Tech by Khapeace Khalead

Nokia bows touchscreen 5800 XpressMusic

noreply@blogger.com (Khapeace Khalead) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:10:00 +0000

Armed with a roomy touch display, stereo speakers, and—eventually—a year's worth of free music, Nokia's long-awaited touchscreen phone (formerly known as "The Tube") will make its debut in London today. Can it compete with the iPhone and T-Mobile's Google-powered G1?

First, let's cover the specs: Measuring 4.4 by 2 by 0.6 inches, the 3G- and Wi-Fi-enabled 5800 (set for global release by the end of the year, but not in North America until the "early part" of 2009) is more or less the same size as the iPhone 3G and the G1, although at 3.8 ounces, it's significantly lighter than both of its touchscreen competitors (the iPhone is about 4.8 ounces, while the G1 weighs in at a hefty 5.6 ounces).

So, how's the 5800's 3.2-inch touchscreeen? I haven't had a chance to try it in person, but the Symbian-powered display looks (from the press images, at least) reasonably sleek—somewhere between the clunkier interface on the G1 and the iPhone's eye-popping UI. No multitouch (so no "pinch"-type gestures), mind you, but the 5800 has an accelerometer that lets you turn the phone sideways for a virtual, landscape-oriented QWERTY keypad. You'll also be able to enter text using a half-size, portrait QWERTY keypad (with a stylus, if you like), T9 text prediction, or handwriting recognition.

Nokia promises a couple of key one-touch interface features, including a "Contacts Bar" that gives you quick access to your "favorite" four contacts, along with a "Media Bar" that'll let you tap into your music, videos, and images. Not bad, although I'd also like to see a status/alerts toolbar like the G1's.

As its name implies, the 5800 XpressMusic is more about tunes than productivity, so don't expect out-of-the-box support for BlackBerry or Exchange servers (although this being a Symbian phone, there's nothing stopping third parties from filling the void). Instead, the 5800 comes with stereo speakers, support for stereo Bluetooth headsets, a 3.5mm headset jack (which doubles as a TV-out port), and up to 16GB of microSD memeory expansion for your tunes.

The 5800 will also support Nokia's much-touted "Comes with Music" service, which will let you download all the free tunes you can stand—but just for 12 months, with a helping of DRM on the side. (CNET has details on all the restrictions right here.) Also, keep in mind that the cost of all those "free" tunes will be passed along via an inflated price tag for upcoming "Comes with Music" handsets (the Nokia N95 and 5310 XpressMusic phones will also be getting "Comes with Music" support), although Nokia reps didn't have details on how big the surcharge will be. Still, the music catalog looks to be pretty solid, with all four of the major labels (as well as some indies) signed on.

Back to the 5800 itself: The phone also comes with a 3.2MP camera, complete with Carl Zeiss options, a dual LED flash, and video recording (up to 30fps). GPS and Nokia Maps are included for navigation. Sorry, gamers—no N-Gage support on the 5800, at least for now.

Nokia hasn't released U.S. pricing details (or carriers, for that matter) for the 5800 yet; in Europe, however, the phone (minus "Comes with Music") will sell for 279 euros, or about US$385—not bad, considering the sky-high price tag of Nokia's N-series beauties.

How does the 5800 XpressMusic stack up with the iPhone and the G1? Well, hard to say until I see the phone itself in action—and especially whether the 5800's touch interface measures up to the two touch heavyweights.

My initial impression? I'm a bit underwhelmed, frankly; it's almost as if Nokia is wading cautiosly into the touchscreen pool with the 5800. What I'm really waiting for is a full-on, touchscreen Nseries handset, complete with a revamped interface designed specifically for touch. In any case, Nokia is providing a Webcast of its London press conference today, so hopefully that'll give us a better idea. (Update: Gizmodo just published a quick hands-on report, and so far, the touchscreen sounds pretty lackluster: "On the prototype we played with briefly, it's much harder to get touches to register, and far less accurate than the iPhone's capacitive screens. The 5800 packs a built-in stylus for this reason—you'll be using it a lot." Ouch.)

So, what's your take? Like what you see? Disappointed? Fire away!

Microsoft and Cray to unveil $25,000 Windows-based supercomputer

noreply@blogger.com (Khapeace Khalead) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:09:00 +0000

Microsoft and Cray are set to unveil on September 16 the Cray CX1, a compact supercomputer running Windows HPC Server 2008.

The pair is expected to tout the new offering as “the most affordable supercomputer Cray has ever offered,” with pricing starting at $25,000.

In a September 15 posting to the Windows Server blog, Softie Tina Couch noted:

“It’s high performance and productivity computing that meets the needs of users, IT pros and developers by providing a highly integrated, familiar environment that is the right size and price for departmental and workgroup needs. The CX1 combines compute, storage, and visualization in a single integrated system that’s designed for non-traditional environments like labs, offices. If space is a problem, not to worry, it’s compact enough to fit in a broom closet.
“How can you get one?! It’s as easy as shopping on Amazon.com. Customers can go online, order the CX1 system using a configurator and pay with credit card.”

Microsoft’s official launch of Windows HPC (High Performance Computing) Server 2008 is slated for September 22 in New York City. Windows HPC Server 2008 is the high-end SKU of Microsoft’s Windows Server 2008 family. Microsoft is positioning the product as an alternative to Linux, which has gained a solid following in the high-end computing market.

