All About Technology

Exhaustive netbook battery comparison finds a clear winner, no victims

2009-04-12T13:19:00.002+07:00

It's hardly the first netbook battery comparison to appear in the Thunderdome that is the internet, but this latest thirteen-strong round-up from Australia's NetbookReview is one of the more comprehensive to emerge as of late, with it only slightly compromised by a few netbooks that aren't available in the site's home country. Not surprisingly, the netbooks equipped with six-cell batteries came out well ahead of their less well off counterparts, with the MSI Wind U115 Hybrid leading the way with an impressive time of 6:56. That was obviously aided in no small part by the netbook's dual SSD / hard drive setup, and by a less commonly used 5100mAh six-cell battery, as opposed to the 6600mAh version used in the second and third place Eee PCs (which each clocked in around the four-hour mark). Bringing up the rear were the Lenovo IdeaPad S10 and Dell Mini 12, neither of which were able to eek out even two hours of use. As you might expect, however, all of the tests involved a worst-case scenario, so you can expect to get a good deal more juice from all of 'em if you're not spending every waking hour watching WMV files.

Michael Arrington drops science on CrunchPad, still won't sell us one

2009-04-12T13:17:00.001+07:00

In case you missed it (we all have our off days, it's fine) we got our hands on a mess of leaked CrunchPad photos yesterday, and we have to say -- the device looks pretty damn good. Now that the cat's out of the bag, a certain Michael Arrington has shed a little light into what's going on over there at CrunchGear HQ. He says that the "significant step forward" for the device has been in regards to the software stack -- it's now entirely customized, including the (Linux) OS and browser. It also sports an Intel Atom chip; previously, the device has been running Ubuntu on a VIA chipset. "The total software footprint is around 100 MB," he writes, "which is a solid achievement." And last but not least, the industrial design and hardware for this bad boy is being done by an outfit in Singapore called Fusion Garage. It looks like the project is in good hands. But anything beyond that -- including, sadly, a timeframe -- is still anyone's guess.

2G iPod touch to have Bluetooth capability unlocked by iPhone OS 3.0

2009-03-18T20:37:00.004+07:00

Looks like that Bluetooth chip in the iPod touch 2G we've always thought was for Nike+ suddenly got a lot more useful: Apple's Greg Joswiak said that Bluetooth can be "unlocked" on the device during the iPhone OS 3.0 Q&A session. That's two years of rumors put to rest, right there, and a solid move, seeing as three of the major 3.0 features are A2DP, wireless accessory control and peer-to-peer connections over Bluetooth. Any touch owners feeling more inclined to drop the $9.95 now?

Fujitsu melts faces and wallets with FLEPia, the first color e-book for general consumption

2009-03-18T20:30:00.002+07:00

After years of teasing -- FLEPia was first announced in April of 2007, and first proven in 2006 -- Fujitsu has at last released its color e-book (or e-paper mobile terminal, as they'd like you to call it) to the masses. Featuring an 8-inch XGA screen capable of displaying 260,000 colors, along with Bluetooth, WiFi and up to 4GB of storage via SD card, and measuring less than half an inch thick, FLEPia's not just getting by on color alone. Fujitsu promises 40 hours of continuos use, and the unit can be operated by its touchscreen or the assortment of function buttons. Naturally you can do the regular e-book thing, but the Japanese version of the device also includes full-on Windows CE 5.0, which would probably be a bit of a chore to use with the relatively slow screen refresh times of e-ink (1.8 seconds for a single wipe), but undeniably retrofuturistic. FLEPia ships on April 20th in Japan for 99,750 Yen (about $1,010 US).

iBUYPOWER's Gamer Power 906 rig does Intel Quad-core for a bit over $700

2009-03-18T20:29:00.002+07:00

Sure, there are endless desktop configurations out there and oodles of good deals, but we're still smitten with this particular setup from iBUYPOWER: the Gamer Power 906. Putting that name to good use, they've managed to toss together an Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 processor, NVIDIA 9600GT graphics with 1GB of RAM, a 500GB SATA hard drive and 4GB of system memory. There was even enough change left over for interior lighting -- and we all know about the direct correlation between ground effects for nerds and frags per minute. Available now for $710

