techclick

Need for Speed carbon

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammed Tabraiz Ali) — Thu, 7 Sep 2006 02:48:00 -0700

Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: EA Black Box
Genre: RacingRelease
Date: November

Need for Speed Carbon, is no different.From what EA tells us (and we'll trust them as our rusty Ford Pintos are not exactly ready for competition), street racing has essentially divided into two distinct factions. Being that it's highly illegal, some street racers have shifted to sanctioned races, competitions set up legally on safe tracks. Some racers, however, have taken their sport outside city walls, continuing to defy the law but pushing the boundaries of what any sane person would consider safe even further than before.

This leads us to the newest and biggest mode in Need for Speed Carbon, Canyon Duels. Based on points rather than finishing the race first, Canyon Duels pit two cars against each other in two rounds, with one car chasing the other in the first, and then reversing it for the second. You'll always begin as the follow car in NFS Carbon, whereby you'll earn points for keeping up with your opponent. The closer you are, the quicker you'll earn points. For the second leg, your opponent will follow you and attempt to chip away at the points you've just earned. Finish in the positive and you'll take home a medal, but finish in the negative and you'll go home empty handed (and maybe on foot).The most interesting part about this is that it's possible to earn an instant victory (or loss, as the case may be). If the following car passes the lead car and manages to stay ahead for 10 seconds, the race is over. Likewise, if the lead car manages to pull way ahead of the following car, the latter of the two is going home. And last but certainly not least, if you happen to take a turn too late and break through the guardrail, the only thing you'll earn is a heaping pile of metal at the bottom of the canyon.This stressed the main aspect of Canyon Duels to us: speed versus danger. Though the track we were able to try didn't have any very sharp turns, it was almost never straight, meaning that we were always toying with sliding into the mountain or off the edge of the cliff. In and of itself, the course isn't difficult to navigate, but when you're trying to stay either out in front or just behind the other racer, you'll wind up pushing your car farther than you should more often than not. This was the coolest part about this race - managing speed against safety.

Speaking of managing, this brings us to Carbon's crew aspects. While you'll be racing one-on-one in Canyon Duels, those only make for about 25% of the races in Carbon, with the majority of the game taking place in its open-world environment. This is where the bulk of the story will take place and it's here that you'll build up your own crew. Details are a little scarce on exactly how you'll gain members, how you'll manage them and so forth, but we do know that you'll be able to choose who joins your racing team and each member will be able to increase their skills as the game progresses.Each member has two of six skills, one off the track and one on. For racing, a crew member will be classified as a Blocker, Scout or Drafter. During a race you'll be able to tell your teammate to perform their ability a few times per race (as to not overdo it) and help you get ahead. They're able to win races for you, but you're the main focus so they're present more for support and will drop back to help you out even if it means losing a few positions.

(via ign)

Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammed Tabraiz Ali) — Thu, 7 Sep 2006 02:21:00 -0700

Publisher : Microsoft Games
StudiosDeveloper: Ensemble Studios
Genre : Real-time StrategyRelease
Date : octomber

The third and last WarChief’s civilization was featured recently on the front page of IGN. The Aztecs are a dilemma for me. They are a strong economic civ, which I usually prefer, and they have maybe the coolest looking units and architecture in the game. But because they have foot soldiers only and no cavalry or artillery, I find them the most difficult to play. Playing the Aztecs well requires being able to first recognize quickly on screen the different types of Aztec units and what they do well, and then organize and employ them to take advantage of their strengths. It will be interesting to see how top players do with them after the game is published.

