a report from IGN, Final Fantasy producer Shinji Hashimoto revealed that, at this point in time, any attempt to bring an FF game to the 360 would require them to start completely from scratch.

"For the Nintendo Wii, we have Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles in production. As for Final Fantasy on the Xbox 360, it's currently a completely blank page," Hashimoto recently told Japan's Nikkei BP.

Source:pcworld.com

Apple iPhone Accessories Shipping Before iPhone Release!!

2007-06-07T01:09:00.000-07:00

BoxWave(R) Corporation announces the immediate availability of its Apple iPhone accessories. Ready with a complete line of iPhone accessories before the iPhone is available for public retail sale on June 29, 2007, BoxWave Corporation continues its trend of "Bringing You Tomorrow's Products Today."

BoxWave Corporation is one of the first major handheld accessories manufacturers and online retailers to produce and release a complete line of iPhone accessories. With a proven track record for creating high quality accessories, BoxWave is fast gaining attention for bringing premium iPhone accessories to market quickly. BoxWave Corporation's iPhone accessories have been available for buying/ordering since April 2007 and the company has been fulfilling orders of Apple iPhone ClearTouch(R) screen protectors, iPhone chargers, and iPhone cases for customers who want to protect and enhance their several hundred dollar Apple iPhone investment. "

At BoxWave Corporation we take the initiative to design and produce new products based on consumers' requests, like our award-winning products for the iPhone," said Wing Onn Lum, Founder & CEO of BoxWave Corporation. "We willcontinue to support Apple's iPhone extensively in the coming months andwill continue to rapidly release new products to enhance the already complete line of accessories for the iPhone. BoxWave Corporation has made its mark for providing premium hand held accessories for over 2,500 devices at affordable prices and our iPhone accessories are no different."

BoxWave Corporation's new Apple iPhone accessories includes:. . . . . . . Read more!

Award-winning ClearTouch(R) Anti-Glare Screen Protector - ClearTouch Anti-Glare is the winner of every major screen protector comparison. Offering the perfect blend of anti-glare and optical clarity,ClearTouch Anti-Glare for over 2,500 devices is real world screen protection at its finest. ClearTouch Anti-Glare screen protector isdesigned for users who require maximum screen readability under sunlightand various outdoor lighting conditions.

Award-winning ClearTouch(R) Crystal Screen Protector - With over 99% visual transparency, ClearTouch Crystal is the absolute clearest screen protection available. Designed for users who demand theultimate in uninhibited clarity, you won't even realize it's there.

iPhone Designio Leather Case(TM) - Hand-crafted from fine, premium grade leather, BoxWave's DesignioLeather Case is a slim and soft leather case that is custom fitted for yourApple iPhone. This durable leather case protects and neatly stores youriPhone everyday, while giving your iPhone a timeless, classic look.Available in six colors: jet black, leaf green, scarlet red, soft pink,tangerine orange, and winter white.

iPhone Designio Leather Sleeve(TM) - Hand-crafted from fine, premium grade leather, BoxWave's Designio Leather Sleeve is a slim leather case that is custom fitted for your AppleiPhone. This durable leather sleeve protects and neatly stores your iPhoneeveryday. Available in six colors: jet black, leaf green, scarlet red, softpink, tangerine orange, and winter white.

iPhone FlexiSkin(R) - BoxWave's FlexiSkin for the Apple iPhone is an ultra low profile skincase designed for complete usability. Precision constructed withanti-static material, the FlexiSkin skin case provides reliable protectionfrom unwanted dust and accidental bumps. Available in six colors: aluminumgrey, coral pink, frosted clear, future blue, jet black and smoke grey.

Award-winning miniSync(R) Retractable Cable - miniSync is a retractable cable that synchronizes and charges youriPhone, all in an ultra-portable form factor. With the miniSync you canalso use your iPhone as a portable storage drive for transferring andsaving any type of files.

miniBuds(R) Stereo Headphones - miniBuds produce high-quality stereo sound with a wider frequencyresponse in a portable compact design. The physical design has also beenre-thought and re-engineered to provide optimal sound and organization. Theaddition of the lapel clip allows you to conveniently clip the miniBudsonto your clothing and keeps you from getting all tangled up like you usedto.

Battery Adapter PRO for Emergency Power - Keep your iPhone powered through blackouts, in an emergency, or duringlong flights and trips. The Battery Adapter PRO allows you to charge youriPhone using just standard AA batteries. With it, you'll always have a reliable power source.

To learn more about Apple iPhone accessories, please visit:
http://iphonewave.blogspot.com

Related iPhone Stories:
>Bajarin: Apple iPhone will fly off the store shelves
>Tips for landing an Apple iPhone
>Growing Mac sales could rise with iPhone, Mac OS X
>3 million iPhones ready for sale on June 29
>How Big Will The iPhone Be? May be a $10 billion business

Analyst: Apple iPhone’s value delivered by Mac OS X

2007-06-06T05:54:00.000-07:00

"Apple Inc. and its iPhone are set to ride a growing wave of middle-market Americans who are defining a new market segment through their willingness to pay a premium for 'new luxury' goods, says a new report from Credit Suisse," Katie Marsal reports for AppleInsider.

Marsal reports, "According to the 21-page briefing, a 'new luxury' product is one that demonstrates technical superiority, improved functionality, and compels an emotional attachment by its owner. It possess higher levels of quality, taste, and aspiration than other goods in its category, but is not so expensive as to be out of reach."

"'We believe the iPhone addresses all three of these characteristics as it enters the market harnessing the world’s best operating system (Mac OS) which will drive a step function increase in both functionality and simplicity relative to other products in the market,' analyst Robert Semple wrote in the report. 'And while these features can stand on their own, we believe there will be a certain 'cachet' associated with owning the iPhone, much like the Motorola RAZR phone when it was launched in 2005,'" Marsal reports.

......... Read more!

Marsal reports, "Semple said middle market consumers most likely to adopt the iPhone include empty nesters, single twenty-something professionals, and dual income couples with reduced financial commitments and more disposable income. Divorced women also rank high on the list, according to the analyst, given the increase of women generating income combined with higher divorce rates.

'In fact, we believe the greatest surprise around iPhone is that women may surpass gadget geeks as the largest customer segment to adopt the iPhone,' he wrote.