In other Windows Server news, Microsoft released to manufacturing on September 15 its mid-range Windows Server offering, known as Windows Essential Business Server. General availability of EBS (codenamed “Centro”) kicks off on November 12. General availability of Windows Small Business Server 2008 (codenamed “Cougar”) also commences on November 12.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II Digital SLR Records HD Video

noreply@blogger.com (Khapeace Khalead) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:07:00 +0000

The three-year wait for a successor to Canon's EOS 5D has finally come to an end with today's announcement of the Canon EOS 5D Mark II digital single-lens reflex camera. And the wait was worth it, based on this model's revolutionary specs: This full-frame camera is the first camera to record 1920 by 1080p video.

When it was first introduced, the 5D broke new ground as the first digital SLR with an image sensor that matches the size of a 35mm film frame. A "full-frame" camera is capable of delivering the full range of an SLR lens, such that a 24-to-105mm lens actually delivers a 24mm wide-angle view. This ability is a boon to photographers who want to shoot scenes like landscapes, or weddings and parties.

Many other digital SLRs have sensors that are smaller than that of a 35mm film frame, though. In those cases, the camera has what's commonly referred to as a "crop factor" or "focal-length multiplier" (for example, a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi has a 1.6X multiplier), and a 24 to 105mm lens effectively becomes a 38-to-168mm lens, instead. The smaller sensor means that the edges of the lens are cropped off, which gives the effect of zooming into the center of the lens.

Latest in Flurry of Full-Frame Cameras

Canon's announcement makes the 5D Mark II the third full-frame digital SLR announced within a few months. The Nikon D700 launched this summer; this 12.1-megapixel model sells for $3000. The Sony Alpha DSLR-A900 was announced last week; the 24.6-megapixel camera will be priced at $3000 when it ships in November.

By announcing last of the three, Canon had the advantage of being able to bring the 21-megapixel 5D Mark II in at an impressive price: $2699 for the body only, and $3499 in a kit with the EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM zoom lens. Canon expects the camera to ship in November.

The 5D Mark II will be the second Canon digital SLR to use the company's enhanced DIGIC 4 image processing system; the first will be the EOS 50D, due in October. Canon credits DIGIC 4 with enabling many of the 5D Mark II's noteworthy features, including improved noise reduction, faster processing, and ISO ranges of 50 to 25,600. This model can handle shooting at 3.9 frames per second (up from the 5D's 3 frames per second), with unlimited large fine JPEGs or 14 RAW files when using a UDMA CompactFlash card, or 78 large fine JPEGs with a regular CompactFlash card.

HD Video Capture

In the space of a month, the photography and camcorder worlds have been shaken up with the announcement of digital SLRs that can record video. First, the Nikon D90launched with its 720p, 24 frames-per-second motion JPEG AVI video capture. Then word trickled out that Panasonic plans to offer high-def video capture with the next iteration of its Lumix G1.

Now, Canon's 5D Mark II transforms the landscape further by capturing 30 frames per second MPEG-4 video at 1920 by 1080p resolution. Canon says you can capture up to 12 minutes of high-def video with monoaural sound (approximately 4GB) or 29 minutes, 59 seconds of standard definition video. You can take a picture while recording a movie; the video stops while you snap a still, then it resumes recording. In addition to the built-in mono microphone, you can add an external stereo microphone. A Mini-HDMI port facilitates outputting video directly from the camera to an HDTV.

Other Enhancements

Much has changed in the three years since the original 5D debuted, and Canon has brought this model up to spec in every way imaginable. The camera has the same design and virtually the same weight as before, but there's additional weather sealing around the CompactFlash card and battery compartment, and a new, slightly smaller battery that can track battery power levels. The 3-inch LCD screen has 920,000 dots, anti-glare coating, and fluorine coating for easily wiping off dust. The camera also has Canon's latest integrated sensor cleaning system.

The 5D Mark II features a creative auto mode, as on the 50D, that gives you easy access to settings such as picture styles, exposure compensation in one location.

The Live View mode for framing your shots on the LCD screen has a dedicated button. The camera provides three ways to focus: quick mode, which lowers the mirror temporarily using the 15-point phase detection autofocus mechanism; live mode, which provides contrast based one-point autofocus; and face detection-based focusing.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II Digital SLR Records HD Video

noreply@blogger.com (Khapeace Khalead) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:07:00 +0000

Top 10 Smart Phones

noreply@blogger.com (Khapeace Khalead) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:06:00 +0000

PC World Test Center reviews found that these 10 models are the best of the smart phones, also known as PDA phones.

