News Archive for 09/04/28
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A casting notice for a "Palm Pre Viral" ad campaign could be hinting at the release date for the Palm Pre, according to Gizmodo. A "cool and nerdy" actor is sought to live in Seattle from April 29th through June 5th to shoot the video. An actor from Los Angeles told Precentral the campaign will require the actor to pretend he is frustrated that the Pre has not been released yet. The man will be watched by a camera in the apartment, where he will not leave, as a protest, until the handset is finally released.
Built-in web access has been added in SuperSync 3.1, a major update to the music hub software. SuperSync allows users to track music across multiple computers and music libraries, with options to move, sync and update track and metadata info across each library. Version 3.1 makes it possible to access and remotely play music from a home library on an iPhone or a remote computer, using a new password-protected web server. The server has two web interfaces, one optimized for the iPhone and one geared toward Flash-enabled browsers. The new web server uses AJAX, generating a web page that shows playlists, artists, albums, and genres, with a search function that can be used to find specific tracks.
Intel will soon lower prices of its X25-M series of 2.5-inch solid state drives and boost production of its 1.8-inch SSDs, according to a Tuesday DailyTech report. The 160GB X25-M, which uses mulit-level cell flash memory, is now priced at $630 after launching for $945 last December, and is due to get another $100 price cut soon, while the 80GB version of that drive will fall to $270, down $50. Street prices are even lower, as retailers try to make the Intel drives appealing compared to OCZ's Vertex SSDs.
A version of the Snap QWERTY smartphone from HTC, albeit likely with CDMA and GSM network support, is one step closer to its release at Verizon, as a rendering of it has been spotted. Known in the render as the XV6175, it was codenamed Cedar when it was undergoing testing at the GSM Global Certification Forum. The XV naming scheme has regularly been used to rebrand HTC's phones on Verizon's network.
iBuyPower this afternoon publicized a relatively unique small form factor game PC designed to be easily transportable to a LAN gaming party but without sacrificing its speed. The LAN Warrior is only slightly larger than some SFF boxes with its NZXT case but has room to accommodate Core i7 processors up to the 3.2GHz Core i7 Extreme courtesy of dual side fans and liquid cooling. It can also address as much as 12GB of DDR3 memory and two GeForce GTX 295 or Radeon HD 4870 X2 cards.
Today's deal of the day from DealNN is on the Nokia Bluetooth headset. It is regularly priced at $69.99 but, for today only, has been reduced to $19.99 with FREE shipping. Get up to 6.5 hours of talk time or up to 150 hours of standby time from the rechargeable lithium-ion polymer battery.
In the ongoing legal battle between the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and RealNetworks over the latter's RealDVD computer program that lets users violate copyright laws, the MPAA argued removing the software's restrictions on how many computers can access the ripped files is easily done. Robert Shumann, an expert on securing DVDs, took the stand on Tuesday at the request of the MPAA and said changing RealDVD to allow for more than the current five computers to playback the copied content is simple.
Other World Computing has introduced a USB 2.0 display adapter that can be used to add multiple displays to a PC or Mac. The device plugs into an available USB port, while the displays can be connected via HDMI, DVI or VGA cables. Full 32-bit color is supported, along with resolutions up to 1600 by 1200 pixels. Up to six adapters can be used to clone the primary screen or extend the desktop to six displays.
ASUS, in conjunction with Japanese wireless voice and data network provider NTT DoCoMo, is due to release a 10-inch netbook with built-in 3G access that supports NTT's FOMA data network. NTT DoCoMo subscribers will be able to download data at speeds up to 7.2Mbps without being tied down to a hotspot or wired connection. The Eee PC 1003HAG otherwise sports standard Eee PC fare such as a 1.66GHz Atom N280 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive and 1.3-megapixel webcam. For local area network connections, there is integrated Wi-Fi as well.