"Marsal reports, "'The real value and differentiation in the iPhone lies not its sleek design (this is certainly helpful though), but rather, the innovative qualities and resulting capabilities delivered by the Mac OS X, which remains the best operating system in the PC world today in our opinion, and an OS that easily exceeds the capabilities of the scaled down OS’s that dominate the mobile phone market today,' Semple wrote."

Marsal reports, "Semple also predicts that iPhone will become a go-to weather tracker along with a pseudo GPS device..."

Much more in the full article here

Nintendo Wii outsold Sony’s Playstation3

2007-06-06T05:04:00.000-07:00

Discouraging news for Sony as the company banks on the PS3 games console as being able to turn around the company - last month the Nintendo Wii outsold Sony’s Playstation3 by more than five to one in Japan, painting a gloomier picture than the previous month where the ratio was four to one.

Nintendo sold 251,794 units of the Wii in May, compared with 45,321 units of the PS3 sold.

For several years now Sony executives have bet the farm on the PlaystationS3 being able to pull the company out of the financial nose-dive it’s been experiencing, but even with the PS3 out, the cash is slow to follow. In the year up to the end of March 07 Sony suffered an operating loss of 232 billion Yen ($1.91 billion), most of this attributable to the startup costs of the PS3.

Unless Sony can start making the Playstation3 attractive to buyers, this downward spiral is set to continue. If early figures are anything to go by, Sony is finding it increasingly difficult to make the PS3 attractive to gamers, especially compared to the Nintendo Wii.

Which do you prefer? Nintendo Wii or Sony PlayStation 3?

Post your comments.

Toshiba's 2.4-lb. Portege R500 Laptop

2007-06-06T02:38:00.000-07:00

Toshiba's Portege R500 sleek ultraportable laptop is an attention-getter that packs a ton of features into its compact package. Let's take a closer look.

Airy Portable
The Portege R500 weighs just 2.4 pounds, including its 2.5-inch, 120GB (5400 rpm) hard drive and its optical drive. The notebook carries an estimated street price of $2150 for the R500-S5002 (with Windows Vista Business), and $2000 for the Windows XP Professional flavors, the R500-S5001X/S5002X. According to Toshiba, the R500 is the first notebook PC with a 12.1-inch wide-screen WXGA transreflective LED backlit display. A button below the screen lets you turn off the display's backlight--useful if you're outdoors, where the ambient light can go into the screen and be reflected back.

Sleek Lines
The Portege R500 is slim and compact: It measures about the size of a sheet of paper--11.1 by 8.5 inches--and stands at just 0.77 inches deep (not including the feet). In its chassis, Toshiba fits a small motherboard with components on both sides. The guts of the R500 include an ultralow-voltage processor, Intel's 1.2-GHz Core 2 Duo U7600 processor (64-bit), 1GB of memory (1.5GB maximum supported), a 120GB SATA hard drive, and the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 graphics core (the R500-S5002 adds dynamically allocated shared graphics memory).

No Ports at Back
Since the Portege R500 has a drop-hinge design for its display, the unit has a clean presentation from the rear; it has no ports on its back. Instead, all of the notebook's ports are distributed along its sides. The chassis is made of what Toshiba describes as an advanced magnesium alloy that helps dissipate heat away from the notebook's components.

Attractive Touchpad
Toshiba paid attention to subtle design points, too. The touchpad has the same matte silver finish as the rest of the notebook's chassis.

Ports and Slots at Right,
At the right rear of the R500, a slider switch lets you enable or disable the wireless radio. The R500 offers Bluetooth 2.0, as well as 802.11 a/g/draft-n wireless connectivity. Also seen here: one of the notebook's three USB 2.0 ports, a gigabit ethernet port, and, cleverly tucked away beneath these ports, a PC Card slot.

The R500 crams an optical drive into its superslim, superlight form factor. The unit is the first with Matsushita's 0.7mm DVD Super-Multi drive; the drive supports a slew of disc write formats, including 24X CD-R, 10X CD-RW, 8X DVD-/+R, 4X DVD-/+RW, and 3X DVD-RAM. Unfortunately, the drive handles writing only to single-layer DVD media.

Ports and Slots at Left
The R500's complement of ports runs along both sides of the notebook. The left side of the notebook, toward the back, has power, VGA, USB 2.0, and a mini FireWire 400 port.

Source:pcworld.com

eBay Apple iPhone Auctions: Weird!

2007-06-06T02:01:00.000-07:00

For a product that's famously unavailable until June 29th, the iPhone has launched an incredible cottage industry on eBay--as I blog this, there are 365 auctions with the word "iPhone" in their names.
True, the vast majority of auctions that come up when you search for iPhone are for cases, screen protectors, and the like. Yup, the iPhone-protection market is hopping even though nobody has an iPhone to protect yet.
Me, I'd be a little cautious about buying a no-name iPhone case that was presumably designed and manufactured by a company that hasn't actually touched an iPhone.
Before you buy your iPhone case, you could use...an iPhone. And eBay has them. Maybe. Sort of. Well, not really.
Some auctions claim to be for unlocked 8GB iPhones preloaded with songs and available now. Which, unless the seller is Steve Jobs, sound awfully suspicious. eBay seems to be shutting these down.

For a product that's famously unavailable until June 29th, the iPhone has launched an incredible cottage industry on eBay--as your read this, there are 365 or so auctions with the word "iPhone" in their names.

True, the vast majority of auctions that come up when you search for iPhone are for cases, screen protectors, and the like. Yup, the iPhone-protection market is hopping even though nobody has an iPhone to protect yet.

Me, I'd be a little cautious about buying a no-name iPhone case that was presumably designed and manufactured by a company that hasn't actually touched an iPhone.
Before you buy your iPhone case, you could use...an iPhone. And eBay has them. Maybe. Sort of. Well, not really.

Some auctions claim to be for unlocked 8GB iPhones preloaded with songs and available now. Which, unless the seller is Steve Jobs, sound awfully suspicious. eBay seems to be shutting these down--this one was live when I began writing this post, and is gone now.

Others are for iPhones to be delivered on or after June 29th. This one has reached $760, but hasn't met the reserve. Presumably at least some of the sellers offering these will come through, but I'd still worry about the possibility of them failing to acquire the iPhone they're selling you, even if their intentions are nothing but honorable.

Not ready to pay an obscene premium for your iPhone? For $5--a mere 1 percent of what Apple wants--you can buy a paper iPhone that is a simply a iPhone photograph.

The tantalizing "Amazing 2 iPhones Mystery Auction" seems to be some sort of pseudoraffle in which everyone gets a prize. Some may get as little as a penny in an envelope, but two fortunate souls will win...iPhones!