Check boxes to
Last Rated: August 08, 2008	BEST BUY! 1. RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8120 (T-Mobile) Design: Candy bar, Carrier: Carrier:T-Mobile, OS Supported:OS:Proprietary, Battery Life Average (hh:mm): 10:00, Bottom Line: Sleek Pearl lets consumers use Wi-Fi to boost call quality where cell signals falter. Full Review • Test Report • Check latest prices	Price When Reviewed: $200Check Latest Prices
Last Rated: August 08, 2008	2. RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8120 Design: Candy bar, Carrier: Carrier:AT&T, OS Supported:OS:Symbian, Battery Life Average (hh:mm): 9:43, Bottom Line: E-mail-friendly handset boasts strong multimedia features, including a camera and media player. Full Review • Test Report • Check latest prices	Price When Reviewed: $250Check Latest Prices
Last Rated: August 08, 2008	3. RIM BlackBerry Curve 8320 Design: Candy bar, Carrier: Carrier:T-Mobile, OS Supported:OS:Proprietary, Battery Life Average (hh:mm): 10:00, Bottom Line: Voice-over-Wi-Fi feature makes an excellent phone even better. Full Review • Test Report • Check latest prices	Price When Reviewed: $250Check Latest Prices
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Last Rated: August 08, 2008	4. RIM Blackberry Pearl Design: Candy bar, Carrier: Carrier:T-Mobile, OS Supported:OS:J2ME, Battery Life Average (hh:mm): 8:34, Bottom Line: This sleek cell phone adds a serviceable camera and multimedia features to BlackBerry's already terrific e-mail capabilities. Full Review • Test Report • Check latest prices	Price When Reviewed: $150Check Latest Prices
Last Rated: August 08, 2008	5. Apple iPhone 3G Design: Candy bar, Carrier: Carrier:AT&T, Battery Life Average (hh:mm): 5:38, Bottom Line: With a lower price, 3G radio, and GPS, this smart phone is in a class by itself. Full Review • Test Report	Price When Reviewed: $199Check Latest Prices
Last Rated: August 08, 2008	6. Dash Design: Candy bar, Carrier: Carrier:T-Mobile, OS Supported:OS:Windows Mobile, Battery Life Average (hh:mm): 8:40, Bottom Line: The upgrade to Windows Mobile 6 adds support for Microsoft's productivity applications. Full Review • Test Report • Vendor's Web Site	Price When Reviewed: $150Check Latest Prices
Sponsored LinksAbout Unlocked Cell Phones SaleFind Unlocked Cell Phones Cheap. Motorola, BlackBerry, Nokia & More.www.NexTag.com
Last Rated: August 08, 2008	7. T-Mobile Shadow Design: Slide, Carrier: Carrier:T-Mobile, OS Supported:OS:Windows Mobile, Battery Life Average (hh:mm): 10:00, Bottom Line: With the Shadow, T-Mobile delivers a smart phone smarter than most; its tinny call quality may be a concern. Full Review • Test Report • Check latest prices	Price When Reviewed: $200Check Latest Prices
Last Rated: August 08, 2008	8. Samsung Instinct Design: Candy bar, Carrier: Carrier:Sprint, OS Supported:OS:Proprietary, Battery Life Average (hh:mm): 5:33, Bottom Line: The Instinct's low price makes it a great deal for a good handset; but, it's no match for Apple's more diverse phone. Full Review • Test Report • Check latest prices	Price When Reviewed: $130Check Latest Prices
Last Rated: August 08, 2008	9. T-Mobile Wing Design: Slide, Carrier: Carrier:T-Mobile, OS Supported:OS:Windows Mobile, Battery Life Average (hh:mm): 10:00, Bottom Line: Offers clear calls and long battery life, but some of the buttons are difficult to press. Full Review • Test Report • Check latest prices	Price When Reviewed: $350Check Latest Prices
Last Rated: August 08, 2008	10. Palm Centro (AT&T) Design: Candy bar, Carrier: Carrier:AT&T, OS Supported:OS:Palm, Battery Life Average (hh:mm): 6:47, Bottom Line: A sporty, slimmer variant of the Treo; its battery lasted longer on AT&T's GSM network than on Sprint's CDMA network. Full Review • Test Report • Check latest prices

Windows 7 hits Milestone 3

noreply@blogger.com (Khapeace Khalead) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:05:00 +0000

I have seen the future — specifically Windows 7 Milestone 3 (Build 6780).

I got a gander at the latest test build of Windows 7 briefly (courtesy of a source of mine) and was not allowed to take any screenshots. But it is real, it does exist and it is, indeed, in certain testers’ hands inside and outside the company.

From the quick glimpse I got of Milestone 3, it sounds like Bryant of AeroXperience was right on the money with his hypotheses about what’s changed in the latest internal test builds. The latest build seems quite stable. The Ribbon user interface from Office 2007 is now part of WordPad and Paint. Home Groups — the functionality formerly known in “Longhorn”/Vista as “Castle” — is part of the new Windows 7 build.

I also noticed that the “Graphical Console,” a k a PowerShell Version 2, seems to be part of the latest pre-release Windows 7 build.

(Looks like Stephen Chapman over at the UX Evangelist site got to see Build 6780, too, and has a lot more to say on Windows 7’s Paint and WordPad.)

From what admittedly little I had a chance to see, Windows 7 does not look or feel like a major departure from Windows Vista.

Sources say there isn’t an “M4″ currently on Microsoft’s Windows 7 schedule. Next up is likely some kind of preview build (which may or may not be distributed to those attending the Professional Developers Conference and/or Windows Hardware Engineering Conference in October and November, respectively.) After that, a broadscale Beta 1, which should be feature-complete and pretty much set in stone, is expected for mid-December.

Like my ZDNet blogging colleague Ed Bott said, it’s not impossible for Microsoft to hit a 2009 release for Windows 7 if the first true beta doesn’t go out until December. Such a move would not be unprecedented.

Do you think the Softies are going to get Windows 7 out the door in 2009, as they are hoping — and maybe even early enough to make it onto new machines in time for Holiday 2009 sales?

Nintendo to Launch New Handheld DS-i This Year in Japan

noreply@blogger.com (Khapeace Khalead) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:04:00 +0000

Nintendo is refreshing its two-year old DS Lite handheld device with a new version that's thinner, has dual-digital cameras and will be out before the end of the year -- at least in Japan.

"I'd like to introduce to you the newest model in our Nintendo DS family, the Nintendo DSi," said Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo, to a packed crowd at the Nintendo Conference 2008 Fall held in Tokyo's Shibuya on Thursday afternoon.