Warchiefs looks like it will breathe some new life into Age of Empires III by offering a different perspective. Players will no longer necessarily be battling to conquer the new world. With Native American tribes, they will have a chance to defend it. The Native American tribes look distinct enough from the European factions to stand out and offer some diverse gameplay while preserving feel of AOE3. Where they were pretty much backdrop NPC's in the original game, they are now living and playable. The developers, Ensemble Studios, seem to be on the right track with Warchiefs, and we're looking forward to seeing how the other Native American tribes fit in to the big picture.

ea, fps, battlefield 2142, trailer, games, youtube, DirectX, Windows XP, xbox, pc, ps2, ps3, wii, multiplayer, Gamers, Electronic Arts,Ubisoft, action, gadgets, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent, Microsoft Games, WarChief’s, IGN, Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs, aoe3, architecture, unots, Aztecs , players, conquer

battlefield 2142

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammed Tabraiz Ali) — Wed, 6 Sep 2006 03:56:00 -0700

Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Digital Illusions CE
Genre: Online Shooter
Release Date: October

Background:
In the year 2142, the Earth is experiancing a new ice age. Thus the battle for land not yet covered by ice, a most belonged thing, starts. In this war, there are two sides: European Union and the Pan Asian Coalition. Both armies are highly equipped with the latest in war technology. Ranging from laser rifles all the way to walking mechs. And both armies are willing to fight for what little land is left. Now, the battle has been changed.

Features:
# Titan Mode: Wage epic-scale war to defeat your opponent's Titan, a massive flying warship, controlled by the team's commander. Players must destroy the Titan's shields, board the craft, fight to it's reactor core and detonate it from the inside - all while defending their own Titan.
# 64-Players Online (Internet connection required for online play.)
# Experience all-out war with Battlefield's legendary multiplayer for up to 64 players.
# Real-Time Persistence: To the victor goes the spoils! Equipment, medals and other rewards are awarded ingame and in real time. Choose an unlock and have access to it immediately next time you spawn. The game features five times more unlocks than Battlefield 2.
# Customisable Abilities: Gamers can expand their abilities and blend multiple player classes to match their play-style.
# Lethal Vehicles: Gamers control menacing Battle Walkers that stalk the land and futuristic gunships that patrol the skies. APC's and high-speed recon vehicles keep the action fast, furious and unpredictable.
# High-Tech Weaponry: EMP grenades, sentry guns, smart mines, cloaking devices, and more change the rules of the Battlefield forever.
# The world has changed: Fight for survival on the Battlefield of the 22nd century in brand new locations from Minsk to North Africa as the ice presses down from the North.

Min System Requirements:
Windows XP (32-bit) with Admin rights
1.7 GHz Intel Celeron D / Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon XP/ Sempron or greater
512 MB of RAM or more
8x or faster CD/DVD drive
2.3 GB free hard drive space or more
DirectX 9.0c compatible
128Mb Video card or more

International release dates:
Europe: October 20, 06

Technorati Tags:
ea, fps, battlefield 2142, trailer, games, youtube, DirectX, Windows XP, xbox, pc, ps2, ps3, wii, multiplayer, Gamers, Electronic Arts
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Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammed Tabraiz Ali) — Wed, 6 Sep 2006 03:32:00 -0700

Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Genre: Action
Release Date: October 17

Veteran agent Sam Fisher is back. But he's never faced an enemy like this before. To stop a devastating terrorist attack, he must infiltrate a vicious terrorist group and destroy it from within. For the first time ever, experience the relentless tension and gut-wrenching dilemmas of life as a double agent.

As you infiltrate a terrorist organization in its American headquarters, you must carefully weigh the consequences of your actions. Kill too many criminals and you'll blow your cover. Hesitate too long and millions will die. Do whatever it takes to complete your mission, but get out alive.

Game Features:

Dual objectives to fulfill: NSA government agents and terrorists will each want you to accomplish opposing tasks at the same time.
Discover the tension of being a double agent: Use actual tactics employed by today's real-life double agents to sabotage the terrorists' plans.
Explore a branching storyline with multiple endings: Your choices have an impact on how the story and game play unfolds.
A world of international espionage: Missions from all over the world, from Asia to Africa to the heart of the US. Experience extreme situations: underwater or in a sandstorm, hiding behind the dust or smoke - and even skydiving.
New authentic gadgets: Master the latest weapons and gadgets used by NSA government agents in addition to black-market terrorist weapons.
PC extras: Two additional alternate single-player missions, nine all-new merged versus and co-op maps, and new underwater and sandstorm combat.