Quite a few auctions are entirely virtual--listings like this offer packages of iPhone-related domain names. When I checked, winners such as these were still up for grabs:
PreorderAniPhone.com
I-Phone-Games.com
iPhoneUSA.mobi
EasyiPhoneUnlock.com
CheapiPhone4You.com...and the particularly alluring BeckhamsiPhone.com.

And hey, if you can afford the $29,9999 starting bid, one seller is offering a bundle of 18 names, including the impressive SwarovskiiPhone.com.

Even if you don't need an iPhone-related domain name, you may be hankering for an iPhone-related free Webmail account. (Yup, free--the folks offering these are trying to make money on an investment of $0.00). Here are a few up for bid:
thebestiphone@bk.ru
all-for-iphones@gmail.com
apple.iphone.06.29.07@gmail.com
iPhone.pre_order@yahoo.com
used-apple-iphones@hotmail.com
iPhone-Palace@hotmail.com

(Hey, I just registered MyiPhoneIsCute@gmail.com--anyone wanna make me an offer? It's priceless!)

But my favorite iPhone-related auction? It's for Apple's L-Phone--a product that's apparently so top-secret that Steve Jobs hasn't told us about it. Dig the description:

"You are looking to buy a Brand New Apple L-phone. It is LIKE the apple iphone, Not original. This phone is very amazing and attractive, It has almost all the features of the Apple iphone, Best of all, it comes with a 2 MegaPixel Camera! The thing that I like about this phone is that it has a very Loud Speaker. But this Phone may not work in the U.S.-- Make sure your provider uses 900/1800 Frequency. All phones turn on and work with full english, full touch screen, full functions, AN AWESOME PHONE!

Source:pcworld.com

Bill Gates speaks about new videogame control system

2007-06-06T00:13:00.000-07:00

Bill Gates took time recently to speak about his vision for the future of gaming, and his vision includes a control system where the players would swing a bat or racket just like they would in real life, yet he says it wont be the same as the Nintendo Wii. Gates made the comments during a panel interview last week in which he and Apple head Steve Jobs spoke.

Gates' response came about when the subject was turned to "how the role of the PC was evolving" and he answered, "As we get natural input, that will cause a change... Software is doing vision and so, you know, imagine a game machine where you just can pick up the bat and swing it or the tennis racket and swing it." When told by interviewers that the Wii used such a control system, Gates replied, "No, that’s not it. You can’t pick up your tennis racket…And swing it. You can’t sit there with your friends and do those natural things.

"That’s a 3D positional device," Gates added. "This is video recognition. This is a camera seeing what’s going on." In the past, Gates was critical of the Wii and Nintendo's strategy with the console. He was quoted as saying, "Look at the resolution you get with a controlled experience like that. Say to yourself, how in terms of using a game for a long period of time, what kind of accuracy and capability do you want?"

Source: GI.biz

Think different: Apple vs. Microsoft in OS development

2007-06-05T23:32:00.000-07:00

Can two bitter rivals save the desktop operating system?

"In the battle between Apple and Microsoft, Bertrand Serlet and Steven Sinofsky are the field generals in charge of competing efforts to ensure that the PC’s basic software stays relevant in an increasingly Web-centered world," John Markoff reports for The New York Times. "The two men are marshaling their software engineers for the next encounter, sometime in 2009, when a new generation of Macintosh and Windows operating systems is due. Their challenge will be to avoid refighting the last war — and to prevent finding themselves outflanked by new competitors."

"Many technologists contend that the increasingly ponderous PC-bound operating systems that currently power 750 million computers, products like Microsoft’s Windows Vista and Apple’s soon-to-be-released Mac OS X Leopard, will fade in importance," Markoff reports. "In this view, software will be a modular collection of Web-based services — accessible by an array of hand-held consumer devices and computers..."Markoff reports, "Mr. Sinofsky’s approach, he said, is meticulously planned out from the beginning, with a tight focus on meeting deadlines — a crucial objective after the delay-plagued Vista project — but with little room for flexibility.

In contrast, the atmosphere inside Apple’s software engineering ranks has been much more improvisational."Markoff reports, "Mr. Sinofsky, 41, who joined Microsoft in 1989, is the senior vice president for the Windows and Windows Live engineering group, a position he assumed a year ago after running the company’s Office team of programmers. Mr. Serlet, 46, Apple’s senior vice president for software engineering, left Xerox’s fabled Palo Alto Research Center to join Steven P. Jobs at Next Software in the late 1980s and has headed software development at Apple since 2003. 'Under Sinofsky, the culture is, you plan and stick to the plan,' said Steven Capps, a former Apple and Microsoft programmer who has designed operating systems at both companies. 'At Apple you see what you’ve got.'"

The potential risk in the Microsoft approach, he said, is that “they’re like the test pilots who won’t pull up when they see the tarmac.” ...After struggling for more than half a decade with Vista, its most ambitious development project ever, Microsoft has begun work on a reportedly less ambitious successor under Mr. Sinofsky’s leadershipMarkoff reports, "Mr. Serlet’s programmers are planning to integrate Apple’s consumer products and its personal computers more closely with the Internet, according to several people briefed on the company’s plans. Indeed last week, at an industry conference, Mr. Jobs said that an infusion of Web services for Macintosh users was imminent."Apple is expected to add a networking capability to its next-generation iPod music players.

In addition, the software for its next big product, the iPhone, is based on the core of OS X, the operating system for the Macintosh. The approach further blurs the line between the computer and other devices — as well the distinction between the device and the Internet as the place where programs and data reside," Markoff reports.

What the Apple iPhone commercials tell us

2007-06-05T05:35:00.000-07:00

Though the commercials didn't tell us much more than what we already know, they do let us get a look at the device in action. Here's what we saw.

Let you fingers do the walking: Though we've known since January that the iPhone will shun almost all buttons as we know them, it's clear from the commercials that you'll use the touch screen for everything--even for turning it on.