The DS-i looks similar to the current DS Lite and is a little thinner because it doesn't have a slot for GameBoy Advance cartridges. The device's two screens are slightly larger at 3.25-inches instead of 3-inches and two digital cameras have been added. The outer camera has a 3-megapixel resolution and pictures can be stored on an SD Card for transfer to the company's Wii or a computer.

It will launch in Japan on Nov. 1 and will cost ¥18,900 (US$179). That's slightly more expensive than the current DS Lite, which costs ¥16,800. Detailed launch plans for other markets were not detailed at the Tokyo news conference held to announce the device but Nintendo said it won't be available overseas until 2009.

Following in the steps of its Wii console and competing devices Nintendo will launch an online applications store for the DS-i.

"The pace of sales for the DS has slowed down compared to earlier periods, but the DS remains to be selling at a brisk pace compared to previously mainstream platforms," Iwata said.

The president was bullish on prospects for the DSi to succeed despite the fact DS has already sold close to 23 million units and critics have said the DS may have reached market saturation.

"We have succeeded in reaching markets that were untapped before," Iwata said.

Nintendo's recent internal data shows 54 percent of its DS platform users in Japan being female.

"If we can offer a new lifestyle through our mobile game product, I think the Nintendo DS platform can expect to continue to see growth," Iwata said

Amazon launches pre-emptive strike against Microsoft’s planned cloud platform

noreply@blogger.com (Khapeace Khalead) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:03:00 +0000

Microsoft is gearing up to go big with its plans for its own version of its hosted development platform later this month. But Amazon.com isn’t sitting idly by, waiting for Microsoft to rain on its Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2).

On October 1, Amazon announced that it plans to offer developers this fall the ability to run Windows Server or SQL Server via the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2). According to the Amazon Web Services site, “the ability to run a Windows environment within Amazon EC2 has been one of our most requested features, and we are excited to be able to provide this capability.”

Update: More on Amazon’s Windows-hosting plans can be found on Amazon Chief Technology Officer Werner Vogels’ blog.

Further details from the Amazon Web Services site:

“Starting later this Fall, Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) will offer you the ability to run Microsoft Windows Server or Microsoft SQL Server. Today, you can choose from a variety of Unix-based operating systems, and soon you will be able to configure your instances to run the Windows Server operating system. In addition, you will be able to use SQL Server as another option within Amazon EC2 for running relational databases.”

Amazon currently is conducting a private beta for testers of hosted Windows Server and SQL Server, according to its site. Amazon is requesting developers interested in using the service fill out a form on the site. The form asks what kinds of applications and services developers plan to build in an Amazon-hosted Windows environment.

Amazon is positioning its hosted Microsoft offerings as “an ideal environment for deploying ASP.NET web sites, high performance computing clusters, media transcoding solutions, and many other Windows-based aplications.” Amazon is touting the new Microsoft offerings as part of its plan to “support any and all of the programming models, operating systems and database servers that you need for building applications on our cloud computing platform.”

Microsoft, for its part, has been rumored to be building a hosted development platform for more than a year. The company is slated to announce the platform officially at its Professional Developers Conference (PDC) in Los Angeles in late October when Bob Muglia, Senior Vice President of Microsoft’s Server and Tools Business, is slated to unveil Microsoft’s “cloud computing platform” during his keynote on October 27.

Microsoft is known to be working on a low-level “cloud OS” that is code-named Red Dog. Red Dog is expected to harness the power of multiple, distributed systems in a datacenter so that cloud apps can be more scalable and easier to write. And Zurich — Microsoft’s extension of its .Net programming model to the cloud — is part of Microsoft’s cloud platform, as well, according to various folks in the know. Microsoft’s SQL Server Data Services and its “Velocity” distributed caching technology are likely to figure in Microsoft’s hosted dev offering, too, as will its virtualization technologies. (The 3PAR blog has a nice explainer of how Hyper-V and virtual storage fit together to enable utility computing.)

Microsoft will be fielding its hosted development environment in an increasingly crowded space. Google, Salesforce.com and Oracle are all bidding for pieces of developers’ hosted attentions. But for now, Amazon is the big dog.

“Amazon has a lot to learn about serving the enterprise. It’s not their forte. The self-service startup and departmental markets, no problem. Big enterprise? It’s hard to counter Microsoft’s field resources,” said a source of mine, who requested anonymity. But he said he wouldn’t be surprised if Amazon has a plan there, too.

What do you think of Amazon’s new move? Would you rather host your Windows apps in an Amazon cloud — or a Microsoft-hosted one?

iHome Audio IH70SRC

noreply@blogger.com (Khapeace Khalead) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:01:00 +0000

There's no need to purchase one set of speakers for your PC and another set to play back audio from your iPod. iHome Audio's iH70SRC speakers do both--with good sound qualityand an attractive design to boot.

These $150 speakers are tall and narrow, with a small footprint. An iPod dock sits in the base of one speaker, while the base of the other speaker holds the power switch and volume controls. The speakers come bundled with a remote control, an audio-in cable, and a USB cable. You can connect the USB cable to your PC to charge and sync your iPod when it's docked. (The speakers work with most iPod models; see the iHome Audio Web site for a specific list of compatible models.)

The remote only control handles playback from the iPod but not from the computer. It includes play/pause controls, volume buttons, and bass/treble controls, along with a reset button for restoring the speakers to their factory default settings. Most of the controls (including the bass and treble adjustment controls)exist only on the remote. Controls on the speakers themselves are limited to the power switch and the volume up/down buttons; if you lose the remote, you're out of luck for everything else.

I found the sound quality to be pretty good but a bit thin overall. Though I'm not a high-end audiophile, I could clearly tell the difference in sound quality between the 128-kbps version of a song and the 256-kbps version. The speakers sound best when you sit right in front of them, which makes them more suitable for a computer on a desk than for home-theater use.

