News Archive for 09/05/11
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Five owners of Apple, Dell and Hewlett-Packard laptops have combined their lawsuits against Nvidia in an attempt to make the company replace allegedly flawed processors, according to court documents. The five plaintiffs filed an amended complaint last week in San Francisco federal court that accused Nvidia of violating the consumer-protection laws. According to one plaintiff Todd Feinstein of Louisiana, after purchasing his MacBook in April 2008, the computer ran hot, periodically shut-down without warning and displayed only grey or black at times.
Having been silent on a launch date with less than two months on its intended timeframe, Palm is reported as poised to announce a release date for the Pre in a week. An established source of BGR's claims the smartphone developer and Sprint will use the Wall Street Journal for a major announcement likely to involve the release date for the handset. It's not certain if pricing or any other details will follow suit.
LaCie has announced two new upgrades to its networked-attached storage (NAS) devices: the LaCie 5big Network and 2big Network. The product enhancements include improved performance, capacity expansion, and extra data protection with RAID settings. The 5big Network adds support for Time Machine backup software, along with improved multimedia server capabilities that allow users to stream multimedia files to UPnP players such as a PS3 or Xbox.
In airing a new video, Microsoft has expanded its ad competition with Apple to encompass music support. The ad specifically targets the iTunes Store, and relies on a financial speaker named Wes Moss to criticize the value of buying tracks outright instead of subscribing to a service like the Zune Pass. At 120GB, claims Moss, the full-sized version of the iPod classic would cost roughly $30,000 to fill when using the iTunes Store.
Researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed an OLED display that is flexible and can be folded or stretched without a decrease in image resolution or quality. Thus far, the prototypes are monochrome and are shaped like a sphere that shows land and water weather data as well as a face that can change expression. They are made by spraying a layer of carbon nanotubes with a fluoro-rubber compound, resulting in a conductive and stretchy material.
The world's largest software vendor, Microsoft, is selling bonds for the first time as of today. Despite having $25 billion in cash, the company has at least enough demand for $15 billion in bonds, an investor says. According to a Monday WSJ report, the company will sell notes that mature in five, 10 or 30 years. The prospectus says net proceeds from the sale will be used for general corporate purposes such as working capital, capital expenditures and repurchases of capital stock.
First spotted at the start of March before being unveiled at the CTIA expo, the Sanyo SCP-2700 QWERTY handset is now available at wireless provider Sprint sooner than expected. The entry-level device has a GPS sensor that will provide audible and visual turn-by-turn driving directions, a 1.3-megapixel camera and Bluetooth support.
Corsair this afternoon said it had started shipping the P256, its fastest and also most capacious solid-state drive. The 2.5-inch SATA II drive holds its namesake 256GB thanks to multi-level cell storage but has a fast Samsung controller that lets it read data at 220MB per second and writes at an equally quick 200MB per second. A 128MB cache and native command queuing further add to the practical speed.
Scientists at the University of Rochester working with researchers at Eastman Kodak have created a nanocrystal that constantly emits light instead of regularly wasting energy as heat, as current individual molecules tend to, according to a weekend PhysOrg report. Developing the nanocrystal further could result in brighter LED lights, less expensive lasers and thinner TVs and displays. When the molecule is emitting photons as heat, it goes dark, and is thus said to be blinking.
Wireless provider T-Mobile is no longer listing the aging HTC Wing slider handset on its website, hinting at a very near release of what's believed to be its predecessor, the Touch Pro2, also from HTC. What could be named the Wing II when it launches at the provider, the new handset sports the same horizontal form factor as the Wing, but has a larger 3.6-inch, 480x800 resolution touchscreen. No release date is confirmed for this phone, but it has recently been approved for use at T-Mobile by the FCC.
Denon's American branch this afternoon bowed its core lineup for 2009 and headlined it with both Blu-ray players as well as network-aware iPod docks. The DBP-2010CI and DBP-1610CI both bring Blu-ray Profile 2.0 support for Internet-based special features and will play both AVC (H.264) and DivX video in HD. The higher-end 2010CI touts a higher-grade Anchor Bay digital imaging processor and a serial port for home automation. Both ship in July with the 1610CI costing $499 and the 2010CI asking a premium at $699.
Apple and other PC makers are likely to see a return to form thanks to revitalized notebook sales, a ChangeWave study said today. Analysts note that the number of people looking to buy notebooks within the next three months has bounced back from a low of 6 percent in February to 8 percent in April and that companies which have a strong focus on notebooks are most likely to benefit from that demand. Apple in particular should reap the benefits as it continues to have strong plans to buy notebooks, with 29 percent of notebook buyers still looking to purchase MacBooks.
The PlayStation Network (PSN) currently accessible by users of Sony's PlayStation 3 gaming console that lets them download games, movies, songs and other multimedia content may soon make its way to other hardware from the electronics giant, company CEO Howard Stringer revealed in a recent interview. Bringing the Internet and downloadable content into family living rooms will be made possible by integrating the PSN into Sony Bravia HDTVs, for example, with Sony Ericsson handset owners and PlayStation Portable gaming console users also benefitting from a version of the interface.
