e-TechCheck

Why Nokia's 'Tube' Is the iPhone's Biggest Threat

2008-10-04T01:16:00.001-07:00

The iPhone is still king of the smartphone, but Apple's future dominance is in serious question with a flurry of new competitors. Nokia is the latest to threaten the iPhone's dominance with its just released touchsceen phone the 5800 Express Music phone, previously known as "Tube."

While this is not Nokia's first touchscreen phone (the 7710 was launched back in 2004) the Finns definitely borrowed some design cues from Apple's iPhone, but it seems that Nokia has hit all the right notes with the 5800. And above all, apparently, you get so much more for your money than with an iPhone.

The 5800 Express Music will be available this quarter for about $390, simfree (iPhone comes with a two year contract for $199). Only the simfree part could be a great selling point, as you would be able to use the phone on any network, anywhere around the world, without the hurdle of unlocking the phone(legally or not quite as legally).

No word on when this phone will hit the US market. Unfortunately it's highly unlikely to see the 5800 here in the U.S. in time for this holiday season. Most likely, Nokia will test the waters across the pond in Europe and early next year we might see Tube on a GSM carrier in the UK, as in T-Mobile or AT&T. But if you travel to Europe this winter, you can snap up an unlocked one from there - as the Tube is compatible with North American HSDPA (GSM) carriers.

Tube will feature the Nokia's Comes with Music bundle, which will allow users to freely download an unlimited number of songs from Nokia's Music Store over a year after the initial purchase.

For the iPhone, you know the drill: iTunes Music Store, $0.99 a pop. Being able to download as many songs as they want, for free, seems to be a great selling point for the 5800, especially for those who are on a lower budget.

Nokia's 5800 Express Music also features a 3.2-megapixel camera, with autofocus Carl Zeiss optics and a dual LED flash. All these blow iPhone's 2006 style 2-megapixel-no flash camera out of the water. Also, Tube records videos at VGA quality (640X480px) and has a frontal camera for video calls, something that the iPhone can't do at all. In this category, it's clear who's the winner.

Storage capacity-wise, the 5800 and iPhone seems to be on the par. Tube comes with an 8GB memory card and supports up to 16GB cards. Still, the Tube can have a slight advantage for those who want more than the given storage capacity, as they can buy additional memory cards and just pop them in the phone (iPhone's memory is built in and cannot be expanded).

The rest of the features, are just like one would expect from a true iPhone competitor. GPS, Wi-Fi and a 3.5mm jack so you can plug in any headphone you like. But as an added extra, 5800 will support Adobe Flash from the start, something that iPhone is still lacking, so the Web browsing experience might even be better than Apple's.

The only thing left to doubt about the new Nokia 5800 Express Music is the software interface. From pictures and video snippets around the Web one can't really give a proper verdict which one is the winner.

Meanwhile, stay tuned for a full review.

The Apple hype did help Apple to sell millions of iPhones, but Nokia sells over 500 million devices every year, out of which almost 100 million are smartphones. If we take in consideration brand loyalty and the other advantages Tube has over iPhone, we're about to see a very tight competition between the two.

Budget-minded photo enthusiasts will like the premium features tacked onto this unit's basic chassis.

2008-10-04T01:04:00.001-07:00

HP's Photosmart D5460 inkjet printer is a bargain that you can brag about. Though it's a bare-bones printer in most respects, it has a few standout features that any photo enthusiast would love to have.

In our laboratory tests, the Photosmart D5460 pushed paper quickly, managing a swift 11.4 pages per minute when printing text-only pages and 3.4 ppm when printing graphics. The main input tray holds just 125 sheets (lower than average), however, and it doesn't accept legal-size media.

Among the printer's positives are a dedicated 20-sheet photo-paper tray, which handles paper sizes of up to 5 inches by 7 inches, and an integrated input tray and caddy for specially coated CD or DVD media. The CD/DVD input tray nests within the printer's front bay and pulls down easily for use. The caddy (conveniently stored beneath the main input tray) is bendy, but it makes feeding optical media into the printer fairly straightforward.

The Photosmart D5460 has one other interesting feature: an extra, pigment-based black ink for printing text, supplementing HP's usual, dye-based black, cyan, magenta, and yellow inks for graphics. We liked the blackness of the text we printed on plain paper, though we noticed a little feathering around the characters. Photos printed on HP's own paper looked natural (aside from a slight orange cast to flesh tones) and showed sharp detail even in dark or muted areas.

The inks are impressively economical, too. The Photosmart D5460 ships with regular-size (130- to 300-page) cartridges for all five inks, butHP sells high-capacity versions of all colors. The regular-size cyan cartridge, for instance, costs $10 and lasts about 300 pages (per HP), which works out to an affordable 3.3 cents per page. The 750-page (by HP's estimate) cyan cartridge costs $15--or just 2 cents per page.

The printer's control panel is simple, with an angled, 1.5-inch color LCD and only four buttons. When you insert a media card into one of the front slots, you can use the LCD display to scroll through your photographs and select one or more for printing.

The Photosmart D5460 starts out as a basic machine, but it provides more options and higher-quality output than you'd expect for the price. If you're concerned about the high cost of photo printing, this economically designed model may provide the answer you've been looking for.