The iH70SRC set also has a headphone jack--a welcome feature for anyone using a machine that has only one audio-out port.

They may not blow you away, but these speakers' good sound quality, sleek design, and dual functionality with iPods and PCs make them a great all-around choice.

Using Apple's Online IPhone Buying Program

noreply@blogger.com (Khapeace Khalead) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:59:00 +0000

I'd promised myself I wasn't going to get one, but Apple'sBuy iPhone 3G program proved too darn convenient, and I found myself on a recent weeknight in the Derby Street Apple Store in Hingham, Mass. And if it wasn't for a problem of my own creation, I would have been in and out in 10 minutes or less.

Apple recently launched a new Web site that enables you to get a head start on buying an iPhone 3G. The service is set up to streamline the credit check process that AT&T, Apple's U.S. cell phone partner, uses to vet customers, both new to the service and those already in the system, like myself.

If you haven't already gone through the process of getting an iPhone at an Apple or AT&T Store, let me tell you, this makes a big difference. You can, from the convenience of your home, run through the first few steps necessary to get an iPhone. That saves you time when you finally get to the Apple Store, and perhaps more to the point for Apple, it saves store employees time, because they can pull up the record you've already created; you can also set up a time and date to visit them to get some personalized service.

As an existing iPhone customer making the switch to an iPhone 3G, all I had to do was to enter my existing account information--my cell phone number and some personal information to verify--to let Apple and AT&T make sure that I was eligible for an upgrade. If I'd been a new customer the process would have been a bit longer, but it's more or less the same thing.

Once I was done with the credit check, I made arrangements to stop in to my local Apple Store to complete the transaction. Unfortunately, that store is still more than an hour away from where I live, so I dropped in for a visit on my way to meet some friends for dinner the other night.

The only hitch--something unforeseen by Apple and AT&T in the few days that had passed between the time I filled out the form and when I came in--was that my account balanced slipped to past due status. That put my upgrade on hold until I sorted that out, which I did from my existing phone without any trouble.

Once that was done, the Apple Store employee--a really nice guy by the name of Spencer--unboxed my new 8GB black iPhone, hooked it up to a nearby iMac to activate it, and I was good to go. He even kindly let me test the new iPhone by making a call from one of the store's display iPhone models to make sure my number had activated properly. My old iPhone is still intact and working--it's just been deactivated as an actual phone, so I've now got an iPod touch with optional phone service if I want to reactivate it at some point.

I'm a MobileMe user, and I keep my personal e-mail, calendar and contact information synced between my computers and iPhone using MobileMe. So it was trivial to set up my new iPhone, which had a healthy amount of battery charge straight from the box, to check my account and sync my contact and calendar data.

If I'd brought my MacBook Pro--the primarily system my iPhone is connected to--that Apple Store employee would have helped me sync applications to my new phone as well, but it wasn't necessary. And by the time I got back to my car, my mail, calendar and contact information had already synced to the new phone.

When I finally switched from a Bla

I've gone through the steps of upgrading a cell phone before. That process was once the exclusive domain of cell phone store salespeople, and usually fraught with missteps, lost data and other inconveniences (if not disasters). Now Apple has made the process of upgrading your phone as painless as actually using it. It's definitely a step in the right direction, and a lesson for other phone makers--and other service providers--to learn from.

Tools to Speed Up Your PC

noreply@blogger.com (Khapeace Khalead) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:57:00 +0000

Get Windows humming again, supercharge your browser, and clear out the crud with these (mostly) free downloads.

Is your PC tired and sluggish? Has its get up and go got up and went? If you want a faster system, you could certainly break the bank and buy a new machine. Or you could read this article instead.

We've found 50 downloads that will make your PC run more quickly and smoothly, help you use the Internet more effectively, and push Windows to work at optimum speed with the interface you want, not what Microsoft gave you.

Most of these downloads are free to use forever; some are free to try, but require that you pay for them after a trial period (we've labeled each download accordingly). You won't have to search high and low on the Internet to find them; they're all available from the PC World Downloads library.

What are you waiting for? Get downloading; you're minutes away from a spiffier, faster system.

General Tune-Up Tools

Sometimes the best way to optimize your PC is to use all-in-one tune-up tools that offer a slew of utilities, ranging from file cleanup to Registry cleaners and beyond. Here are some of our favorites.

Advanced WindowsCare V2 Personal

This great free all-in one tool straightens out your Registry, handles Windows startup programs, erases your surfing history, removes spyware and protects you from future infections, and gives your system an all-around optimization.

Be sure to tell the program to create a restore point before it goes to work. And examine, closely, what it will do in its overall system optimization. Apart from that, just direct the program to scan your system, see what it wants to do, and let it do its business.

Download Advanced WindowsCare V2 Personal | Price: Free

TuneUp Utilities

This all-around degunker and system cleaner will sweep away unneeded files, control which programs run on startup, undelete, and even completely destroy unwanted files to protect your privacy.

Download TuneUp Utilities | Price: $50 (Trial)

WinSettings Pro

With this tool you can kill junk files, duplicate files, and Internet tracks. It also includes a good cookie cleaner that displays all your cookies, lists their contents, and then lets you eliminate ones you don't want. Features beyond system cleaning include Registry tools that claim to speed up Internet access. And how about a screen-capture program and wallpaper randomizer on top of that?