Instead of pressing a power button, the now-famous hand that demonstrates the handset swiped its finger across the display to unlock it. On the other hand, we're unclear if locking the iPhone again then turns off the phone and data connectivity. Yes, iPods have always lacked a dedicated power button but this will be a new thing for anyone who doesn't use a Treo. Also, it looks like the Talk and End buttons only show up when you place or receive a call.
Admittedly, the touch interface looks quite lovely. We especially like the fluid onscreen motion when scrolling through your album art and photos. On the other hand we're still a bit skeptical of the virtual keyboard. On its site, Apple promises that "the keyboard is predictive, so it prevents and corrects mistakes, making it easier and more efficient to use than the small plastic keyboards on many smart phones." Yet the commercial shows the user typing with one finger while holding the iPhone in his other hand. That's hardly an efficient way to bang out text messages or e-mails, particularly if you have no tactile feedback. To be fair, we might feel differently once we try it ourselves, but until then we don't buy the theory that the iPhone signals the end of cell phone buttons.

We'll also be interested to see whether the display can handle lots of wear and tear while not attracting fingerprints and smudges. Though the Boy Genius Report claims the screen will be "surprisingly resistant to smudges and blemishes," will that still be true if you text while eating French fries? We'll see.

Flip it: We also like that, thanks to the handset's accelerometer, the display will adjust the display's orientation automatically when you flip the iPhone on its side. At the moment most cell phones require you to press a button to make such a switch, so the iPhone does save us a step. The switch seems pretty quick as well.

Easy Internet: As expected, the Safari browser will display full HTML pages in all their glory. It's no secret that Web pages viewed on a WAP browser aren't fun, and though the iPhone won't be the first cell phone to support full HTML, it does offer the ability to zoom in and scroll around with a finger swipe. The search and mapping functions also looked cool and especially user-friendly. On the commercial, the user searched for "seafood" in San Francisco and got a map of the city with fishy restaurants shown by location. When selecting a specific restaurant he got the phone number restaurant's phone number, Web site, street address, and directions. Touching the phone number was then all he needed to call for a reservation. And speaking of searching, the iPhone will support both Yahoo and Google.

Beyond the commercials, Apple's Web site offers several how-to demonstrations for important functions. Among them are the following.

Making calls: After placing a call, you'll have a static onscreen menu for a variety of commands, including mute, hold, speaker (nice!), phone book access, keypad, and add call. The latter allows you to activate conference calling simply, though it's not that much easier than on many other cell phones.

Voice mail: Much has been made over the iPhone's visual voice mail that will allow you to choose from a list and go directly to the voice mail you want to hear. It all looks quite nifty, and considering it's the first such feature, it should be one aspect of the iPhone that will be worth its hype.

Texting: Like many smart phones, the iPhone will display text conversations in their entirety rather than displaying messages individually. We're not sure if it will support instant messaging (darn) but you'll get e-mail.

Photos: As I said above, the photo-scrolling visuals promise to be very pretty. Using your finger you'll also be able zoom photos (using the pinching method that Steve Jobs demonstrated onstage at MacWorld) and move around the images once you've zoomed in. With each photo, you'll also be given the option to use it as wallpaper, send it to a friend, or assign to a contact for caller ID. That latter is nothing really new but it it's worth mentioning just the same.

Music: Music will be displayed similarly to how you see it on an iPod. You'll be able to find songs by title and by artist and then when in an artist menu, you'll be able to search by album as well. It appears that when held vertically the iPhone will display albums in a simple mode, but when you turn it sideways it will use the attractive album flipping that I previously mentioned. You'll also get a shuffle mode and you'll be able to display songs by recently added, recently played, the top-rated, and the 25 most-played tracks. On the other hand, you still won't be able to download music over the air and you won't get an FM radio. Pardon us, but that's just poor planning. The commercial simulated music quality but we'll hold our opinion until we get it in our hands.
Volume controls and Play/Pause buttons will be on the screen, and you'll also use your finger to scroll through lists. From what we can tell, though, you'll have to do a lot of finger swipes to get through a long list. It doesn't seem like you'll be able to swipe and pause to keep moving through the list until you lift your finger.

More on mapping: Thankfully, Google Maps are integrated as part of the iPhone. That's a huge step above many cell phones that treat Google Maps like a troublesome third-party application. What's more, you'll also get the satellite view of an area. For map geeks like me, that might be the phone's coolest feature of them all.

Source:crave.cnet.com

Do you know of any other iPhone features that are not captured here? Let us know by posting your comments.

Red Zune coming on June 10th, try and contain your excitement

2007-06-05T00:21:00.001-07:00

On June 10th you'll be able to nab a special edition Red Zune at Target or Amazon , but just in case you need help holding out that long, Microsoft has unleashed some official press shots of the "watermelon red" player. Not a bad color choice!

What are you views on this new red colored Zune?

Apple iPhone: Speculation, Rumor, and Gossip

2007-06-04T23:27:00.000-07:00

With the iPhone's debut date--June 29th--no longer an open question, we're officially in the period known as The Last Days of iPhone Pre-Release Speculation, Rumor, and Gossip. And there's been a lot of it today. A quick recap:

>>9 to 5 Mac is reporting that the iPhone won't have anyplace for a SIM card, that it won't have iChat, and that its version of Safari will have tabbed browsing. I kinda doubt that the first nugget is true, hope that the second is false (although the iChat that Steve Jobs has talked about is an SMS program, not true IM), and would be tickled if the third is true.

>>An evil genius named Dr. Macenstein believes, based on the placement of icons seen in the new Apple iPhone ads, that there's a mysterious twelfth iPhone application we don't know about. It could be something miraculous. Or it could be a screen calibrator or something. We just don't know.

>>The Unofficial Apple Weblog has noted that the icon for Google Maps appears to show a location near, but not quite at, Apple's headquarters at One Infinite Loop in Cupertino--and that Pacific Catch, a restaurant mentioned in one of the ads, actually exists.

Don't forget to watch the 3 new Apple iPhone Ads. Just click here

>>John Markoff of the New York Times reports that a source is saying that the Mac developers who attend Apple's upcoming Worldwide Developers' Conference will learn about a plan to let them easily convert "small programs" (ie, Dashboard widgets, maybe?) to run on the iPhone.
In three and a half weeks, we'll have the chance to verify what the iPhone is, and isn't, in way that'll be both reliable and entertaining: By using the damn thing.

Source:PCWorld.com

Stay tuned... by just entering your email or clicking the link provided in the Subscribe section located in the top left side of this page.

Don't forget to watch the 3 new Apple iPhone Ads. Just click here

June 29th is the confirmed iPhone release date

2007-06-03T23:04:00.000-07:00

Apple iPhone release date confirmed: yours on June 29th. People, it is now officially confirmed that the Apple iPhone will debut on the 29th of June. So get ready with some $600 to lay your hands on this piece of tech wonder.