Windows XP gets another lifeline

2008-10-03T23:32:00.000-07:00

Bowing to continued demand, Microsoft has again extended the life of Windows XP.

Three months after Microsoft stopped selling new copies of Windows XP, the software remains a top seller on Amazon.com.
(Credit: Amazon.com)

Although the largest PC makers can't sell XP anymore (except for ultra-low-cost machines), they can sell Vista Ultimate and Vista Business machines with XP discs in the box, or even Vista machines that are "factory downgraded" to Windows XP.

That option was supposed to go away early next year, as Microsoft was going to stop supplying Windows XP media after January 31. However, the company now says it will offer the discs through July 31, giving the option a six-month extension. (Update: PC makers will also be able to sell the factory downgraded machines online as well.)

In a statement provided to CNET News, Microsoft tried to put the best face on the move.

"As more customers make the move to Windows Vista, we want to make sure that they are making that transition with confidence and that it is as smooth as possible," Microsoft said. "Providing downgrade media for a few more months is part of that commitment, as is the Windows Vista Small Business Assurance program, which provides one-on-one, customized support for our small-business customers."

CEO Steve Ballmer said on Thursday in France that 180 million copies of Vista have been sold, but he noted that businesses continue to move at their own pace. When asked about whether companies should move to Vista or wait for Windows 7, even Ballmer said it depends on the business.

"So, my point isn't to encourage you to do it immediately; of course, we'd love you to do it immediately," Ballmer said. "My real advice is to do it in the natural rhythm of your PC upgrade cycle...Most of you will not upgrade the software on existing hardware. Some will. Most of you will actually choose to buy new machines when you move forward, and so we should work with you in that context."

The less major computer makers, known as system builders in Microsoft parlance, are still able to sell XP machines without having to do the Vista downgrade thing. That option is set to end Jan. 31 and Microsoft says that date isn't being extended.

Microsoft stopped selling Windows XP on June 30, though it continues to be available as retail supplies last. It has been a top seller on Amazon for some time, and several versions of XP are still among the retailer's top 25 best-selling software titles.

The six-month extension for XP discs was noted earlier by The Register, a tech news site.

Make Your Linux Desktop More Productive

2008-09-12T13:11:00.000-07:00

Apple has convinced millions that they can make the switch from Windows to OS X, but those curious about Linux have to see for themselves if they can work or play on a free desktop. The short answer is that, for most halfway tech-savvy people who aren't hardcore gamers, yes, you can. There are positively addictive productivity apps available for Linux, along with tools to make switching between Linux and other systems easy, or just running Windows programs themselves if you need to. Today we're detailing a Linux desktop that helps you move quickly, work with Windows, and just get things done; read on for a few suggestions on setting it up.

Setting up your system

If you're dual-booting with Windows, there's no reason to build a wall between the two systems. Most modern Linux distributions can read and write to hard drive spaces created for Windows, free Windows apps can grab files from Linux, and many free programs can even share configuration settings. See our guide to using a single data store when dual-booting.

Even if you're devoting your whole hard drive to Linux, you don't have to leave Windows behind. Free virtualization software VirtualBox is a fairly user-friendly solution to running Windows inside Linux. I've found that it works great with most flavors of XP, but, as you might imagine, has a few problems with the "home" versions of Vista, and requires a swift system to not occasionally lag a bit. One nice compromise to needing just that one must-have Windows app for work is running it seamlessly in Linux. On my own system, VirtualBox is the solution for Office 2007 apps and, when I need it, iTunes (without USB/iPod functionality, unfortunately).

Some apps, however, can run without building whole virtualization machines. The WINE project works to create a framework that can run many useful Windows apps, including a good number of games, Adobe Photoshop, and the "viewer" apps that let you read and print Office documents. These days, they've even got a working version of Google's Chrome browser. Check out our guide to installing and using WINE for help getting started.

Productivity tools

Clever hackers have not only copied some of the coolest tools available for Windows and Mac systems, they've extended them to work with other parts of the desktop in some seriously cool ways. Check out a few of our favorites:

GNOME Do: It's in the same field of Alt+Spacebar launchers as Windows' Launchy, and strongly styled on OS X's Quicksilver, but GNOME Do has grown into its own kind of productivity tool. Plug-in designers have taken full advantage of webapps' APIs, giving you the ability to quickly compose new email messages (in a local client or in your webmail), search for files or folders, add calendar events, and switch music tracks when a stinker comes up in shuffle. Oh, and it also finds applications super-quickly as you type, making desktop icons seem kind of, well, quaint. Here are installation instructions that should work for most Linux systems.

Launchy: If you're a devoted user of our readers' favorite application launcher, you're in luck. Launchy recently debuted its Linux port, and it works just like Windows. With a few changes to accommodate Linux's file system, many of the tweaks detailed by our own devoted Launchy user, Adam, will work just as well.

Dock organizer

Avant Window Navigator: A lot of people prefer OS X's dock to the cluttered taskbars of Windows, and while most GNOME-based distros come with a top and bottom bar, it only takes a few clicks to ditch them. Like GNOME Do, the Avant Window Navigator (AWN) dock has a big collection of useful applets, including simple to-do lists or widgets, email and RSS checkers, a Stacks-style folder launcher, and, of course, shortcuts to your most frequently launched apps. You can style the bar however you'd like, including a near-exact copy of the OS X dock. The AWN project's wiki has a installation guide that puts the most up-to-date version of the dock and its many applets into most popular distributions.