System Requirements:

CPU: P4 3.0Ghz or AMD equivalent
Ram: 1Go
Videocard: supporting shaders 3.0 (GeForce 6 and 7 series, ATI X1300, X1600, X1800, X1900 series)

The best antivirus software is........

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammed Tabraiz Ali) — Tue, 5 Sep 2006 03:06:00 -0700

One thing I always hate to do is to find the best Antivirus program that will protect my computer. The two best paid versions that I have always heard about are Kaspersky and NOD32. For free software, I always look towards Avast or AVG. Of course, that is what I knew before but it looks like there may be some new people climbing the ladder.

Virus.gr tested quite a few different software companies to see how they would stack up against each other. How did the 147,000+ virus test pan out? Here are the results (the ones in bold are the ones I expected to do good):

1. Kaspersky version 6.0.0.303 - 99.62%
2. Active Virus Shield by AOL version 6.0.0.299 - 99.62%
3. F-Secure 2006 version 6.12.90 - 96.86%
4. BitDefender Professional version 9 - 96.63%
5. CyberScrub version 1.0 - 95.98%
6. eScan version 8.0.671.1 - 95.82%
7. BitDefender freeware version 8.0.202 - 95.57%
8. BullGuard version 6.1 - 95.57%
9. AntiVir Premium version 7.01.01.02 - 95.45%
10. Nod32 version 2.51.30 - 95.14%
11. AntiVir Classic version 7.01.01.02 - 94.26%
12. ViruScape 2006 version 1.02.0935.0137 - 93.87%
13. McAfee version 10.0.27 - 93.03%
14. McAfee Enterprise version 8.0.0 - 91.76%
15. F-Prot version 6.0.4.3 beta - 87.88%
16. Avast Professional version 4.7.871 - 87.46%
17. Avast freeware version 4.7.871 - 87.46%
18. Dr. Web version 4.33.2 - 86.03%
19. Norman version 5.90.23 - 85.65%
20. F-Prot version 3.16f - 85.14%
21. ArcaVir 2006 - 83.44%
22. Norton Professional 2006 - 83.18%
23. AVG Professional version 7.1.405 - 82.82%
24. AVG freeware version 7.1.405 - 82.82%
25. Panda 2007 version 2.00.01 - 82.23%
26. Virus Chaser version 5.0a - 81.47%
27. PC-Cillin 2006 version 14.10.1051 - 80.90%
28. VBA32 version 3.11.0 - 79.12%
29. ViRobot Expert version 4.0 - 76.22%
30. UNA version 1.83 - 75.44%

There’s the list and as you can see there are several towards the top that really shocked me. The one I am most happy about is the Active Virus Shield by AOL because it is offered to the public for free. Sure it branded as AOL but underneath it is all Kaspersky and this goes to show it.

I expected NOD32, Avast, and AVG to perform a little better than they did but NOD32 and AVG definitely fought back at the heuristic testing. Heuristic testing is extremely important because that is what gives an Antivirus the ability to catch a virus even it is not in the database. Here are the top 10 from that list:

1. Nod32 2.51.30 - 41503
2. Vba32 3.11.0 - 32911
3. VirIT 6.1.9 - 16469
4. AVG 7.1.405 Professional - 13624
5. AVG 7.1.405 freeware - 13624
6. Rising AV 18.41.30 - 12214
7. McAfee 10.0.27 - 10708
8. Ikarus 5.19 - 7191
9. F-Prot 6.0.4.3 beta - 6247
10. Ukrainian National Antivirus 1.83 - 5506

One thing is for sure and that is Norton needs some work for as much as it costs. So many people rely on Symantec’s software because that is what comes installed on most computers but it obviously won’t provide the protection that is needed.

I fix computers for people all of the time and when I find that their Antivirus subscriptions have expired I normally install Avast. After seeing these tests it definitely makes me ponder using Active Virus Shield by AOL because of the high ranking. Avast does have the Web Shield which stops malicious attacks through your Web browser and I really like that feature. I wonder what is more important, the overall ability to find a virus or being able to block Web attacks?