Apple has also released three new ads for the iPhone. Check 'em out.

Catch all the Speculation, Rumor, and Gossip on Apple iPhone here

Higher quality versions via Apple.com:

• Never Been an iPod

• How To

• Calamari

Already getting excited to lay your hands on this piece of techno marvel? Let us all know by posting your comments.

10 things your phone will do in 10 years

2007-06-03T01:12:00.000-07:00

The past decade has seen the device evolve into the Swiss Army Knife of consumer electronics. Not only can you take pictures and video with your phone, you can use it to send e-mails, chat on instant messengers, listen to music, get directions, and even watch television.
The technology has come a long way since the days of brick-shaped analog phones that barely fit in a purse, let alone a pocket. Two years ago, experts predicted that there would be 3 billion cell phone subscribers worldwide by 2010. Now it looks as if we'll pass the 3 billion mark by the end of this year.
As wireless-service operators continue to deploy third-generation, or 3G, networks, which support high-bandwidth applications such as video and Internet access, this phenomenal growth is likely to continue. But a big question for consumers is: what will these phones do? CNET News.com talked to industry experts and executives and spent some time gazing into a crystal ball to come up with the following list of 10 things the average cell phone user will be doing with his or her phone in the not-too-distant future.

1. No wallet? No problemA new technology standard called "near-field communications," or NFC, will turn cell phones into credit or debit cards. A chip is embedded in a phone that allows you to make a payment by using a touch-sensitive interface or by bringing the phone within a few centimeters of an NFC reader. Your credit card account or bank account is charged accordingly.
Unlike RFID (radio frequency identification) technology, which also can be used to make wireless payments, NFC technology allows for two-way communication, making it more secure. For example, an NFC-enabled handset could demand that a password or personal identification number be entered to complete the transaction.
The NFC mobile-payment application is currently in trials in the United States, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, and a few other countries. The technology is widely used in Japan, where people use their phones to pay for everything from sodas dispensed in vending machines to subway cards. Nokia announced the first fully integrated NFC phone, the Nokia 6131 NFC, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, and the company is currently testing the 6131 with AT&T's Cingular Wireless in New York City.
Experts also note that NFC technology can be used for more than just retail transactions. It can be used to get data from an NFC-equipped business card, or to download tickets or other data from an NFC-equipped kiosk or poster.

2. The World Wide Web in your pocketThe promise of the mobile Internet has yet to live up to its hype. Users have had disappointing experiences with HTML Web sites that render poorly on handsets, or they've been forced to use stripped-down wireless application protocol, or WAP, sites that don't provide the same richness that they have come to expect on the wired Web. But as more phones come equipped with full HTML browsers, cell phones will truly become just another device used to access the Internet.
Today many smart phones already provide full HTML browsers. Nokia's latest N-series and E-series phones, which run Opera browsers for the Symbian operating system, are among the most advanced.
In the future, these mobile HTML browsers will make their way onto even the most basic phones. Motorola recently announced it is adding an HTML browser to its popular Razr phones.
So what will full Internet browsing mean for users? For one thing, it could accelerate the growth of mobile social networking. In the last couple of years, social-networking sites such as MySpace and YouTube have become hits. Now people are extending those social networks to their cell phones. In December, ABI Research said that almost 50 million people used social-networking sites on their mobile phones. That number is expected to grow to 174 million by 2011.
Mobile operators such as AT&T and Helio have a special deal with MySpace, and Verizon Wireless has a special deal with YouTube. Mobile phones could allow people to more seamlessly connect their virtual presence with their physical presence. But Charles Golvin, an analyst with Forrester Research, predicts that this fact alone could mean that people will form smaller, more-private social networks with their mobile phones instead of simply using the phones as extensions of the social networks they created using their PCs on sites like MySpace.
"Do you really want everyone on MySpace to be able to track where you are?" he says. "Cell phones are such personal devices, and they go with us everywhere. I think people will be more inclined to communicate among smaller groups who they already know and socialize with."

3. Location, location, locationDue to a Federal Communications Commission mandate that requires operators to locate people when they dial 911 in an emergency, a large number of mobile phones sold in the United States already have integrated GPS (global positioning system) chips. While these chips are used by some mobile operators to pinpoint users' locations when they're in danger, they can also be used to support a variety of location-related services.
The most obvious service is turn-by-turn navigation, which provides directions simply by allowing users to type in a destination. Satellites then locate the GPS-enabled device and map the device's location to the destination. A map can then be generated on the user's screen, along with text-based directions. Some devices will also "read" the directions to the user.
Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel already offer navigation services. Verizon charges $9.99 a month for the service and Sprint is offering the service for free when customers buy certain data packages. Handset makers Nokia and Motorola also plan to offer navigation map services. In February at the 3GSM Wireless trade show in Barcelona, Nokia introduced the 6110 Navigator, the company's first navigation-enabled handset designed for the mass market.
But location services will soon go far beyond navigation. GPS technology will also be used to enhance local search engines, so that when you type in the word "pizza" you get a list of local pizza parlors, rather than a list of pizza-related Web sites.
Media conglomerate IAC/InterActiveCorp, which owns more than 60 Internet brands, said recently it will use GPS-enabled search on its Ask.com mobile Web site to help consumers find friends, shops, and services based on their locations. The application will be available on Sprint's network. IAC plans to add the feature later to some of its other Web sites, such as Ticketmaster and Match.com.
Mobile virtual network operators Boost, Helio, and Disney Mobile are already offering tracking services that allow people to keep tabs on their kids or find their friends. Many of these services are beginning to come to market now, but by 2010 they should offer better accuracy and will also reach more mainstream users.

4. Search goes mobileMobile search will become a standard feature on all handsets over the next three years. Most phones will likely have search built into their main screens, with a search icon prominently featured next to the time and the icons depicting battery and signal strength. Some phones will actually have a search button on the keypad or protruding from the case. In April, Alltel Wireless announced that it would preinstall JumpTap's mobile search button on LG Electronics' LGVX8600 devices.
Helio's new smart phone, the Ocean, has a search feature that allows you to slide out the keyboard, type a keyword, hit Enter and immediately get results from Google, Yahoo, and Wikipedia.
While the big guys--Google and Yahoo--will certainly have a presence on mobile devices, "white label" services, such as one available from JumpTap, will also be popular because they allow carriers to brand the service as their own.