Cairo-Dock: This dock follows the same extensible template as AWN, but many prefer its easier-to-tweak configuration and slick graphical effects to the somewhat buggier AWN. The project's download page has compilable source and Debian-based installation packages, but most Linux users will want to install from their system's own installer.

Productivity tools

CheckGmail: Most ambient mail notifiers serve only to draw you into a browser or email client by throwing subject lines and senders at you. CheckGmail, on the other hand, serves as its own mini-reader, letting you read, archive, or delete messages within a small white pane, and using your Gmail account's RSS feed for minimum bandwidth use. Works great with Google Apps mail as well, and it's totally customizable in appearance and timing.

Timer Applet: Available in most Linux systems' repositories, this unobtrusive applet works great for those who like to work in timed bursts. Start the timer as either a running clock or set it to alert you at a custom interval of time. For those who like to track their time across multiple tasks, whether for personal tracking or client billing, the Hamster tracker has a similar drop-down interface for keeping yourself on-schedule.

Super-charged GEdit: Lots of Mac users—especially coders and technical writers—swear by their TextMate, a context-coloring, smart-functioning text editor. The built-in text editor in GNOME-based systems, GEdit, can gain a few super powers of its own, as detailed by the New Linux User blog. Since it's tightly integrated into the desktop already, it makes GEdit into a right-click power tool. KDE users can also add highlighting to the system default Kate.

Automated backups

"Cloud" solutions: Web-based backup is all the rage lately, and Linux hasn't been left in the dust. Dropbox, recently opened to public beta, features a nifty client that integrates into the GNOME taskbar and automates back-ups from a chosen folder. SpiderOak offers a similar 2GB of space, with a more GUI-focused client. And if you're mostly a word-processing or spreadsheet user with a hankering to do some tweaking, you can automatically back up to Google Docs, or install an OpenOffice extension to edit and synchronize documents between the open-source office suite and Google's online offering.

Those are just one editor's recommendations for making Linux a friendly, secure, work-able environment. Let's hear from those already rocking the open-source system what tools and tweaks are indispensable to getting work done.

Fixes for Vista's Worst Features

2008-09-12T13:07:00.001-07:00

Just ask anyone who's seen Spiderman 3; good ideas seldom survive bad execution.

The developers at Microsoft had some great ideas while designing Vista, but poor implementation turned many of those great concepts into lousy, annoying features. To be fair, Vista inherited most of these well-intentioned flaws from earlier versions of Windows. But it either failed to fix them or didn't even try.

Here are ten of Vista's most irritating flops, along with quick fixes and workarounds. Let's start with one that's absolutely unique to Vista, and almost universally hated by those who use it.

User Account Control
People do some things in Windows--such as install destructive applications or edit the Registry--that deserve a stern "Are you sure you know what you're doing" warning. These situations may even warrant having to prove you're an administrator before you're allowed to continue.

But Vista's User Account Control (UAC) fails to give enough feedback to users; there's often no way to know why a given act is considered dangerous. Even worse, Vista's designer's went overboard, forcing people to click through a UAC prompt to set the clock or manually start a backup. The result: People get annoyed and learn to ignore the UAC, effectively removing any protection it might provide.

Here are three imperfect ways to stop UAC annoyances. One minor problem they all share: Every so often when you boot, Vista will warn you that the UAC is off. You can just ignore the warnings, in much the same way you've already learned to ignore the UAC itself.

1. Just turn it off. This easy fix works well in an administrator account, but it renders standard accounts almost unusable. Select Start, Control Panel, User Accounts, and click Turn User Account Control on or off. Select Continue at the UAC prompt, and on the next screen, uncheck Use User Account Control (UAC) to help protect your computer. Click OK and reboot.

2. Use TweakUAC. This free program can turn UAC off for Administrator accounts while leaving it on for everyone else, which is a relatively safe and convenient compromise. Just run the program, select Switch UAC to the quiet mode, and click OK.

If you don't mind taking matters into your own hands, you can tweak a variety of settings using the Security Policies editor.

3. Fine-tune your system's UAC settings. This only works in Vista Business or Ultimate. Select Start, type secpol.msc, and press Enter. Navigate the left pane as if it was Windows Explorer to the Security Settings\Local Policy\Security Options folder. In the right pane, scroll down to the bottom for nine options controlling how UAC behaves.

TiVo Recordings

2008-09-12T13:01:00.000-07:00

KMTTG is a Perl/Tk program I wrote to facilitate TivoToGo (TTG) transfers that can download, create metadata, decrypt, run comskip & comcut (commercial detection and removal) and re-encode multiple shows you select from your Tivos all in one step. The program also has the capability to transfer and process shows automatically from your Tivos based on titles and keywords you set up.

You can select one or more shows at a time and then with one click of a button the program will download all the selected items, with the options of also automatically creating a metadata file for pyTivo, decrypting .TiVo files to .mpg, running comskip (commercial detection and removal program), and automatically re-encoding to a more portable format using mencoder, ffmpeg or any other command line encoder of your choosing. The program queues up multiple jobs and displays time, size and speed statistics for ongoing jobs.