Psystar pushes its luck, launches new Open (3) Mac clone desktop

2009-03-18T20:27:00.003+07:00

Other Mac-cloners may know their time is limited, but good 'ol Psystar just keeps on forging straight ahead -- despite being locked in a nasty legal battle with Apple that could result in it getting shut down any second now. Ignoring that (sophisticated looking) elephant in the corner for a moment, the company has released its latest model, called the Open(3). It sports your choice of processors ranging from a 2.8GHz Core2Duo E7400 up to a 2.53GHz Core2Quad Q8200, up to 4GB of memory, 1TB of storage, a 6x Blu-ray burner, and graphics from an NVIDIA GeForce 9500GT, all packaged in a slim case that, while not quite up to Cupertino standards, certainly looks a fair bit more visually appealing than its previous black boxes. Prices start at just $599, but tick all those option buttons and you'll be looking at something closer to $2,000 -- a lot, but close to $1,000 less than a comparably spec'd Mac Pro. Get 'em while you can.

SmartQ 5 MID scores itself Ubuntu, a ridiculously low price tag

2009-03-18T20:25:00.004+07:00

The SmartQ 5 from SmartDevices just took itself from me-too MID of the millisecond to a quite interesting value proposition. The touchscreen device, which features a 4.3-inch 800 x 480 screen, is now running an ARM-friendly Ubuntu distro, and has been given the low, low pricetag of 899 Chinese Yuan, about $132. Sure, it'll probably never surface Stateside, especially not for that price, but it's a good demonstration of what a little bit of decent ARM hardware and a popular Linux distro can do when they work together, hand in hand.

FijuFilm's FinePix F200EXR, and its pricetag, get reviewed

2009-03-18T20:22:00.002+07:00

While some early shots showed a lot of promise, a full review was necessary to ensure that FujiFilm's latest compact camera would be the performer we were hoping for -- and that it would live up to its $400 price. According to Photography Blog this 12 megapixel shooter doesn't disappoint, scoring very high marks for image quality and features. Its EXR mode, which can toggle between favoring resolution, dynamic range, or low noise, works more or less as advertised, bringing far more depth to shadows than your usual pocket cam can manage. Pictures were clear through ISO 800, but anything above that (up to its ludicrous ISO 12800 mode) were too noisy to be usable. Overall the came was found to be a "veritable breath of fresh air" and a solid choice for a serious photographers who like air and don't want to lug their SLR everywhere.

World's most expensive vacuum also claims title of world's gaudiest

2009-03-18T20:19:00.001+07:00

You may think that the world's most expensive vacuum would be a Dyson or some other high-tech cleaning contraption, but that's apparently not the case, at least according to the vacuum authority that is the Guinness Book of World Records. No, the world's most expensive vacuum is apparently this otherwise ordinary Electrolux, which has been adorned with 3,730 Swarovski crystals by Polish designer Lukaz Jemiol and now commands the princely sum of £13,825 (or just under $20,000). That may not help the vacuum's cleaning ability much, but it'll certainly help it hold its own against all the other Swarovski-encrusted products out there, which, last we checked, includes everything imaginable. Better act quick if you're looking to add to the collection though, as this one is strictly one of a kind.