5. TV on the go-goMobile TV in all its forms is expected to explode in the next few years. IMS Research forecasts that by 2011 there will be more than 30 million mobile TV subscribers in the United States. The firm also predicts that almost 70 million handsets capable of receiving mobile TV will be shipped in the U.S. in 2011.
Consumers will have access to a wide range of TV possibilities on their phones, from original and professionally produced content to repurposed clips to live broadcasts and user-generated clips.
The mobile handset will become an extension of TV and computer screens at home, allowing consumers to time- and place-shift viewing. Sling Media already offers mobile users the option of viewing programming available on their home TVs on their Windows Mobile devices using a wireless data connection.
Four major cable operators working with Sprint Nextel--Comcast, Time Warner, Cox Communications, and Advance/Newhouse Communications--are also expected to expand some video programming to cell phones. Today they offer features such as remote programming for DVRs.
Over the next three years, broadcast TV networks designed to provide service for mobile devices will also emerge on the scene. Qualcomm's MediaFlo has already signed deals with Verizon Wireless and AT&T, which will use MediaFlo broadcast technology to distribute live TV programming to mobile subscribers. Another broadcast technology, known as DVB-H, will likely find a strong following in Europe.
Experts believe there will be a spike in mobile TV usage in 2008 when the Summer Olympics in Beijing are scheduled to take place. Many operators around the world expect to have their mobile video services up and running to air the games.

6. Simplifed surfingEver notice how many clicks it takes to find the one thing you're looking for on your phone? It's worse than counting how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop. But handset makers and mobile operators are hard at work trying to make phones easier to navigate and simpler to use.
The upcoming iPhone from Apple is a perfect example of how user interfaces will be improved. Apple fans are confident that the company has come up with another slick and intuitive design, just as it did for the iPod.
One aspect of the iPhone's interface that has been publicized is its use of sensory technology to detect when the device is rotated. This allows the phone to automatically render pictures on the screen in portrait (vertical) or landscape (horizontal) format. That allows the user to determine which format is best for viewing whatever is on the screen, be it a Web page, video, or photo.
In the future, motion-sensing technology, similar to that used in the Nintendo Wii game console, will also allow people to navigate their cell phone menus or the mobile Internet with a flick of their wrists.
But motion sensing is just one piece of the puzzle. Operators such as Verizon Wireless are redesigning their content menus to reduce the number of clicks users must endure to find what they want. Ryan Hughes, vice president of digital media programming for Verizon Wireless, said he believes that user interfaces will be customizable so that users can decide for themselves which applications will be displayed on their phones most prominently.
Motorola is already offering a customizable interface on the Razr 2, which the company claims will make searching for contacts, accessing applications, and messaging much easier.

7. Brainier radiosMany phones today are equipped with dual radios that let subscribers roam on differently configured cellular networks throughout the world, but in the next few years handset makers will also embed Wi-Fi technology into phones, allowing customers to use the devices in any Wi-Fi network hot spot.
T-Mobile USA has been experimenting with such a service for the past several months in its hometown of Seattle. The HotSpot @Home service, which is expected to launch across the country this summer, uses UMA (unlicensed mobile access) technology to allow phones to seamlessly switch calls between a Wi-Fi connection and a cellular connection, depending on which is available and most cost-effective at any particular moment.
T-Mobile HotSpot @Home costs $20 a month on top of a regular cell phone plan, and it delivers unlimited "voice over Wi-Fi" calls from T-Mobile's more than 8,000 hot spots and through any Wi-Fi access point in a home that is connected to a broadband Internet service.
These dual-mode Wi-Fi and cellular phones will also make it possible for users to use voice over Internet Protocol services like Skype to avoid roaming charges when they are traveling internationally, for example. Skype is already available on PocketPCs and Windows Mobile smart phones.

8. Your very own cell towerDoes your cell phone get bad reception inside your house, but works just fine when you stand on your porch? Mobile operators may soon ask you to help them improve cellular coverage in your home or office with small Wi-Fi-like routers that boost cellular signals.
These routers create what are called femto cells, or small personal cellular sites. And they could help solve a major problem for cellular operators who have trouble covering less-populated regions or have difficulty reaching users indoors.
The femto cell router has a cellular antenna to boost the available cellular signals in a small area. The device is then attached to a broadband connection, and uses voice over IP technology to connect cellular phone calls to the mobile operator's network.
Because cell phones use licensed spectrum, the devices would be tied to a particular carrier's network just like a handset. If a consumer wanted to switch carriers, he'd have to get a new femto cell router.
While no carriers in the U.S. have said they plan to use femto cell technology, several companies are already developing products for it. 3Way Networks, based in the U.K., and Ericsson, based in Sweden, each introduced femto cell devices in February.

9. Picture perfectOne of the most dramatic changes in cell phone technology over the past decade has been the emergence of the camera phone. Today roughly 41 percent of American households own a camera phone. In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to buy a phone today that doesn't have a camera.
By 2010 more than 1 billion mobile phones in the world will ship with an embedded camera, up from the 589 million camera phones that are expected to be sold in 2007, according to market research firm Gartner.
There's little doubt that the technology will improve, with high-end phones easily supporting 8-megapixel cameras. The Nokia N95 already offers a 5-megapixel camera. William Plummer, Nokia's North America vice president of sales and channel management for multimedia, says that in a few years users will likely be able to manipulate their images directly on their handsets, just as they would on a high-end digital camera or PC.
Some camera phones will also let users stream live video to friends, family, co-workers, or anyone else with a video-capable phone. Motorola's Razr 2, due out this summer, will support this feature. And AT&T will offer two-way video sharing as a service later this summer using devices made by LG Electronics.
Phones of the future will also come with multiple cameras that will provide additional functionality, Forrester's Golvin predicts. While one camera may provide high-end imaging for sharing pictures and video, a second, lower-end camera could be used for things like capturing two-dimensional bar codes known as QR codes.
QR code-reading software on camera phones eliminates the need to type in contacts or URLs. In Japan, they're already widely used to store addresses and URLs on the pages of magazines, with the codes pegged to both editorial content and advertisements. The addition of QR codes to business cards is also becoming common, greatly simplifying the task of entering contact information into mobile-phone address books.