(via cybernet)
Technorati Tags:
Kaspersky version 6.0.0.303, Active Virus Shield by AOL version, F-Secure 2006 version, BitDefender Professional version, CyberScrub version 1.0, eScan version 8.0.671.1, BitDefender freeware version 8.0.2021, BullGuard version 6.1AntiVir Premium version 7.01.01.02, Nod32, AntiVir Classic version, ViruScape, McAfee, Avast, Norton, AVG, Panda 2007, Virus Chaser, PC-Cillin
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Fight Night Round 3

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammed Tabraiz Ali) — Mon, 4 Sep 2006 03:27:00 -0700

This is a completely new experience that allows players to fight through the eyes of the boxer from the moment they enter the ring until someone gets KO'd. This is the closest a gamer will ever come to getting into the ring and trading blows with the likes of Muhammad Ali, Oscar De La Hoya and the other greats. What makes it so powerful and exciting is that the experience changes as the boxer's health deteriorates. We've captured the sensation and feel of taking punches by implementing a number of different effects such as ear ringing, simulated loss of hearing, and restricted vision that mimics the effects of eye swelling and damage as well as flashes of bright light, color shifts and blur to give players that sense and feeling of getting punched.

In multiplayer mode, the players can take advantage of widescreen and HDTV technology to go head to head in first person split-screen battles. This is really cool because as you inflict damage on your opponent, you can see the damage happening in real time and if you peak over at your opponent's side of the screen you'll be able to see the effects of the damage on his vision.

(via ign)
Fight Night Round 3, boxer, game,ring, Muhammad Ali, damage, punched, multiplayer, HDTV

SanDisk V-Mate Memory Card Video Recorder

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammed Tabraiz Ali) — Mon, 4 Sep 2006 03:05:00 -0700

Hot off the floors of IFA is the V-Mate memory card recorder from SanDisk. This device is really pretty simple and could be really practical for people who love getting their video fix on portable media players like the iPod, PSP, etc. The V-Mate connects to any analog video and audio output. It can then record video directly to a wide variety of portable media formats like SD, MMC, and all of the Sony varieties. It records the video at 640 x 480, therefore being perfect for any of the portable media players out there. The TV-based interface allows you to control and adjust all features of the V-Mate. This device will be available in October for $130 or so.

(via gizmodo)

iPod,Philips SA9200,Mp3 Player,Flash player

A new player for Ministry of Sound's fifteenth birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammed Tabraiz Ali) — Mon, 4 Sep 2006 03:03:00 -0700

Ministry of Sound has dropped a new player to celebrate the brand turning fifteen, and it turns out you'll have to plunk down £179.99 to show your love to the prolific party host. In return, you'll get the MP055C6, which features 6GB of "internal memory" (flash? hard drive? who knows.), a color screen and a docking station that matches the player's shiny "piano black" casing. Voice / insanely loud club music recording comes standard, along with ten tracks from the MoS's collection. Another notable (but not new) player that we spotted on MoS's site is the MP3 player-in-a-clip MP097 Clipstix. Coming in both 256MB and 512MB, pink and black varieties, this little player looks like a rebadge of Evergreen's player from late last year. As the Ministry would say -- if it were a real Ministry -- this concludes our MoS broadcast for the day.

[Via TechDigest]

new player,Ministry of Sound's,internal memory,piano black,voice,MP3 player,MoS broadcast,

Samsung SDC-MS61: Slim 6-megapixel

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammed Tabraiz Ali) — Fri, 1 Sep 2006 22:41:00 -0700

Samsung unveiled this tiny camera at IFA. It is small as hell, looks pretty hot and includes a six-megapixel sensor.It has a 3-inch LCD screen, video recording—in widescreen (!!)—and even includes an MP3 recorder and player. Hopefully it will include some kind of image stabilization, small cameras like these are bitches to keep steady. Not much other information is known about this little diddy, but TechDigest is suggesting a winter release.