Download WinSettings Pro | Price: $50 (Shareware)

Super Utilities

Given that Super Utilities has 27 tools for cleaning and optimizing your PC, you're sure to find a module that you want. Included are a startup organizer, a Registry cleaner, defragmentation tools, antispyware features, and much more.

Download Super Utilities | Price: $60 (Trial)

Glary Utilities

This excellent no-cost tool promises one-click cleanup and optimization, and it delivers. It scans your system for problems with the Registry, shortcuts, startup programs, and spyware, and then gives you the option of which to clean up. It also deletes traces of your Internet surfing and erases temporary files. Optimization doesn't get simpler than this.

Download Glary Utilities | Price: Free

Application and Startup Optimization

System sluggishness is often the result of problems with the applications you run. Are they outdated and in need of patching? Do too many run in the background? Use the following utilities to solve those problems and others.

Secunia PSI

If you make sure that all of your applications are patched and up-to-date, they'll run faster and be more secure--and so will your PC on the whole. Unfortunately, visiting the Web site for each of your applications can be so time-consuming that you'll never get around to doing it. Grab this freebie instead. It scans your system, lists all of your applications, and then regularly checks for security patches. When it finds a new patch, it applies the fix.

Download Secunia PSI | Price: Free

PC Decrapifier

One likely reason your system is sluggish is that it's bedeviled by "craplets"--software that your PC maker installed because it was paid to. Craplets slow down startup and general operation.

This free software removes dozens of unwanted items automatically. It zaps only a specific set of craplets and trialware programs: Those that are specifically put on new PCs, such as QuickBooks Trial, Wild Tangent Games, Dell URL Assistant, and others. (For a full list, go to the PC Decrapifier site.) Before you use this utility, create a restore point in case it kills something you wanted to keep.

Download PC Decrapifier | Price: Free

Autoruns

Unnecessary services and applications that run whenever you start your PC or log in to it are a big cause of system slowdowns. Unfortunately, it's tough to identify every item that starts up, because nothing in Windows gives you such information. That's why you need this free tool. It displays every program and service running and offers a great deal of detail about each, such as associated .dll files, the program or service name, and its location on your PC. With that knowledge, you can decide what you don't want to run on startup.

Download Autoruns | Price: Free

Security Task Manager

Similar to Autoruns, this excellent tool shows you every running program and process. The utility also indicates whether the program is likely malicious, its type, how it launched (for example, upon startup or from within Windows Explorer), and the file name. It lets you delete any program and process with a single click. It also rates files according to how harmless or dangerous they may be. To stop a program, highlight it, click Remove, and you're done.

Download Security Task Manager | Price: $29 (Trial)

WinPatrol

This very good all-around system optimizer frees your PC of unnecessary programs that run on startup and keeps it clean of spyware and other malware. Whenever a program tries to start automatically, WinPatrol sends you an alert so you can block it. In addition, it shows details about the program, including the creator, when the program was added, the file name, and so on. The Delayed Start feature allows you to put off the launch of certain programs for up to an hour. That way, you'll still have access to the program when you need it.

Download WinPatrol | Price: Free

Foxit Reader

Strictly speaking, this isn't an optimization tool because it doesn't clean your system or tune it up. But it does eliminate a cause of system slowdowns and instability for many people: buggy, bloated Adobe Reader software for reading PDF files.

The free Foxit Reader is smaller, loads quickly, doesn't take up unnecessary memory, and has no instability issues. So if Adobe Reader slows your system down, this is a great alternative.

Download Foxit Reader | Price: Free

Norton Removal Tool

Some Norton products, especially the security suites, are notorious for taking up far too many system resources and too much RAM. Removing them completely can be tough, but this free tool from Norton does the trick. Copy down your product key before removing them in case you want to reinstall.

Download Norton Removal Tool | Price: Free

McAfee Consumer Products Removal Tool

Like Norton products, some McAfee utilities can consume serious amounts of system resources. To remove them from your system, use this free tool.

Download McAfee Consumer Products Removal Tool | Price: Free

Indie Gaming Goes Mainstream

noreply@blogger.com (Khapeace Khalead) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:55:00 +0000

Get Windows humming again, supercharge your browser, and clear out the crud with these (mostly) free downloads.

There's this little game, Portal--maybe you've heard of it. Part of the critically acclaimed Orange Box that came out late last year, Portal sprang from the minds of recent college grads whose only previous game-authoring credit was a student project calledNarbacular Drop. And what about Flow, the hypnotic game that's an obvious inspiration for the cellular stage in Spore? (How do you like that--two free game links in the first paragraph!).

The next time you're in a store, take a good, long look at the video-game shelves. Many of the odd titles that catch your eye (the ones that don't feature some supermuscular space marine or mustachioed handyman) can be traced back to the indie community. Some of those great original games have been online for a while, where they served as models for subsequent retail releases. And this week I'll give you a quick tour of a handful of freebies that are the inspirations for--or good, quick alternatives to--some great retail games coming out now.

Little Big Planet (and Knytt Stories)

User-created content has been around since the early days of computer gaming. But it keeps looking better and getting easier (no programming degree required). Take the DIY game, Little Big Planet, which hits the PlayStation 3 on October 21. Gamers are buzzing about its customizable characters and capabilities for designing additional levels. Not familiar with LBP? Check out this video of how the game works. In a word: amazing.

Stay tuned. PC World's Game On editor, Matt Peckham, will have plenty to say about Little Big Planet soon--and maybe we can guilt him into creating some levels to share with the public.

Can't wait? A decidedly lower-fidelity experience is Knytt Stories, created by Nicklas Nygren (aka Nifflas). Essentially, it's a tidy little running-jumping puzzle game and a level designer, all in one. You can't build your own levels as painlessly as with LBP, but you always have the option of downloading other players' work. And best of all, Knytt Stories is completely free.