An FCC filing tipping up today has shown that Motorola will have a full QWERTY smartphone for Verizon in the near future. Known very early on as the Napoleon, the A4500 is now confirmed to be a World Edition phone that would support both EVDO (likely Revision A) and GSM for calling abroad. It also betrays the existence of a 2-megapixel camera and Wi-Fi.
LG will soon release a CDMA version of its popular Cookie touchscreen cellphone, and call it the LG KX500, an online listing indicates. Apart from supporting CDMA2000 1x access, the KX500 shares the same features of the KP500, including its 240x400 touchscreen display, an integrated accelerometer, Bluetooth 2.1 and a 3-megapixel camera.
HP may overlooking widespread instances of NVIDIA's known graphics defect on systems that fall outside of the official recall list. Users on the company's support forums explain that many dv9000-series notebooks with GeForce 8M-series graphics chipsets are exhibiting the same problems as those covered under a warranty extension and eventually fail with a blank or visually corrupted display. The failure usually happens within 1 to 1.5 years and in many cases falls outside of the warranty.
Motorola last week introduced its MOTO V10 for the Korean market, which sports a body color that flows from black at the top of the handset to red at the bottom. The dual-color body has a soft feel material on its backside for a better grip.
Microsoft is teaming with Verizon on a direct rival to the iPhone for early 2010, according to a purported leak. Few details are forthcoming, but the Wall Street Journal believes the effort relates to Microsoft's project "Pink," which outside of the report is believed to involve creating a Zune-themed reference phone design. The newspaper echoes this by saying the hardware design would have Microsoft's guiding hand but that another company is actually building the device, much as the T-Mobile G1 is influenced by Google but made by HTC.
RIM's BlackBerry Tour has now been given a more concrete release window through a new leak. The smartphone is now slated by BGR's source for July and, as promised, would come to Verizon first. The pricing is predicted to sit below the rivaling BlackBerry Bold at just $199 on a two-year plan.
MetroPCS on Tuesday announced it has released the Samsung Tint cellphone on its flat-rate network. The phone ships with interchangeable grey and pink faceplates and customers have the ability to buy more to suit their own personal tastes. The user interface is also customizable, with banner themes, fonts and wallpapers.
Nokia has announced a new movie tie-in edition of its 5800 XpressMusic phone. The Star Trek variant is preloaded with four custom screensavers, as well as three new wallpapers, and eight ringtones based on movie sound effects. Also loaded is a Phazer application, which simulates the series' famous guns.
Apple's iPhone is much more likely to be voluntarily used as a personal device than smartphones from longstanding challengers, a new Compete study shows. Although 59 percent of those surveyed that own BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows Mobile phones use theirs primarily for work, about 73 percent of iPhones are used primarily for personal use. To the researchers, the bias is more to do with an emphasis on non-traditional apps than the suitability of the phone to its particular task, as the iPhone is more likely to have software that caters to more than just calendars and e-mail.
Epson on Tuesday today announced that its all-in-one Ensemble HD home cinema systems have been updated with the company's latest 3LCD projectors and are now called PowerLite Home Cinema 6100 and Home Cinema 6500 UB. Like earlier versions of the systems, the systems ship with all necessary components for a home theater install, including a 100-inch screen, surround sound speakers, receiver with integrated DVD player and a universal remote. These components come from Atlantic Technologies, with the speakers integrated into the motorized projection screen and the projector's cradle mount.
Demand from PC makers for Intel's Atom processor has started cooling in what may be a shift away from netbooks, industry sources said Monday. Instead of focusing its attention on supplying larger companies like ASUS or Dell, Intel is now believed by DigiTimes to be focusing on smaller builders, particularly those in mainland China, and using them to clear out supplies. The higher-end companies themselves are also turning away from the ultra-mobile chip as a whole.