Previously I was using different point tools to accomplish this, such as Tivo Desktop or TivoPlayList for downloads, pyTivoMetaGen for generating metadata files, Tivo Decoder UI for decrypting and various GUIs built around ffmpeg for re-encoding. I did not want to pay for or be limited by Tivo Desktop Plus. This is my attempt to simplify and automate these different tasks all into one simple GUI.

Microsoft Phone Data Manager Syncs Your Phone Wirelessly

2008-09-12T12:55:00.000-07:00

Windows only: Microsoft's free Phone Data Manager syncs contacts, music, pictures, and videos between your phone and you desktop and the web. More specifically, the contacts are synced to the internet with Windows Live (meaning you'll need a Windows Live login), and the media is synced with any folder you choose on your desktop. Microsoft Phone Data Manager syncs over USB or Bluetooth, and Microsoft has published a list of supported and unsupported phones. The list only includes phones they've actually tested, meaning if yours isn't on either list, you may still be in luck. The Windows-only application is currently in beta and is free to download. We don't have a supported phone on hand, so let's hear how it works for you in the comments.

Western Digital Offers 500GB Laptop Drive

2008-09-12T12:51:00.000-07:00

Western Digital (WD) on Friday announced that it's shipping its Scorpion Blue 500GB 2.5-inch hard disk drive. It costs US$219.99.

The new Scorpion Blue 500GB drive fits in standard laptop drive bays. The drive crams 250GB onto each of two platters into a Serial ATA (SATA) hard drive mechanism suitable for installation in laptop computers. The two platters reside in a 9.5mm hard disk drive mechanism--the standard height for a laptop hard drive.

300GB remains the largest hard drive you can order from Apple for a Mac laptop; that's an option on the 17-inch MacBook Pro. MacBooks and MacBook Pros both take commodity hard drive components, and a user interested in upgrading their system could add this 500GB drive themselves (or pay a technician to do it).

The drive operates at 5400 revolutions per minute (RPM) and features WD's "WhisperDrive" technology, which the manufacturer claims allows it to operate more quietly. "ShockGuard" firmware and hardware protect the drive if it's dropped or bumped, while "IntelliSeek" calculates optimum seek speeds to lower power consumption.

NepalOnlineTV Released!!!

2008-08-05T01:38:00.000-07:00

The New NepalOnlineTV.co.cc Released. You can now watch Nepali TV Channels Live on www.nepalonlinetv.co.cc. This is the first phase so there are only 2 Nepali Channels, Nepal1 and Sagarmatha. There are also international channels too. Here I will post some screenshots of NepalOnlineTV. Just go to www.nepalonlinetv.co.cc and watch the Nepali Channels Live......

Worlds first 15x zoom digital SLR lens developed by Tamron

2008-08-03T14:47:00.000-07:00

Tamron today announced the development of a unique ultra high power zoom lens—the Tamron AF18-270mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical (IF) MACRO (Model B003), the first1 digital SLR lens in the world that delivers a remarkable zoom ratio of 15X (28-419mm equivalent) and is equipped with a highly effective Vibration Compensation (VC) mechanism. Designed exclusively for digital SLR cameras with APS-C sized image sensors2, the new lens delivers outstanding image quality over its entire zoom range and its exclusive VC anti-shake system facilitates sharp handheld photography even at the longest telephoto settings.

With its vast zoom-range, the Tamron AF18-270mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC lens enables the user to cover virtually any photographic subject from wide angle to ultra telephoto simply by turning the zoom control.The new Tamron lens will be made available in Canon and Nikon mounts. The price and launch date of the new lens will be announced at a later date.

Yahoo Overhauls Delicious

2008-08-03T14:13:00.000-07:00

Ten months after launching a preview version of its overhaul, social bookmarking tool, Delicious dropped the dots from its formers del.icio.us moniker and released a faster and easier to learn version 2.0.

Delicious, which is owned by Yahoo Inc., said that the new site -- which went live late last week -- has been moved to a new infrastructure that makes every page faster.

"This new platform will enable us to keep up with traffic growth while ensuring Delicious is responsive and reliable," Delicious said. "You may not have noticed, but the old back-end was getting creaky under the load of five million users."

In addition, Delicious overhauled its search engine in an effort to make it faster and more powerful. The company noted that the engine "used to take ages to return results." The new search engine allows users to search with one of their tags, another user's bookmarks or within their social network.

Delicious also updated the site's user interface to improve usability, and added often-requested features like alphabetical sorting of bookmarks.

"Our goal has been to keep the new design similar in spirit to the old one, so all of you veterans should be able to jump in without any confusion," the company said. "At the same time, we're hoping that newcomers to Delicious will find it easier to learn.

The move to eliminate the dots in the URL aims to avoid the confusion and misspellings that came from the old moniker, the company went on to note. While the old domain and URL will continue to work, users have to log in again to the new site because it requires a new log-in cookie.

The social bookmarking site has grown from 300,000 to 5 million unique users since Yahoo acquired it late in 2005, the company said. It now boasts 150 million bookmarked links.

Delicious went on to say that new features should be added more quickly than the 10-month wait for this overhaul. Delicious hinted in a January blog post that they would have an update to a preview version that was released in September 2007 within weeks, but the company had been quiet about the new features until now.