10. Mad for mobile musicThere's no question that mobile music is hot and will continue to grow in popularity. Mobile phone users around the globe are expected to spend $32.2 billion on music for their handsets by 2010, up from $13.7 billion in 2007, according to Gartner.
This content category includes everything from basic ringtones, "real tones" (uncompressed, digital representations of analog signals), and ring-back tones to more sophisticated full-track downloads. Music in all its incarnations is the second-most popular mobile data service, behind short message service (SMS), in terms of use and revenue.
Over the next couple of years, full-song downloads will drive growth in this category. The entrance of big brands like Apple into the mobile phone market will likely push mobile music to the forefront.
Apple's iPhone, announced in January, has created a kind of hysteria that has not been seen before in the consumer electronics market. The device, which combines Apple's popular iPod music player with a mobile smart phone, will go on sale in late June and will be available exclusively on AT&T's network. Even though critics have already noted some downsides to the iPhone--namely that it will not be 3G capable--it has still managed to raise the bar in terms of what's expected from a music playing phone.
All the major handset manufacturers are poised to offer iPhone competitors. Sony Ericsson has the Walkman series. Motorola has its Rokr, Z8, and MotoQ phones. And Research In Motion, best known for phones that cater to business users, has the new BlackBerry 8300 Curve, which comes with stereo Bluetooth, a true 3.5mm headphone jack, and a microSD expansion slot. All of these phones could be strong competitors, if not iPhone killers.

So what will be new in mobile music by 2010?

Most likely it will be more of the same. The line between phones and music players will increasingly blur. And if network operators, device makers and music studios are smart, there will be easier and more cost-effective ways for people to download their favorite tunes onto their phones.
Verizon Wireless, Helio, and Sprint Nextel already offer over-the-air downloads. But many experts believe that, in order to compete, all major operators will have to offer this convenience. And issues surrounding digital rights management--the use of software that limits the use and transfer of copyright material, including music and video files--will also likely be worked out in the next few years to allow users an easy and legal way to port songs from one device to another.
Source: cnet.com

What is your take on these 10 things? DO you think these things will become a reality?
Adding to these things what do you want your mobile or cell phone to be able to do in the comming years? Please leave your comments.

Microsft XBOX 360:EC ask Microsoft to clarification concerning XBOX 360 problems

2007-06-02T00:21:00.000-07:00

Microsoft XBOX 360: Of late there has been a lot of complaints about Microsoft XBOX 360 about the DVD drives scratching the discs. This problem now seems to have gotten significant attention in the Netherlands now that the European Commission's commisioner Kuneva sending a letter to Microsoft. The letter asks Microsoft for clarification concerning the risen problems with the bad DVD drives of the XBOX 360.

During her visit to the Netherlands Commissioner Kuneva spoke with the Dutch radio Consumer Programme PAY-DESK. Following concerns raised by the PAY-DESK programme in relation to the use or the Microsoft X-Box by Dutch consumers, Commissioner Kuneva confirmed that she had written to Microsoft to ask for more information concerning:

(1) details or the actions Microsoft has tasks in The Netherlands to resolve the problems relating to the use or the X-BOX 360 there;

(2) details or whether the same problem has occurred on other markets.

Have you faced this problem with your XBOX 360 or have you atleast heard about this problem from your friends? Even if you have not faced this problem let the people know by posting your comments.

Nokia N75 and N76 now available -- from Nokia USA

2007-06-01T06:53:00.001-07:00

Nokia N75 and Nokia N76 : Nokia announced today the addition of two new multimedia devices to their Nokia Nseriesproduct line; the Nokia N76 and Nokia N75, which are now available forpurchase through independent distribution in the United States. Embracing design and technology, the sleek Nokia N76 is the thinnest Nokia N series multimedia computer to date at a mere 0.54 inches, full featured with quadband GSM/EDGE capability in a stylish chrome and magnesium package, it makes no compromises on either.

The Nokia N75 is an all in one 3G device designed to enrich the multimedia experience with its high speed and enhanced imaging functionality and music capabilities. "Nokia is thrilled to include the Nokia N76 and the Nokia N75 into the growing line of Nseries multimedia computers which are now available directly to consumers in the United States," said Bill Plummer, Vice-President, Sales & Channel Management, Multimedia, Nokia North America. "By bringing to market multimedia computers that will unlock the door to new multimedia experiences, Nokia strives to expand the US marketplace."

The Nokia N76 combines both style and substance bringing the complete Nokia Nseries multimedia experience into a beautiful casing made up of premium materials. Music fans will enjoy a key feature of the Nokia N76 --one touch access to the built in digital music player via dedicated keys on the front cover which let you quickly and easily control the device's music features from the outside of the folded device. In addition to the dedicated music keys, the Nokia N76 multimedia computer allows you to create and share music play lists and listen to FM radio in real time. The device also includes built-in stereo speakers and stores up to 2GB of music or movies on compatible micro SD memory cards.

Samsung has also announced the availability of its clamshell 3G phone the
Samsung SGH-A717 & Samsung GH-a727, a bar-style
phone.

The Nokia N76 is based on the world's leading S60 software on Symbian OS, enabling you to personalize your device from a wide choice of compatible applications including games, navigation, entertainment, productivity and creativity. The Nokia N76 also incorporates photo and video capabilities with a 2.4inch sharp, color display and a 2 mega pixel camera. The integrated flash allows you to capture quality photos without ever having to open the device and on-device photo editing lets you perfect your pictures before transferring them. A sleek clamshell design with two color options, tempered glass, and mirror steel, the Nokia N76 multimedia computer is beauty that is built to last.

The Nokia N75 is an all-in-one mobile device which utilizes the850/1900-band 3G network to offer an enhanced multimedia experience. The Nokia N75 offers easy access to your music library with dedicated music keys, plays your favorite tracks in 3-D stereo, includes built-in stereo speakers, allows for Bluetooth stereo with A2DP compatibility and stores up to 2 GB of music or movies on compatible micro SD memory cards. Additionally gamers can play popular Java- based SNAP Mobile platform games on the NokiaN75 such as 3D pool hall, Tetris and Lumines.

The Nokia N75 features a thin clamshell design with a 2.4 inch sharp, color display and a 2 mega pixel camera. The integrated flash allows you to capture quality photos without ever having to open the phone and on-device photo editing lets you perfect your pictures before transferring them to your computer or uploading them directly from your Nokia N75 to popular image sharing sites. The Nokia N75 is also based on the S60 software on Symbian OS.

The manufacturer's suggested retail price for Nokia N76 is $499.99 and for the Nokia N75 $429.99 without contracts. Both devices are now available for purchase at popular online sites, including http://www.nseries.com/ at the Nokia Flagship Stores in New York City and Chicago and at independent retailers nationwide. Note to editors For more information and technical specifications for the Nokia N76please visit http://www.nseries.com/n76 For more information and technical specifications for the Nokia N75 please visit http://www.nseries.com/n75.