Lock's Quest (and Desktop Tower Defense)

An innovative title called Lock's Quest has been released recently for the Nintendo DS. In the game, you build up your defenses to repel attacks from marauding robots. This entails running around like a madman to swat at enemies or place traps, and then racing back to base to keep structures intact. It's a blast to play--but is anyone else getting a strange sense of déjà vu? It sure sounds a lot like PixelJunk's Monsters, which arrived for the PS3 earlier this year. Of course, the idea of base-building and -defending has been around for quite a while. One popular predecessor is the Flash game Desktop Tower Defense. It isn't nearly as action-heavy as Lock's Quest, but you're much more likely to get away with playing it on a lunch break. (Whipping out your DS is a little more of a giveaway that business productivity is on hold.)

Line Rider 2 (and Line Rider)

You have to love success stories like the tale of Line Rider. Slovenian university student Boštjan Cadez created this Web toy in late 2006. A silly time-waster about a stick figure on a sled who shoots down user-created lines, it quickly became a cult hit. According to the site, more than 11,000 shared videos from Line Rider populate YouTube. Like this one.

And now, it's a full-fledged game coming to the PC, iPhone, Nintendo Wii, and DS. Of these, the DS version is probably the most logical one to buy, if only because you use the touch screen to draw lines and solve puzzles. But by far the coolest features here are the options to design your own levels and to download the work of others. And of course, you can always play the free original that inspired it all (Silverlight required).

De Blob (and, well, De Blob)

Like Line Rider, De Blob began as a student project--in this case, for the Dutch city of Utrecht. According to Joost Van Dongen, the students' task was to "make a game that plays in the station area as it will be ten years from now, so that while playing, the audience is informed about what is going to happen." The result: a beautiful 3D game where you control a big rolling blob that absorbs colors and repaints a colorless world. At first this fun, self-contained game reminded me of Super Mario Sunshine. De Blob went on to win awards and turn heads at U.S. game publisher THQ, which decided to make it into an equally cool (and uniquely gorgeous-looking) game for the Wii. Even after you download and play the original, free version of De Blob, you'll find that the Wii version is a great stand-alone experience. You solve puzzles and try to beat the clock while exploring a colorless world. So go on: Paint the town red...or purple...or green.

Well, my time's up here. Do you know of some indie inspirations that the rest of the world should know about? Enter a comment below!

Nokia's new touch-screen device launches

noreply@blogger.com (Khapeace Khalead) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:54:00 +0000

Various reports are starting to surface that Nokia's debut for a touch-screen device will be this Thursday.

Nokia was originally set to unveil the phone, code-named the “Tube,” sometime last week. It will mark the handset maker's first touch-screen since Apple launched the iPhone in 2007.

The expectation is that the device will be closely tied to Nokia’s Comes With Music service, which will first be released in the United Kingdom and compete with iTunes and other music services.

On Sep. 2, Nokia announced that Carphone Warehouse will be the exclusive U.K. prepaid channel for the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic edition.

A spokeswoman for Nokia said the company would not comment on an unannounced product.

Mobile phone sales expected to grow 13 percent this year

noreply@blogger.com (Khapeace Khalead) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:53:00 +0000

Even if a growing number of individuals are worried about the global state of financial markets, the mobile handset industry is expected to still increase by about 13 percent in 2008.

ABI said that a little over 300.9 million units shipped during the second quarter, and tier-one handset vendors had year-over-year unit shipment growth of between 15.1 and 21.9 percent.

Globally, mobile handset maker Nokia has surpassed the 40 percent market share for the first time in its history.

ABI said that a little over 300.9 million units shipped during the second quarter, and tier-one handset vendors had year-over-year unit shipment growth of between 15.1 and 21.9 percent.

Globally, mobile handset maker Nokia has surpassed the 40 percent market share for the first time in its history.

Look for the seal of mobile broadband approval

noreply@blogger.com (Khapeace Khalead) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:52:00 +0000

Soon, mobile phone users won't have to find Wi-Fi hotspots anymore. Instead, they will just need to look for the seal of Mobile Broadband approval on future notebook computers.

In order to fully support this new initiative, the GSMA has created the mobile broadband service mark, a global identifier that will let consumers find “ready to run” mobile broadband devices.

According to Mike O’Hara, spokesperson for the GSMA, notebook computers are just the first target of the initiative. The companies plan to also target a range of previously unconnected devices including cameras, MP-3 players, refrigerators, cars and set-top boxes.

"Overall, there will always be a place for Wi-Fi, but mobile broadband will liberate users from the spatial tyranny of the so-called hotspot,” said Shiv Bakhshi, IDC’s director of mobility research.

Some of the launch participants include 3 Group, Asus, Dell, ECS, Ericsson, Gemalto, Lenovo, Microsoft, Orange, Qualcomm, Telefónica Europe, Telecom Italia, TeliaSonera, T-Mobile USA, Toshiba and Vodafone.

Open source is the focus theme at the CeBIT 2009 conference

noreply@blogger.com (Khapeace Khalead) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:50:00 +0000

To most observers, the keyword Open Source is emerging for the first time as the main focus theme at the CeBIT 2009 conference, in Hannover Germany.

The conference organizers and the Linux Foundation are now encouraging Open Source projects to bid for free exhibit booths at the conference, along with a couple more goodies.

The largest global IT trade show, CeBIT 2009 opens March 3rd to the 8th, 2009. For the very first time, Open Source becomes THE central theme at the conference and this of course has the Linux community very excited.