Saitek PM20 Obsidian Wireless Rechargeable Mouse

2008-08-03T13:20:00.000-07:00

Saitek PM20 Obsidian wireless rechargeable mouse offers a groundbreaking performance with outstanding features and design. It has a high-speed optical sensor and ultra accurate tracking technology. It also features an advanced technology, with touch sensitive scrolling, four mode, two battery packs and a rechargeable dock.
Saitek PM20 Obsidian features include
Attractive design, which complements any environment
It provides 4 mode, touch sensitive scroll function
Rechargeable cradle with spare battery recharge and wireless transmitter storage
5 button options
Minimum resolution 1000 dpi
2.4 GHz interference free wireless technology
Smooth action
24/7 recharge solution with two lithium ion battery packs
Easy use with plug and play options

The technical features of this wireless mouse include a charging unit, optical LED input registration, notebook mouse with four button options. It has two-way scrolling options with a scrolling wheel and radio transfer type of connection. The USB 2.0 connectivity is used for connecting the computers.

The operating system, which supports Saitek PM20, is Microsoft Windows (98/ME/XP/2000). The warranty period is for one year and available at a reasonable cost in the market with a good value for money.

Read impartial reviews on Kensington, Sweex, Targus and Creative Computer Mouses at computermouse.org.uk.

IDECT X3 TRIO Cordless Designer Phone

2008-08-03T13:19:00.000-07:00

IDECT X3 TRIO Cordless Designer Phone is the unique product in design and features. The ultra slim design, illuminated cool keypad, speakerphone and colour display of this cordless phone seduces every one to own the product. The iSound technology improves the sound quality and voice clarity of the device.

The key features of this Triple Cordless Phone offers stylish slim design with glowing keypad, colour display with wallpapers and a phone book with 200 names and numbers storage capacity. A speakerphone option is available for hands free talking and a caller ID to view all incoming calls. The iSound technology is the modern digital technology, which provides a clear sound.

The talk time lasts up to 10 hours and the total standby time is until 100 hours. The long-range distance ranges up to 300 m. This device is GAP compatible with Liquid Crystal Display and an illuminated keypad. It contains a low battery indicator and alerts the out of range warning. There are two types of volume controls like handset and ringer volume control with polyphonic ring tones.

IDECT X3 TRIO Cordless Phone provides warranty period up to one year and the RRP price of the product is £149.99. With the attractable design, digital features and compromising cost, this product stands as a dominating product among the digital cordless phones.

Checkout unbiased reviews on Audioline, Idect, Philips and BT Cordless Phone reviews at cordlessphone.org.uk.

MSI EX310 Notebook with fashionable and athletic features

2008-08-03T13:08:00.001-07:00

MSI Notebook today announces a new model to its line of notebook, the MSI EX310.

The MSI EX310 has incorporated the concept of athleticism into the modern world of notebook computer, packing it with excitement and energy. The simple and yet fluid body design adapted the idealism of "Athletic DNA" and "Mobile Technology", making the MSI EX310 the leader of fashionable styling. The Dazzling Blue/Brilliant Red gives it the most definable character of sportsmanship, expressing true individualism. To deliver truly high performance computing power, the MSI EX310 uses the newest AMD Turion™ X2 Ultra Dual-Core Mobile Processor.

Vibrant Colors, the Fashion of Technology
The MSI EX310 stays true to MSI's unique fashionable styling by incorporating athleticism into our notebook computers. The simple and yet fluid body design adapted the idealism of "Athletic DNA" and "Mobile Technology", making the EX310 the leader of fashionable styling. The Dazzling Blue/Brilliant Red gives it the most definable character of sportsmanship, expressing true individualism. Added with the exquisite MSI logo demonstrating the very best in gracefulness, the EX310 is your ideal companion in life.

The Perfect 13.3" ACV Widescreen Display
The EX310's 13.3" display is perfect for reading text large or small. It surpasses text viewing on a 12" notebook display and is more portable than a 14" notebook, giving you a more balanced notebook.

Ultra Lightweight Design with Magnesium Alloy Casing
Measuring in at 31cm in length, 23cm in width, and 25-37cm in height, along with a weight of 1.9 kg (including battery), EX310 is very portable for mobility users.

ATi HD3450 3D Graphics Card with DDR3 256MB VRAM on 13.3" Notebook
The most advanced ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD3450 graphic card with DDR3 256MB VRAM, for a more fluid, more detailed, more realistic 3D high-definition viewing experience. Never a moment of delay to occur, feel the excitement!

Enjoy Your Own Digital Multimedia Time
High-Definition Multimedia Interface(HDMI)
Via a single cable, HDMI output connector not only enables 5Gbps data transfers, but also provides pristine transmission of high-definition digital video and digital audio up to 1080p resolution- allowing easy connection of HD enabled equipment such as HD monitor, HD TV, or HD projector for the best multimedia experience. With this impeccable video quality, the EX310 offers you the best way to enjoy your favorite movie titles and TV programs.

Better Enjoyment with 2nd Generation Dolby®
The EX310 is equipped with the second generation of Dolby Surround Sound for richness in bass and the enjoyment of a home theater, offering the most realistic experience while watching movies, TV, or listening to music.