So would you be interested to upgrade your existing Nokia Cell phone to these? Or would you Non-Nokia cell phone users be interested in these new Nokia Cell Phones? Your comments would be higly appreciated.

Apple releases iTunes 7.2 for Mac and Windows with new higher-quality, DRM-free music

2007-05-30T05:54:00.000-07:00

Apple has released iTunes 7.2 for Mac and Windows. Apple iTunes is the best way to enjoy your digital music and video with your Mac, iPod, and Apple TV. With iTunes, import CDs or download songs and videos from the iTunes Store. Make playlists perfect for any occasion. Burn playlists to CD and play them on your home stereo. Sync with iPod to enjoy your media on the go, or play your collection on your TV with Apple TV.

With iTunes 7.2, preview and purchase iTunes Plus music—new higher-quality, DRM-free music downloads from participating music labels.

iTunes 7.2 is available via Software Update and also as standalone installers.

More info and download links:
• iTunes 7.2 for Mac - 29.6MB
• iTunes 7.2 for Windows - 36.3MB

Source:macdailynews.com

iPod Recycle Bin at Microsoft - Get a Zune, Dump the iPod

2007-05-30T05:01:00.000-07:00

Rex Sorgatz of MSNBC recently spotted an Apple iPod Amnesty bin outside a Microsoft office that houses the Zune team.You do see some old iPod models lying inside the box but could be just another "interesting" joke.

Microsoft has sold over a million Zune digital music players while Apple iPods have already crossed the 100 million mark in April this year. But from the Google trends chart you can clearly see that iPod's trend curve is far above the Zune's curve and I think the gap between the curves reflects the gap in the market share between iPod and Zune as well. What do you guys - be it iPod fans or Zune fans - think? Will Zune be able to bridge the yawning gap and catch up with iPod sales and popularity?

RUMOR: Apple iPhone to feature larger flash memory, more features than expected

2007-05-29T23:03:00.000-07:00

Apple iPhone: "According to source from an Apple affliate (that shall not be named), Steve Jobs left out some of the iPhone’s features out of his Macworld keynote…and at the same time downplayed some the features," ViM3 reports."Why would Steve downplay some of the features? Our source says that since the iPhone would be released in June, Apple did not want to affect iPod sales. Apple has not released a new video player version of their iPod since 2005, despite the update to the 5G iPod in 2006. Here’s the low down," ViM3 reports.
According to ViM3, Apple's iPhone will feature:
• More memory than 4GB and 8GB
• User Replacable Battery
• Wireless N Support
• Software - variation of iWork
• iTunes Streaming
• iTunes Store - download using Wi-Fi internet or if you have internet service through your carrier (AT&T in the USA).
• Price / AT&T Service Plans - rebate with a 2-year contract and special iPhone plans from AT&T.

"With just a few more weeks left to iPhone launch, we shall see what else Steve has to show off. Steve is set to go over these new features and a wrap up of the iPhone at the beginning of WWDC.," ViM3 reports.

Full article here.

Source: macdailynews.com

One millionth Zune is sold and Bach talks about Apple, Wi-Fi

2007-05-29T00:32:00.000-07:00

When Microsoft began selling the Zune it had a target of one million sold by June 2007. According to Microsoft Entertainment head Robbie Bach, the company has beat their expectations and sold "a little over a million" of the 30GB players as May comes to a close. Bach also said that the company hopes to expand the online Zune Marketplace and that after a few software upgrades the Wi-Fi on the Zune might be used for more than just Zune-to-Zune file sharing. Furthermore, Bach said it was "fun" competing with Apple because the company is a very "worthy and skilled" competitor. Apple still holds an almost 70 percent market share with its iPod player and recently sold its 100 millionth unit.

Source: Electronista, afterdawn

Pro-Sport waterproof MP3 case

2007-05-29T00:15:00.000-07:00

Pro-Sports’s waterproof MP3 case is completely waterproof – that’s 100% and not 99.9%, we’re told – and features air-injected pockets that will keep your ‘Pod afloat when you hit the waves.
The PVC carrier, available in black or white, has a transparent front so you can use your ‘Pod fully once it’s popped inside. If you fancy it, you can even visit the fish as the case is submersible to 6 metres.
Water wings for your ‘Pod will set you back a mere £25 over at http://www.over-board.co.uk/. Of course, you’ll need to plug in a pair of waterproof ‘phones, though.

Microsoft Xbox 360 Elite

2007-05-28T04:26:00.000-07:00

Microsoft Xbox 360 Elite: The Xbox 360 was the first of the "next-gen" videogame consoles to hit the market in the fall of 2005. By the time the PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii hit stores--a full year later--the 360 had not only established itself as a top-tier game console, it was well on its way to becoming a full-service digital entertainment media hub for the living room, with built-in support for high-def TV and movie downloads as well as Vista-friendly media streaming. While Sony and Nintendo struggled with their respective launch issues--just as Microsoft had toiled 12 months earlier--the Xbox 360 has cruised to the No. 1 spot on the home console charts, with more than 10 million units sold worldwide.
So what does Microsoft do for an encore? Release a slightly upgraded Xbox 360, of course. The $480 Xbox 360 Elite is black instead of white, includes a 120GB hard drive (six times as capacious as the previous 360's, twice as big as the PS3's), and sports an HDMI output for easier hookups to HDTVs.
The question for current and prospective gamers: Is the Elite worth the extra $80? For anyone who owns the existing Xbox 360, the answer is probably no--the HDMI connector is more a convenience than a necessity, and the larger snap-on hard drive will be available to existing 360 users as a standalone $180 accessory. Moreover, there's certainly a tinge of disappointment that the Elite's higher price tag doesn't deliver a few more bundled features in the box--the Wi-Fi adapter and the HD DVD drive still need to be purchased separately, for instance. In other words, the Xbox 360 Elite is just a warmed-over version of the previous model that doesn't deliver any groundbreaking, PS3-killing features.
That said, the Xbox 360 currently has a larger and more impressive library of games, and until the PS3 can offer some compelling alternatives--and I have no doubt that eventually, it will--the Xbox 360 remains the better option. And if you're going with the 360 for the first time, you might as well spend that extra $80 and get the Elite.

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Source:http://reviews.cnet.com/
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