(via gizmodo)

Samsung,Slim 6-megapixel,SDC-MS61,MP3 recorder,playerTechDigest,video recording,LCD screen

Sony Launches 2 GPS Navigation

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammed Tabraiz Ali) — Fri, 1 Sep 2006 22:31:00 -0700

Sony has launched the NV-U81T and NV-U80 navigation units. Both of which comes loaded up with Sony's Position Plus—I'll show them a position plus...—technology for more accurate positioning and routing even when the signal is weak. The unit itself has a 4.3-inch touchscreen display with voice commands and Bluetooth for hands-free calling via a cellphone. The NV-U81T includes a 4GB hard drive for map and information storage while the NV-U80 comes with 512MB of memory. They should both be hitting the shelves this November and will likely cost an arm and a leg.

Commodore Gravel in Pocket Portable Media Player and Gravel in Home

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammed Tabraiz Ali) — Fri, 1 Sep 2006 00:29:00 -0700

Featuring the weirdest name for a PMP we've heard this week, the Commodore Gravel In Pocket supports MP4, MPEG, DivX, Xvid, WMV, MP3, WMA, WAV, JPG, BMP and GIF files. It has 1 or 2GB of internal flash memory, plus an expandable SD slot for removable memory. It plays at a respectable 24FPS (film quality) on its 2.8-inch TFT screen.

Then there's the Gravel in Home system, which has a 80GB hard disk, which has Video On Demand and Replay TV support, but to what extent we're not sure. There should be more information at IFA from September 1 to September 6 in Berlin.

(via gizmodo)

tags: commodore, gravel, portable, media+player

Creative Fatal1ty Keyborad Seems Preety

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammed Tabraiz Ali) — Fri, 1 Sep 2006 00:25:00 -0700

Here is an shot of the Fatal1ty keyboard being manufactured by Creative with Jonathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel's logo plastered all across it. Keyboard look familiar? It should, it is damn near identical to the Auravision EluminX that we first told you about almost four years ago! What's up Fatal1ty? No new ideas for a keyboard?

The keyboard has backlighting that can be turned on and off. The keyset is the Sunrex keyset, which is similar to the feel of a laptop keyboard and has a quick response time, shorter keystrokes, etc. I think the best feature of all about this keyboard is that there are no bells or whistles. It is a keyboard. Period. No fancy calculator buttons or media buttons. It's got the letters and that is really all you need in a keyboard. Expect to pay around $50 or $60 when this keyboard hits the shelves mid-September.

(via gizmodo)

tags: fatal1ty, creatioj, backlightning, sunrex+keyset

TraceNet 100 Mobile Stuffs Wifi And Tv In Your Car

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammed Tabraiz Ali) — Fri, 1 Sep 2006 00:17:00 -0700

Here it is, the thing to make your computer a little bit more like KITT. The TracNet 100 Mobile puts a WiFi hotspot, web browsing, and IPTV in your hoopty ride. The data love comes courtesy of a Verizon EVDO card, built into the controller box. That box itself has 802.11G wireless, 3 ethernet ports, and an MSN IPTV tuner. Topping off the package is a remote and keyboard. But know that the TracNet system doesn't come with a monitor. You'll have to hook your own up through the VGA, or standard video outputs. Internet AND cable in the car? Looks like I'm going to need to fit a Lazyboy recliner in the backseat.

Of course, if you're looking for data strictly, and can do without the IPTV, we're going to go ahead and recommend you buy the Kyocera mobile EVDO router instead. It's only a few hundred bucks, vs the $2000 dollar sticker price for the TracNet.

(via gizmodo)

Nokia N80 Internet Edition In September

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammed Tabraiz Ali) — Fri, 1 Sep 2006 00:12:00 -0700

Nokia plans to release an upgraded version of its N80 smartphone this September that's been christened the N80 Internet Edition. Wi-Fi, support for third-party VoIP applications (Skype, basically), a Download! cleint and a Yahoo!-powered mobile search application are what make this N80 ready to greet the smut-filled world of the Internet.