Lenovo this afternoon unveiled its first major revision to the IdeaPad S series in the form of the S10-2. The new netbook is significantly friendlier with a rounded design and a thinner, lighter chassis that weighs 2.2 pounds. It also gets an improved keyboard and multiple lid color options as well as a version with 3G networking.
Microsoft at its TechEd conference today said it expects Windows 7 to ship towards the end of 2009. Although the company has until now maintained that the OS would ship near the three-year anniversary of Vista, or early 2010, senior Windows VP Bill Veghte now says he expects the update to ship before the holidays. He hasn't specified a particular date but says Windows Server 2008 R2, which shares a similar code base, should ship at the same time.
The New York Times is now deeply involved in investigating electronic concepts, says Harvard University's Nieman Journalism Lab. The newspaper's research and development group is exploring a variety of options in place of print, which is losing an increasing amount of money as subscribers cancel in favor of reading via the Internet. Among the key technologies for the R&D group is e-ink, as used in e-book readers from Amazon, Sony and others. Particular interest is being directed at flexible displays, which are said to have had "breakthroughs" in the past six months that could result in more pliable circuitboards.
Garmin told its investors on Wednesday that it has once again moved back the planned release date of its G60 and other nuvifone smartphones to the second half of the year, and won't, as previously reported, be coming out in June. According to a recent TWICE update, the company is currently taking the phones through the testing phase of the certification process and carriers are very interested in the smartphones. No detailed release date has been given, however.
Sharp made a push in earnest into Internet-capable TVs on Monday with the launch of the AQUOS D series in its home country of Japan. The new sets add support for a Yahoo video service that streams multiple content channels online using a built-in Ethernet link. They also bring 1080p, faster 120Hz panels and 15,000:1 dynamic contrast ratios for every set.
RIM is planning an aggressive push into 3G BlackBerries for GSM carriers with one model that will be available on both AT&T and T-Mobile at once, separate leaks show. Codenamed the Driftwood, the device is a variant on the BlackBerry Tour with a Bold-style keyboard, a 3.2-megapixel camera, GPS and the 480x360 touch display. The new phone would add Wi-Fi, however, and would support 3G over HSPA on T-Mobile USA's 1,700MHz and 2,100MHz bands.
Sources said late yesterday that the European Commission will rule against Intel on Wednesday for its purported anti-competitive behavior versus AMD. Those aware of the case have told Reuters that the Commission will not only issue a fine but force Intel to change the way it sells processors in Europe. Intel's attempts to hinder AMD's success were "naked," according to the tip.
Samsung's low-cost Magnet QWERTY handset is now available for purchase via wireless provider AT&T. First seen at the end of March before its debut at CTIA in April, the phone has a VGA camera with 4x zoom, a WAP browser and Bluetooth capability. Its 2.2-inch display sports a 176x220 resolution. The feature set is deliberately basic to keep the costs down for those primarily interested in e-mail, IM and text.
Japanese wireless provider NTT DoCoMo on Monday announced it has developed a spatial audio transmission technology for cellphones that lets users set the spatial direction of callers' voices when in a conference call. For example, callers wearing headphones and talking to two other individuals in a conference call can set one's voice to come from the left speaker and the other from the right, almost as if they're sitting around a table. The technology is still in prototype stages but NTT DoCoMo would like to see it used for conference calls, online gaming and tele-education.
The number of phones shipped using Google's Android platform is set to grow much faster than the iPhone this year, estimates from Strategy Analytics maintain today. Devices like the T-Mobile G1 have just a small fraction of shipments today but are expected to grow 900 percent in 2009 as multiple extra smartphones launch and more carriers come onboard. Apple's device will reportedly grow second-quickest but at a much smaller 79 percent growth rate to 23.8 million iPhones per year, potentially leading to a shift in favor of Android in the near future.
Motorola today produced a surprise introduction for the W7 Active Edition. The slider is built for exercise and has multiple sensors to make it useful for running. An accelerometer lets owners switch music tracks by shaking the phone left or right and can silence music or an incoming call by flipping the phone upside-down; a pedometer tracks walks and runs through an exercise app. The support for tilt also helps browsing photos and can be used for specially-made games.
Verizon in keeping with recent leaks today began offering the Samsung Alias 2. The dual-direction flip phone is the only one to use e-ink for its keys and uses this to auto-rotate and re-label the keys rather than use a second set; in traditional mode it uses a typical number pad, but flips instantly to a QWERTY keyboard when the display is rotated into landscape mode. The technology doesn't draw power outside of changes and doesn't affect battery life.
Without fanfare, Dell has today launched a new 20-inch LCD built for very entry-level systems. Released first in Hong Kong, the ST2010 has a 16:9 aspect ratio, 1600x900 resolution with a basic TN panel to keep costs down. In an unusual decision, however, the company drops regular DVI in favor of HDMI (with an audio pass-through) as well as VGA and makes a chin-mounted soundbar an option.
Microsoft this weekend claimed Google's internet browser, Chrome, will be given more market dominance should the European Commission continue with its antitrust charges against Microsoft. The company expects Opera and Mozilla, each of which have agreements in place with Google, will default their browsers to the Google search engine. According to the FT, this claim was contained within Microsoft's written appeal to the EC.
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