AI Array MIC
The AI Array Microphone is effective at suppressing ambient noise and reverberation. It uses a fundamentally different way to process voice, effectively forming a 3-D cone shaped beam in front of the EX310. Any noise outside the beam, whether above or below, will be cancelled out. Besides, the AI Array MIC does not limit your movement when recording or communicating, allowing you to move freely.

Built-In 2.0 Mega Pixel Webcam
You can create amazing videos/photos or add live videos of your instant messages while you chat.

Create a High-Quality, All-Around, Wireless Living Space
The EX310 sets you free from cabled connections. You can easily access the Internet over high-speed Wi-Fi networks. The built-in Bluetooth V2.0+EDR allows you to simultaneously connect to various kinds of Bluetooth peripherals, including keyboards, mice, PDAs, cell phones and more with 3 times faster data transfer rates than that of previous version. Wherever you are, you always can enjoy the freedom of going online, and listening to music. Make your life more freely with wireless connectivity.

Watch TV Anywhere *
The integrated DTV receiver allows you to watch and record TV programs right on your notebook. Simply connect the antenna* and you'll never have to miss an episode of your favorite TV program again!
* This function is optional.

Fingerprint Reader for Data Security
With the MSI EX310's fingerprint reader, you'll never again have to memorize awkward usernames and passwords to access your computer. Just lightly press your finger on the reader at the front to unlock. Through the recognition for your unique fingerprint, you can be sure that only you and no one else can use your computer.

Exceptional Visual Performance and Power Efficient Mobility
To deliver truly high performance computing power, the EX310 uses the newest AMD Turion™ X2 Ultra Dual-Core Mobile Processor. Additionally EX310 is also equipped with a 3 well distributed USB 2.0 ports, and a Multi-DVD burner. So, you can easy to edit or save high-quality photos/video.

DNS Flaw Threatens Security of Small ISPs

2008-08-03T12:56:00.000-07:00

Customers of small Internet Service Providers (ISPs) may be at risk of online fraud, following the industry's lax response to securing against the recently discovered Domain Name System (DNS) cache poisoning flaw.

The flaw was publicly revealed early last month when security vendors including the Internet Systems Consortium (ISC), Cisco, Debian and Microsoft released patches after about six months of quiet collaboration. IOActive researcher Dan Kaminsky discovered the hole in January this year.

Kaminsky alerted the US Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) and multiple vendors to the flaw and all agreed to keep mum on the vulnerability until a fix was developed.

The attack can be used as a vector to deliver a variety of payloads to the customers of ISPs with unpatched DNSs, ranging from financial fraud via phishing scams, to infection with malicious applications. Hackers can trick almost any DNS server into associating malicious IP addresses with legitimate domains.

Telstra, Optus, Internode and iiNet have confirmed to Computerworld their DNSs are patched, however, sources reveal many DNS admins have yet to fix the flaw, despite being notified by security researchers, and nagged by concerned ISPs and Web masters.

iiNet network engineer Mark Newton said smaller ISPs may lag behind patching because of the work required to secure their DNSs.

"[DNS patching] has probably slowed down because the procedure effectively requires customer-facing DNS servers to be segregated from the domain-hosting servers," Newton said.

"Most ISPs don't [segregate the servers] because it is cheaper and easier to keep them in one box. There has not been a compelling reason to segregate them until now, which is probably why it is taking some ISPs a long time to secure themselves.

"A hacker could make a fake bank Web site, find a vulnerable resolver, and poison its cache so that customers using that resolver are directed to the fake address instead of the bank Web site."

Commonwealth Bank chief information security officer Sarv Girn said the bank is confident its security processes will protect its customers.

"The bank is aware of situation and we are quite comfortable as we have the tools in place to monitor the situation, which complement our existing capability in both Hawk-I and two factor authentication," Girn said.

"The major IT vendors have also taken appropriate steps by introducing patches to counteract this problem so we will continue to monitor the environment for any anomalies."

A Telstra spokesperson said the company patched its DNSs immediately after a fix was issued.

ISC support engineer Alan Clegg urged DNS administrators to read the organization's presentation on how to fix the flaw.

Mozilla Releases Alpha of Next Firefox

2008-08-03T12:52:00.000-07:00

Mozilla Corp. has released the first preview of Firefox 3.1, the fast-track update that the open-source company has pegged with a late 2008 or early 2009 ship date.

Code-named "Shiretoko," named for a national park on Japan's northern-most island of Hokkaido, Firefox 3.1 Alpha 1 was delayed several days because of a last-minute bug found in the Mac OS X version.

Firefox 3.1 Alpha 1 includes some, but not all, of the features Mozilla hopes to add to the update as work continues. Among the noticeable changes: several improvements to the address bar, which Mozilla dubs the "Smart Location Bar" in recognition of the search enhancements it received in Firefox 3.0; and changes to tab-switching.

Pressing Ctrl-Tab in Alpha 1 switches between current and last-viewed tabs rather than simply moving to the next tab to the right. Thumbnails of each page are also now displayed for easier recognition. Like many of the features slated for Firefox 3.1, the revised tab-switching was originally meant to be included with Firefox 3.0, but had been dropped during development to keep that June version on schedule.

Current Firefox users can add the same switching behavior to their browsers by installing the Ctrl-Tab add-on.