The multimedia-friendly phone has a 2.1-inch screen with a 352x416-pixel resolution screen and runs on GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz networks. Nokia promises three hours of battery life while talking and eight days of standby time. The 3-megapixel camera is appreciated, but there's a noticeable lack of autofocus and VGA recording. Bluetooth, a miniSD slot, and USB 2.0 support are also included. Plus, if you like reading books on a relatively tiny screen, you'll be thrilled to see the inclusion of a Mobipocket eBook reader.

The N80 Internet Edition will be in European and U.S. stores by the middle of September. You might as well guess the price, however, since it hasn't been announced yet.

(via gizmodo)

tags: nokia n80, smartphone, internet, voip, ebook, usb

Elmos Suv-Cam Micro Video Camera System

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammed Tabraiz Ali) — Fri, 1 Sep 2006 00:08:00 -0700

If you ever wanted to snoop on your unsuspecting neighbors before but didn't think there was a small enough camera out there to get the job done, Elmo has a surprise for you with its SUV-cam. This micro video camera—micro being 2.2x4.0x1.1-inches—system is able to capture MPEG-4 video with a resolution of 704x480 pixels. Better yet, should you, Mr. Bond, need to take the camera under water, you can rest easy knowing that it's water-proof up to 12 feet.

Just like other cool gadgets that help you reenact Porky's, Elmo's micro camera solution will set you back quite a bit of coin. In fact, if you're not willing to part with about $750, you might as well forget about it. Plus, you'd have to import it from Japan where it launches on September 29.

(via gizmodo)

tags: micro video cam, elmo, porky's

SONY Revise Production Number on s3

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammed Tabraiz Ali) — Fri, 1 Sep 2006 00:02:00 -0700

Sony Going to Revise Production Numbers on PS3s?

Sony may be restating their 4 million unit estimate down to 2 million, thanks to troubles with Blu-ray diodes, their GPUs, and lousy Cell yields.

If Sony's even going to hit the 2.0 million mark, something Microsoft couldn't do in two months with less complicated hardware, it's a good thing they started making PS3s already

(via gizmodo)

tags: ps3, sony, blu-ray

Mithubishi Launches Lancer Evolution ix MR

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammed Tabraiz Ali) — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 23:51:00 -0700

Mitsubishi’s new Lancer Evolution IX MR high-performance 4WD sports sedan (GSR/RS) and Lancer Evolution Wagon MR high-performance 4WD sports wagon (GT/GT-A) went on sale at affiliated dealerships throughout Japan today. The MR designation is an abbreviation for Mitsubishi Racing, and is restricted to the most prominent sports model in Mitsubishi's line-up. The new models are the second group of MR models released by Mitsubishi, the first being the Lancer Evolution VIII MR launched in February 2004. The new models mark the 14th iteration of the series that began with the Lancer Evolution in October 1992 and both sedan and station wagon are third-generation compilation models and are designed with a focus on on-road sports driving.

(via gizmag)

Toshiba Will Produce The Ipod killer,Gigabyte killed by Zune

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammed Tabraiz Ali) — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 05:03:00 -0700

Microsoft has made a pledge to release a "Zune" MP3 player and matching online music and video store in time for the yearend holiday shopping season.The Toshiba-manufactured MP3 player (mainly that is what Zune is going to be…) will also be endowed with a 802.11b/g Wi-Fi module, an FM radio tuner (some people are reporting it doesn't, but the main FCC report clearly states it does), a 3inch LCD, and a USB 2.0 port to allow for data transfer and to connect to a TV-out dongle which is shown running on a standard TV in the main test report.It all depends on Zune’s success: Microsoft will eventually decide to manufacture it “in-house” if it meets its objectives, sending both Gigabeat and Toshiba’s hopes in the MP3 market into oblivion.