Robotic Welding Machines Information for You

2009-03-11T14:41:00.001+07:00

If you are looking for a flash butt Welding machines, you are in the right place. In this website you can get information about Automation international. This company is a leader in this area; I mean flash butt welding machines. The company has many experiences serve many industries, such as automotive, military, furniture, appliance, agriculture, aerospace, and construction. If you need the application, You can get it from the largest one to the smaller one, The application that provided here, such as structural members, wheels, rings, aerospace, rods, anodes, bands, stationary rail application and so on.
For the largest models, you can choose from 100 tons upset to 200 tons upset with 500 tons clamp force. It is available for combination also. It is provides complete and precise control of all the weld cycle too. You can choose to purchase phase AC or three phase DC. You can also get information about robotic welding here. This company also provides robot system integrators for resistance and arc welding applications. The robots; the robot System Integrators are able to transfer of products or for part handling. You can see the examples of Robot System Integrations in the website.
Get also information about Arc Welding Equipment in this website. You can purchase equipment from MIG, Plasma Welders, and Seam Welders to robotics. Usually these machines used for seat frame assemblies, air bag housings, exhaust systems, automotive and furniture assemblies. You can choose dedicated Rotary table Arc Welder here that will be able to handle products ranging from automotive wheels to large off-road wheels. You may select Arc Weld lathes also here. This machine is created to rotate work piece in welding process for make pipe and cylinders. For more information about flash butt welding machines and more, you can read at the official website at automation-intl.com.

LG Arena KM900 unboxed far away from trade show crowds

2009-03-04T13:45:00.001+07:00

We already saw every angle of LG's newly launched Arena (or KM900, if we're being formal) at Mobile World Congress last month, but there's just something calming about witnessing an unboxing free of nearby gawkers and devoid of spiraled cables tethered to alarm systems. Seriously, you can't grasp the significance of it without giving the read link a visit, so here's what you do: click, indulge, then return and admit that we told you so.

WD shoves four 2TB Caviar Green HDDs into ShareSpace NAS

2009-03-04T13:44:00.001+07:00

Remember those absurdly capacious 2TB Caviar Green hard drives that Western Digital pumped out earlier this year? If not, WD's hoping to jar your memory by cramming no fewer than four of 'em into its newest, most spacious ShareSpace NAS ever. The four-bay device is now being offered in an 8TB flavor, and it promises to deliver up to 30 percent faster transfer speeds than prior models and to support DLNA media streaming. As with before, this one also doubles as an iTunes music server and comes bundled with the company's own Anywhere Backup software. Other specs include gigabit Ethernet, RAID 0/1/5 capabilities, an email alert system in case failure is imminent, a trio of USB 2.0 sockets and a built-in FTP server. It should be ready to house all of your, um, old tax documents later this week for $1,699.99.

Olympus' Micro Four Thirds camera launching this summer

2009-03-04T13:42:00.001+07:00

We're not gonna get excited just yet, but Olympus has shown one of its cards at PMA , and it happens to indicate at least one of its Micro Four Thirds cameras will be hitting retail channels this summer. That jibes with a rumor we heard back in late January. From what we can tell, there's still a dearth of detail / specs on this hunk of retro hotness -- a shame, too, since it'd have pretty much every camera aficionado's attention right now. With several months to go, we get the feeling the company's gonna play this one close to the chest for a little while longer.

Intel intros specialized Atom for cars and other devices, outsources some Atom manufacturing

2009-03-04T13:40:00.001+07:00

We've already seen the Atom used in a few somewhat surprising places, but Intel now looks to really be making an earnest push to expand its base, with it introducing four new specialized Atom processors (and two new system controllers to go along with 'em) that it hopes will find their way into in-car devices, internet phones, and a whole host of industrial-strength applications. Relying on the same 45nm manufacturing process, the new Atom Z5xx series processors expectedly aren't too radically different from the average Atom, with them clocking in between 1.1GHz and 1.6GHz, and boasting a TDP rating of 2.0 or 2.2 watts, although they do have some "embedded lifecycle support" thrown in for good measure. In related news, Intel has also announced that it'll be outsourcing "some" Atom manufacturing to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (or TSMC), which apparently marks the first time that Intel has licensed its CPU core to a foundry.