Firefox 3.1 Alpha 1 is the first version of the browser built on Mozilla's Gecko 1.9.1 engine, which is also in development. According to Mozilla, some of the changes in the preview will affect Web page compatibility; a "For Developers" page has been set up to spell out those changes.

Mozilla typically spins out several alpha editions before moving on to a series of betas, which in turn lead to release candidates and then to a final shipping version. Firefox 3.0, for example, ran through eight alphas, five betas and three release candidates before hitting the street in June.

However, the company has projected a much faster development cycle for 3.1. Earlier schedules slated Firefox 3.1's first beta for next month, and a final version in the last quarter of this year or the first of 2009.

The preview can be downloaded from Mozilla's site in versions for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.

New Trojan infecting multimedia files

2008-07-25T13:42:00.000-07:00

I don’t understand why people don’t get rid of these Microsoft’s default apps (Windows Media Player, Internet Explorer) as soon as they install their OS. They are absolutely useless piece of junks.

Most of those who have and still are using it must have noticed that you frequently are asked to download new codec when you play multimedia files thru Windows Media Player. And most of us don’t even bother to check what the codec are or what they really are for…we just click ok. Well, this might be the biggest mistake you are doing. Microsoft media formats have long been used for hijacking WMP for malicious purposes (one of the reasons why tech savvies don’t use WMP).
Just look at this new breed of Trojan which is using Windows Media Player (WMP) as its carrier. Actually there is this new malware that inserts links to dangerous web pages within ASF (Advanced Systems Format) media files. If a user plays an infected music file, it will launch Internet Explorer and load a malicious web page that asks the user to download a codec if you want to play the media file. And if you click ok the actual download is not a codec but a Trojan horse that installs a proxy program on the PC that hijackers use to cover their tracks for their other malicious activity. The malware is also said to be capable of converting files such as MP2 and MP3 into Windows Media Audio (WMA) format. So, none of your music files are safe. Once downloaded the pop up will not appear which gives a feeling to the users that the codec was successfully downloaded which is just what the hijackers want us to think. Now if the multimedia files are shared through a peer-to-peer network, anyone who downloads music or video file from an affected system will be at risk of getting infected as well.

Trend Micro calls the malware “Troj_Medpinch.a,” Secure Computing named it “Trojan.ASF.Hijacker.gen,” and Kaspersky calls it “Worm.Win32.GetCodec.a.”

The best suggestion I give is to just get rid of that damn Window’s Media Player.

iPhone 3G - Worldwide Releases

2008-07-25T13:41:00.000-07:00

The wait is over and July 11 is today. Today Apple’s 2nd generation iPhone 3G will be released in dozens of countries worldwide. The launch started in New Zealand and Japan on Friday. The first to get the opportunity to get this so called revolutionary device were the New Zealanders when reportedly three stores opened the sale just after midnight. The Japanese were the second who followed just after a short while. It’s releasing in several other countries today and in many others soon. Right now it will be available only in Apple Retail Stores and AT&T stores.
I haven’t got the chance to get a close look at this much-hyped iPhone 3G but rumors tell that this is lighter than the first gen one and is twice faster while the price is just $199 (half the price of the 1st Gen iPhone). I’m sure the buyers of the 1st Gen must be banging their head on the wall. Anyways Apple products are always overestimated but later they go puff. Hope the same doesn’t happen with this iPhone too. Ahh!!! I forgot one thing. Congrats to Apple on the release on iPhone 3G and best of luck on it’s sale.

AniBoom - Give Life To Your Imagination

2008-07-25T13:39:00.001-07:00

Are you fond of cartoons and animations? It’s not just kids whom I’m asking this question but I think that people of all age groups can be cartoon fans. However have you ever wondered how they are created or what is the complex mechanism that one has to go through for creating an animation to bring an imaginative character into existence? It might be just a few minutes cartoon but the time, patience and hard work to create it is more than creating a real life movie.

Anyways, if you are a cartoon lover then you might want to visit this site called AniBoom.com where you can watch as much funny cartoons and animations as you like online. It’s a networking site where you can communicate and they’ve got unlimited cartoon clips and animations installed for you. And if you want to learn to animate then you can use their free animation software, ShapeShifter which is pretty easy and fun to use. You can upload your creations and take part in the monthly ShapeShifter challenge where you can have a chance to win Toon Boom Software. Also if you are a professional in this field, then AniBoom might prove to be a real good platform for you to express/advertise your talent and creativity. Folks might want to give you work on the basis of animations that you’ve created and uploaded here.

Right now AniBoom is just over internet but they plan to cross over to other mediums as well as TV, Cellular, PC games etc. in near future. Do watch out for the latest cartoons and animations at AniBoom.

Universal Document Converter-Convert Any Printable Documents Into A Graphical File

2008-07-25T13:35:00.000-07:00

Few weeks ago, I faced a small problem. I had a presentation and I needed to put some stats which were in tabular formats from an excel file to my presentation slide. I could just insert the table in the slide and enter all the data one by one but that would consume a lot of my time. It would’ve been easier if I could just get that table somehow in a graphical format (.bmp, .jpeg, .tiff, etc.) so that I can easily insert it in the presentation slide. I thought of using the ‘PrintScreen’ button but the table was a little longer than the page. A friend then suggested me ‘Universal Document Converter’. I quickly downloaded it and after that it was just few seconds job to get the table in desired graphical format and insert it in the presentation slide.