Fujitsu Gets Perpendicular With 160gb 2.5 Incher

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammed Tabraiz Ali) — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 03:46:00 -0700

tags: fujitsu, hitachi

They promised 200GB by 2007, and it looks like we're getting 160GB in 2006. We can't quite tell if we're supposed to be disappointed by the missing gigabytes, or excited by the launch date, but with 160GB of perpendicular data spinning at 5,400 RPM you can't go far wrong. Of course, Hitachi announced a 5,400 RPM 160 gigger earlier this year, so we're not sure why Fujitsu is trying to pass off their new MHW2160BH's speed as some sort of record. Fujitsu is also dropping an 80GB MHW2080BH based on the tech, and both drives will be available in October.
[Via gizmag]

Marian launching 30 gb tv recording device

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammed Tabraiz Ali) — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 03:43:00 -0700

tags: hong kong, korean, avi , mpeg , asf , wmv , dat , vob , china , europe, maxian, tv recoding

Korean manufacturer Maxian looks to be set to drop a new PMP on parts of the world other than this one with its newly-unveiled M800, though an exact launch date has yet to be announced. Like Maxian's T600, this one boasts direct video recording from a TV or other source, with a 30GB hard drive for you to fill up and a 4.3-inch WQVGA screen for you to watch it all on. If you prefer your media pre-recorded, it also supports AVI, MPEG, ASF, WMV, DAT, and VOB formats -- a much more thorough selection than some recent PMPs we've seen. While it looks like we're out of luck on this one here in North America, it seems you'll be able to snag one in Korea, Europe, China, and Hong Kong in your choice of black or white for the equivalent of $415 US.
[Via DAPreview]

Amd Proceeds To Centrino With "Yokohama" Platform

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammed Tabraiz Ali) — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 03:40:00 -0700

Nothing has been verified just yet, but DigiTimes is reporting that AMD is prepping a Centrino competitor for Q4 of this year, in hopes to compete with the Merom-powered Napa64 platform. The new "Yokohama" platform would naturally be based on AMD's Turion 64 X2 processors, and feature the forthcoming RS690M, RS690DC and RS790M chipsets from ATI. It looks like AMD isn't quite ready to go all the way with their Centrino killer, though, since supposedly they'll be using third-party WLAN chips, and there is still going to be that pesky performance gap between AMD's Turion and Intel's Core chips. What might be an even bigger worry for AMD is when Intel starts throwing other wireless chipsets such as WiMAX into the mix, but at least Yokohama would be a good first step towards a mobile platform that could actually rival Intel's.

[Via TG Daily]

tags: amd, merom, yokahama, wimax, wireless+chipset

Download Youtube Videos Directly To Itunes

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammed Tabraiz Ali) — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 03:31:00 -0700

TubeSock

About TubeSock
Grabs YouTube videos from the web and copies them to your video iPod, Mac, or PlayStation Portable. TubeSock knows how to convert the video using the codecs and bitrates best for each device. It can even add the video to iTunes for you. TubeSock can also grab just the audio portion of a video and add it to iTunes, too. Find your favorite tracks, outtakes, and live recordings on YouTube, then click “Save” to copy them to your iPod. The conversion is quick and there’s no loss of audio fidelity.

tags: tubeshock, Download Youtube Videos Directly To Itunes, youtube, covert the video

Treo 700wx launch materials leaked

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammed Tabraiz Ali) — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 03:41:00 -0700

Now that we've officially beaten the Treo 700wx to death, it's not like we can imagine there's anything more you need to know from Palms new handheld. But just in case you wanted the hard specs list lifted straight from their leaked marketing materials, here you go:

Available August 31st (this Thursday) to businesses (September 3rd for consumers)

Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC (duh)

XScale 312MHz CPU

SDIO slot

128MB NVRAM (60MB user)

dual-band EV-DO / 1xRTT

1.3 megapixel camera

Bluetooth 1.2, IR

240 x 240 touchscreen

QWERTY keyboard

Top 10 Firefox Web 2.0 Add-ons

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammed Tabraiz Ali) — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 03:39:00 -0700

With all this talk of the Web as a platform, it's worth taking a closer look at what web apps are using Firefox as their platform. Firefox is regarded as the best Web browser in terms of extensions - i.e. small browser add-ons which modify or add to existing functionality. It has hundreds of add-ons, which can be downloaded from here. But which are the best 'web 2.0' add-ons for Firefox? And I'm using the term 'web 2.0' very broadly here, to mean any add-on that has a social Web aspect to it.