Amazon's Kindle for iPhone hits the App Store

2009-03-04T13:35:00.002+07:00

Sure, Amazon could pit the Kindle squarely against phone- and PDA-based e-book apps, but why not play both sides? The company had previously mentioned its desire to embrace non-Kindle devices in its digital delivery ecosystem, and the first fruits of that labor have now hit the iPhone App Store. The uncreatively-named Kindle for iPhone allows you access to all of your Kindle content right from the comfort of your iPhone or iPod touch, and if you have the good fortune of owning an honest-to-goodness Kindle, Whispersync will kick in to keep your location synchronized between readers. It's a huge win for owners of both devices, considering that the Kindle's still just a little bit big to be carrying everywhere you go, but your phone -- well, if you don't have that everywhere you go, you're just plain weird.

Elecom's new TK-FCP004 ultra-slim keyboard is minimalism at its finest

2009-03-04T13:31:00.001+07:00

Pining for a numeric keypad, which Apple has so unceremoniously discarded, but can't bring yourself to pick the numeric version off a list? Do you have other personality problems, but appreciate good design? Do you live in Japan? Then Elecom's got just the thing for you, the new TK-FCP004 series ultra-slim keyboards. Rising a mere 0.57-inches off the ground, and sporting incredibly minimal aesthetics, we'd say Elecom has hit a real nerve here. The keyboard comes in silver, white or black, and hits Japan mid-October for 5040 yen after tax (about $50 US).

Home for Senior People

2009-03-04T13:27:00.001+07:00

Happy and prosperously life after retire is a dream of all people. That is the reason many people prepare their selves a nice home prior to their retirement. However many people retired before their home credit is fully paid. For these people, their life could be a downfall. They still have to pay their credit and fulfill their needs while the other hand they don’t receive paycheck anymore. This problem could risk them lost their home.
Those senior peoples could find a solution from reverse mortgage. Basically, reverse mortgage is a loan for senior to release the home equity as one or multiple payments. The home owner’s obligation to repay the loan is delayed until the home owner dies or leaves the house. However senior people must be well educated before they decided to take a reverse mortgage. Senior people could learn from reverse-mortgage-information.com. This website provides you with many reverse mortgage information and resources. Most comprehensive is their “7 steps tutorial Is reverse mortgage right for me? E-book. It can be downloaded free from this web site.
This web site also provides many others reverse mortgage resources. There are guidelines to choose from many reverse mortgages, retirement planning guidelines and reputable counselors to discuss with. This web site also has information about medicare supplemental insurance. Learn more all benefits from this dedicated health insurance for senior peoples. This will help senior people from any health issues might come to them.

CREATE A BETTER WEBSITE ADDRESSES THEMES

2009-03-03T02:00:00.000+07:00

If you are owned a business of website address and you would like to conduct the great effect by placing the great themes or portfolio on it, you should find the great company or website address that would be able to handle your existed order. It would be better if you are directly visiting the ecommerce-themes.com instead of searching for the similar company that might not as good as this.
The eCommerce-Themes.com is a website address that is giving you satisfaction guarantee because the given product and services of its themes is way better than the other similar website address. That is why you should no longer worries if you asked this company to help you in conduct the great themes for your website address’s wall.
The recent theme that is quite popular and has a very high quality is Magento Themes which would be easily access through the existed account in the top of the website page. Feel free to explore the entire given account in this website addresses and share it to your friends and relatives that might also need such products and services for their existed business to create a better website address themes, portfolio and looks

iriver SPINN gets knocked off as... a digital camera

2009-02-23T14:43:00.002+07:00

We were pretty impressed by the unique design of the iriver SPINN media player when we got our hands on it last year, but that doesn't mean it's a design that'll instantly improve any device, as fully exemplified by this little wonder now making the rounds in China. Apparently dubbed the SWIVEL-CAM, this one's a 5-megapixel shooter that packs an 8x digital zoom (and digital zoom only), along with a 3-inch LCD, 16MB of internal memory, an SD card slot for expansion, and video recording in either 4:3 or 16:9 modes, not to mention the usual e-book reader, voice recorder, and "game player." Intrigued? Then you can get your order in right now for $120.