Creative has added a new entry-level model to its portable audio player line-up with the ZEN MX. Available in models with 8GB or 16GB of internal memory, the new players look largely like the company's current ZEN players with detail changes to the control button layout. The same 2.5-inch LCD display with 320x240 resolution remains. Supported audio files include MP3, WMA (with DRM) and Audible 4. As for videos, only Creative's proprietary video-CMV format is compatible. Creative did include its Creative Centrale software that will convert videos into the format, however.
As promised, Dell today made its Studio One 19 all-in-one desktop available in the US. The 18.5-inch system in US trim starts at $699 and has slightly better performance than the Japanese version launched in March. A 2.5GHz Pentium dual-core, 2GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive and GeForce 9200 integrated video serve as the baseline in the system, which is more consciously designed as a lower-priced alternative to an iMac.
Cablevision on Tuesday claimed the title of the fastest cable Internet provider in the US by launching Optimum Online Ultra. By using the newer multi-channel DOCSIS 3.0 standard, the carrier promises a peak of 101Mbps downstream and a still-fast 15Mbps upstream. The service is theoretically twice as fast as Comcast's 50Mbps service and won't have a bandwidth cap, permitting as much use of the service as customers like. An HD video can download in roughly 10 minutes on the network, while a batch of 750 photos can upload in the space of a minute.
Nokia this morning took extra steps to improve its finances and said it would scale back the development of its online services. Calling it a new "focus," the Finland-based company plans to draw more heavily on third parties for its image and video uploading rather than depend on itself. It also intends to make better use of its resources and will put all games on the Ovi Store in addition to N-Gage and other front-ends that already carried the software.
Averatec is poised to make a significant change to its netbook strategy with Google's Android as its likely foundation, based on an interview with company chief Tae-Hyun Cho. While not naming it explicitly, he indicates to CNET that the TriGem sub-brand's upcoming 10-inch system will have a "surprise" OS that is a "merger of cell phone and PC technology;" Android is one of the few platforms to match the description. The design itself will also be more noticeably upscale and, in a teaser shot, is seen as particularly thin.
HP is in the last stages of developing a notebook with a built-in 3D display, Taiwan's Commercial Times newspaper said on Tuesday. Well-known contractor Wistron has reportedly been tapped to produce a notebook with GeForce 3D Vision support; the display would likely run at 120Hz and support stereoscopic glasses to simulate extra depth in supported 3D games. It's presumed the system would also have a dedicated NVIDIA graphics chipset needed to drive the two 60Hz pictures at once.
Today's DealNN deal of the day is on the Garmin eTrex Vista handheld GPS. It is regularly priced at $299.99, but has been reduced by $160 to $139.99 and includes FREE shipping at Amazon.com. It features a waterproof casing that provides protection in up to three feet of water for up to 30 minutes and comes pre-loaded with basemaps of North & South America viewable on the 2.14" LCD display.
AMD on Tuesday launched its Radeon HD 4770 graphics processor as its latest performance product in the 4000 series for the desktop PC market. Featuring over 826 million transistors and the latest 40nm manufacturing process, the GPU offers performance starting at $99 (after mail-in rebate). The new card features third-generation hardware support for the latest DirectX 10.1 games (e.g., Battleforge, HAWX, S.T.A.L.K.E.R Clear Sky and Stormrise) as well as support for 128-bit GDDR5 memory (twice as fast as GDDR3 at the same clock speeds for better performance), and ATI CrossFireX, which enables a second ATI Radeon HD 4770 card to be added for a "near-linear" increase in performance.
HP tonight put pressure on Apple's high-end MacBook Pros, as well as the current Dell Latitude series, by launching its ProBook s-series portables. The new systems are exercises in minimalism and blur the distinctions between home and work models: though they have quick access to calendars and contacts as well as added security measures and the option of 3G, they all have 16:9 ratio, LED-backlit screens, options for media features like Blu-ray or dedicated non-workstation graphics, and a merlot red body color option. They mark HP's first systems to use through-the-shell "chiclet" keyboards like Apple's MacBooks or certain Sony models.
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