Based on Mozilla's list of recommended extensions, AdaptiveBlue's Alex Iskold and I have generated a top 10 list of Firefox Web 2.0 add-ons. As always, let us know your own favorite add-ons in the comments.

Smart Browsing / Personal Productivity

Browster

Browster is a very cool add-on that enhances your browsing experience - for example mousing over a link gives you a preview of the website. It enables you to speed up your browsing experience and can save a lot of clicks in the long run. It does this by automatically pre-fetching links. It's a free add-on for both IE and Firefox - and hopes to make a profit by putting ads in the pop-up previews.

Answers

Answers is an add-on that promises to "instantly deliver the information you are looking for". It comes from answers.com, which is a popular online dictionary and Wikipedia syndication site. Alex says this is a "perfect example of smart integration with a service in the browser". The Answers add-on works like this:

"Just point at any word, hold the Alt key and click. Upon letting go, an AnswerTip in the form of a pop-up "information bubble" appears on the screen explaining the term."

blueorganizer

The blueorganizer smart browsing extension for Firefox is developed by Alex's company adaptiveblue. This extension drives productivity by building smarts and semantics into the browser. The blueorganizer integrates with many popular sites and services - including Amazon, Flickr, YouTube, iTunes, Odeo and Netflix. It utilizes Amazon's S3 storage service, as well as being run from the Firefox browser - so it is using the Web as a platform in many ways. SolutionWatch has a great review of blueorganizer, if you want to find out more.

Bookmarking / Social Bookmarking

delicious

The del.icio.us extension for Firefox allows you to easily bookmark webpages in del.icio.us, from within the Firefox browser. It integrates with the Firefox toolbar and provides extra options such as right-click menu and highlight text to add notes.

StumbleUpon

StumbleUpon is an increasingly popular bookmarking tool - indeed in my recent post about the Turkey market, we discovered that StumbleUpon is a very popular app in Turkey. The StumbleUpon add-on is described as "collaborative surfing tool", because you can browse websites according to what other people recommend.

ClipMarks

ClipMarks is an early pioneer in the clipping space. Users clip pieces out of web pages and share these bits with each other. They can also tag and lookup the clips, but not much more can be done since the information is not structured. The Clipmarks Firefox add-on integrates this with the browser.

Google Notebook

Google Notebook is very similar to Clipmarks, but has better Firefox integration. It also works in IE6. As with Clipmarks, the user manually extracts text and images out of the page - but this information is unstructured. Google Notebook has had mixed reviews so far, but we think Google is currently putting in resources to improve it.

Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer

FoxMarks Bookmark Synchronizer is an easy way to sync your Firefox bookmarks, if you use Firefox on more than one computer. It is very simple, but does its job nicely and has been well received by Firefox users.

RSS Readers

Unfortunately, we are not aware of a really great RSS Reader for Firefox. If you know of one, please mention it in the comments section. In our opinion the best reader in a Mozilla-based browser is the one which comes with Flock. It would be great if someone got inspired, extracted it and released it for Firefox - since Flock is also open source.

There are however two RSS readers that most Firefox users rely on:

Sage

Sage is a basic and lightweight RSS Reader, although you need to be a techie to use it. It leverages Firefox bookmarks to store feeds - and it does the job pretty well.

Wizz RSS News Reader

Wizz RSS is a fancier reader that works well. It supports OPML import and export, plus has advanced features like filtering news items on words and/or phrases. But it is still not as smooth in terms of usability and options as the Reader that is built into Flock.

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Google to allow free downloads of books

noreply@blogger.com (Mohammed Tabraiz Ali) — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 03:08:00 -0700

Google Inc. on Wednesday plans t To begin letting consumers download and print free of charge classic novels and many other, more obscure books that are in the public domain.

Using Google's Book Search service, Web surfers hunting titles like Dante's "Inferno" and Aesop's "Fables" will be able to download PDF files of the books for later reading, to run keyword searches or to print them on paper. Up to now, the service only allowed people to read the out-of-copyright books online.

GOOGLE supports the service by showing its small, keyword-generated text ads on search-results pages.