LG Versa finds its way out of a Verizon box

2009-02-23T14:36:00.001+07:00

At least on this Gregorian calender sitting here in the office, March 1st is still a few days off. True though that may be, it hasn't stopped at least one LX9600 (or Versa, if you prefer) from getting unboxed from its Verizon Wireless packaging. There's no indication of what truck this fell off of, nor if these phones may actually go on sale a few days early, but one thing's for sure -- this unboxer definitely did the honors in a high school cafeteria. Classy, no?

Creative quietly intros MovieWorks HD iPod dock

2009-02-23T14:29:00.002+07:00

Not that Creative hasn't dabbled in the HD iPod dock arena before, but it's been awhile since the company has introduced a new one. Quietly, secretly, the outfit has pushed a fresh one out in the Cambridge Soundworks line, and it's satisfactorily titled MovieWorks HD. The device does about what you'd expect by outputting iPod video and audio (via HDMI) onto one's TV and / or sound system, though Creative points out that this one is the only one with its own Xtreme Fidelity, X-Fi Crystallize and X-Fi CMSS-3D technology -- so yeah, take that for whatever it's worth. Those who detest cables can also snag the optional wireless receiver, but first you'll need to pony up $249.99 for the dock itself.

MyRacer's lisse T10 PMP subtly takes a hint from iriver's SPINN

2009-02-23T14:01:00.002+07:00

MyRacer's lisse S10 was too simple to really attribute any level of knockoff status to it, but there's little doubt that the company's lisse T10 took a lesson or two in design from iriver's SPINN. For whatever reason, the SPINN seems to be quite popular in the KIRF circuit, and while the T10 is still different enough to keep it from being the next in our growing list of blatant rips, we're definitely not giving MyRacer any innovation credits here. All that aside, this here PMP is said to feature a 2.8-inch display (320 x 240), 2GB / 4GB of internal capacity, support for a litany of audio and video file formats, a built-in FM tuner and recorder, a text reader and support for an undocumented list of "games." There's no word on a price or release date, but we wouldn't count on it drifting far from its home nation of South Korea.

Sony scouting a tester for unreleased new product?

2009-02-23T13:55:00.001+07:00

While the rumors of a PSP2 and PSP Phone have calmed down of late, they're never truly dead. According to a fluent Japanese speaker translating a Sony Japan job listing for GameSpot, the company is on the hunt for an "evaluator / assessor for a new game machine." More specifically, that elusive machine is said to be a "part of the PlayStation or PSP series and their peripherals." The listing goes on to state that the lucky winner will "be part of an advisory staff that will play PlayStation series software on this new machine and check its functionality," and they'll also be able to "test game machines not yet released or new functionality of PS3 peripherals before they are released." From there, it's up to your imagination to determine what exactly this could be alluding to, but we're setting our expectations remarkably low as to not be disappointed.

HTC says Touch Pro2 will be "broadly available," North America included

2009-02-23T13:51:00.001+07:00

In October of last year, HTC informed us that the Touch HD would sadly not be coming to the States via its Twitter feed. Shortly after Mobile World Congress, that same feed has delivered much, much better news in regard to the Touch Pro2. Directly from HTC: "And to answer the big question on everyone's minds, the Touch Pro2 will be broadly available in all major markets, including North America." A followup tweet affirmed that a launch date and country wasn't yet set in stone, but that the phone would begin shipping out in "late Q2." Oh, where art thou, May through July time frame?

Palm "Pro" shows up in March Best Buy Mobile ad for $249

2009-02-23T13:47:00.001+07:00

The fate of the Sprint Treo Pro has been up in the air ever since the announcement of the Pre, with units sent to stores called back for testing and reports of endless delays, but it looks like we'll finally be getting the HTC-built handset next month, since it's in Best .Buy Mobile's March circular as the "Palm Pro" for the expected $249 on contract. That's certainly better than the off-contract $699 price Big Blue posted last month, but what's up with calling it the Palm Pro? Considering the tips we've already gotten confusing the Treo Pro with the Pre, we'd say truncating it down to just "Pro" is a disaster waiting to happen -- might want to straighten this out, Palm.
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