Universal Document Converter gets installed as a virtual printer and works from any software that offers print support (Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.). It is designed to convert documents of any type to PDF or images. One of its features that I find really useful is that you can use it to save web pages as images because you may have noticed that some webpages can’t be saved. You can see the video tutorial for additional details or how to use it and if you want to try it here is the download link.

GeForce 9800 GT performance in the original XFX

2008-07-05T03:31:00.000-07:00

The network resource Expreview image of a new graphics card from XFX, built on the base not yet formally submitted the graphic adapter NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT.

If you believe the source, then the accelerator based on established on 55 - nm chip technology G92-280 with 112 streaming processors, is equipped with an alternative design active air cooling system and staffed GDDR3 memory volume of 512 with 256 MB - bit interface. In doing so, the frequency formula products has the form 600/1500/1800 MHz (kernel / Shader units / memory), and its communications opportunities presented llife on the back cover two DVI connectors and one HDTV-output. Moreover, it is noted that the new bus uses PCI Express 2.0, as well as fully compatible with DirectX 10.0 Shader Model 4.0 and OpenGL 2.1.

As for the estimated cost and date of the likely emergence of product sales, then any information to that effect has not yet been given.

NVIDIA move to DirectX 10.1 at the end of 2008

2008-07-05T03:27:00.001-07:00

After the emergence of a few months ago, information about the characteristics of a new generation of graphics processors from NVIDIA, which are known under the code GT200, and became the basis for graphics cards GeForce GTX 280/260, a number of observers noted with regret the lack of support for Applied interface DirectX 10.1, even more so that support similar functionality realized from competing products ATI Radeon 4870/4850. On questions about the reasons for such solutions developers from California said that there was no need for compulsory DirectX 10.1 support the new processors, and the desire to focus on other aspects, to improve the performance of new chips.

There was no doubt that in the future implementation of DirectX 10.1 becomes a prerequisite for successful competition in the market of graphic adapters, however, more or less reliable information about the occurrence of similar functionality in products NVIDIA has been reported. Now, the first information about future changes in the functionality of graphics cards GeForce.

Record download Firefox 3 recognized Guinness Book of Records

2008-07-05T03:25:00.000-07:00

Experts from the Guinness Book of Records had completed counting the number of downloads third version of the browser Firefox, which were made during the first 24 hours after his release. The final figure, which was recorded as a record - 8002530. This - slightly less than the staff counted Mozilla Corporation, but still the figure of 8 million was achieved.

Last week experts is reviewing logs from servers downloads. Downloads from one computer, as well as the unfinished injection, were not felt.

C Certificate, confirming the new record will be handed over to representatives of Mozilla Corporation in London next week.

3-in-1 BluePOINTER Bluetooth headset gives laser pointer and LED flashlight

2008-07-05T01:26:00.000-07:00

Okay, are you the type of person who adores a multi-purpose gadget? Good because we have here the BluePOINTER, which apparently is the first three in one Bluetooth headset combined with laser pointer, and LED flashlight!

I suppose one could be asking why anyone would need a laser pointer and LED flashlight on a Bluetooth headset, well if you are someone who actually uses a laser pointer and maybe an LED flashlight then surely it is better to have them in an all-in-one device rather than separates. Besides, having them in an all-in-one device saves on pocket space right, and let’s face it, it is all about convergence these days.

So, having now convinced you there is a necessity for such a device, let’s get to the nitty gritty specs. The BluePOINTER, is foremost a Bluetooth 2.0+EDR enabled headset which incorporates a 130 mAh li-polymer batterys which should provide enough energy for up to six hours talk time along with 120 hours of standby time.

However, if using the BluePOINTER as a laser pointer the battery should last up to three hours. Should you decide to operate it as the LED flashlight then the battery life is significantly reduced and will last up to approximately one hour of operation.

Size wise, the BluePOINTER measures 61 x 17.5 x 14mm with a weight of 13 grams, and is available now for the price of $90.00 from Brando.

Source - brando

8 megapixel mobile phone........ LG KC910?

2008-07-05T01:16:00.000-07:00

When Sony Ericsson announced the C905 it may well be the industries first 8 megapixel camera phone, but that doesn’t mean the rest of the other mobile manufacturers are sleeping their time away. Because apparently LG Electronics is working on their own mobile phone to incorporate an 8 Megapixel camera with Xenon flash, and the whispers are that LG is readying the mobile phone for an October launch.

So, if these net whispers are true we could be seeing the upcoming KC910 mobile phone as one of the best mobile devices on the market. Although details are scarce, one would think LG are keeping this a tight little secret as long as they can; here are a few specs that have found their way onto the net.

The new mobile phone will be able to record video at 720×480 pixels and 30 frames per second, WVGA touch-screen, that’s 800×480, image stabilization, and face recognition, a very slim aluminium casing which is less than 14mm with a hardened glass display, and finally a brand new UI.

We have to say however all the above has not been confirmed by LG, and as it’s only a rumour we can’t be sure if the device will ever materialise. But as Sony Ericsson and the other big boys force ahead with higher pixel cameras we can’t see LG lagging behind, but moving forward and joining the rest on the tail of the 8 megapixel shooting star. Let’s all hope someone leaks a few images of this new mobile soon.

Source – unwiredview