Without such projects, FOSS (free software) would be unthinkable, therefore not only will industries take part, but open source projects will even have the opportunity to share their work with the larger public.

Linux Magazine, together with the conference organizer Deutsche Messe AG, is therefore seeking out projects that wish to present their work publicly at CeBIT Open Source.

A jury will decide by November 30 who will be awarded the free booths. The jury will include international open source experts, among them the LF (Linux Foundation). The Foundation is the non profit organization behind the Linux operating system and currently employs Linux founder Linus Torvalds.

Amanda McPherson, v.p. of marketing and developer programs with the Linux Foundation said "The Linux Foundation is pleased to note that such a large and important IT trade show as CeBit places its main focus on open source software. We're pleased to support the conference and expand the use of open source software."

CeBIT Open Source 2009 offers a deadline of October 30, 2008 for open source developers to submit their applications.

In addition to their presentations at the conference, the winning projects will also have the opportunity to present their work to a larger public in the German and international editions of Linux Magazine Online. The jury will include international Open Source experts named by Linux New Media and will decide on the winning entries by November 30. The winners will be announced on Linux Magazine Online.

Beginning today, the manager of every Open Source project can ask for a free booth at the conference.

It's important to note that only noncommercial projects with strong connection to Linux or Open Source project will be considered. Interested projects can get further details from the participation requirements. Apply via the Internet application form online or phone CeBIT directly.

The Bottom 10: The Web's Most Useless Sites

noreply@blogger.com (Khapeace Khalead) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:46:00 +0000

Finding great sites on the Web is easy. But it takes hard work and dedication to find the truly annoying and dazzlingly useless ones. Of course we didn't shrink from the task.

While locating the most useful sites on the Web, we felt it only fair to call out the some of the most useless, too. We found no shortage of sites that are poorly designed or boring, but we list here some of the sites that go that extra mile--the dazzlingly ugly, the patently offensive, and the mind-bogglingly pointless.

AOL AIM Dashboard(dashboard.aim.com): I'll admit that Dashboard already has two strikes against it just because it immediately gets right into my face every timeAIM starts up, which means every time I fire up my PC. Once this lame site has your eyeballs, the site seems willing to do anything to keep them, if just for a few seconds, using eye-candy graphics and tabloidy headlines like "High School Love Triangle" and "My Nasty Texts Went to my Dad!" Strike Three.

HavenWorks(havenworks.com): If a Web-design program got sick and threw up, it might look something like this site. My uncle from Santa Cruz says the first time he saw it he had an acid flashback.

Juicy Campus(www.juicycampus.com): Juicy Campus provides a public place where college kids can engage in gossipy smear-fests against fellow students, teachers or anybody else, with complete anonymity. The tenor and intellegence level of the posts is, well, what you might expect from people who spend most of their time pulling bong hits, playing Madden 2000, beer-sliding, and vomiting up Night Train.

Zombo (www.zombo.com): A Web site? Concept art? A prank gone horribly wrong? I honestly don't know. Open the page and you will hear: "This is zombo.com. You can do anything at Zombo.com. The only limit is yourself. Anything can happen at zombo.com." Well, in fact, nothing happens at zombo.com.

Brill Publications (www.brillpublications.com): It's virtual! It's like being in the real world, except, uh, it's on the Net! One the InterWeb! Walk through the front door of Brill Publications. See the secretary. Take the elevator. Talk to Bob on the 5th floor. Wait, why am I here?

City Optix (cityoptix.com): Sorry to pick on this little local optometry franchise, but sites that immediately launch and force you to watch ridiculously long, loud, and inane flash presentations --and there are many of them--drive me nuts. This one is one of the worst examples of site design I've seen.

Digg (digg.com): OK, Digg isn't a horrible site, but it is one of the most depressing when you compare it to what it once was. Digg's top stories (as voted on by Digg users) used to be interesting, and tech-oriented. But since Digg has grown so immensely popular, the top 10 Diggs usually consist of "lowest common denominator" stories: funny photos and videos, for the most part. It's a site cursed by its own popularity.

Weekly World News (www.weeklyworldnews.com): "The world's only reliable news" site is chock full of news you can't do without. A recent lead feature investigates whether James Carville or Britney Spears (bald) looks more like "Bat Boy." Why isn't CNN all over this?

Meet an Inmate (http://www.meet-an-inmate.com): Life not creepy enough for you? Now you can befriend and correspond with a lonely ex-meth-addict doing hard time in Leavenworth for aggravated assault.

Bermuda Triangle (www.bermuda-

triangle.org): Stunningly crappy graphics and site design are mixed with really pointless content. It's a double threat.

Asus Eee PC 1000 XP Mini-Notebook

noreply@blogger.com (Khapeace Khalead) — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 14:09:00 +0000

Google's Challenge: Get Buyers to Really Use Android

noreply@blogger.com (Khapeace Khalead) — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 14:06:00 +0000

Google's Rich Miner has identified one of the biggest problems facing mobile phone carriers, manufacturers, and developers: The hardware on the current generation of phones is not being used by many customers.

G1 phoneMiner, Google's group manager of mobile platforms, made the observation at the Future of Mobile panel at Emerging Technology '08.

"Hardware on mobile phones has been outpacing the software capabilities," Miner declared, noting that 80% of mobile phones being sold today have cameras on them, yet the number of people who actually know how to use them or get the images off the phone is between 10 and 50%, depending on the model. "The capabilities on these devices are not being leveraged by people," Miner added. He blamed small screens, bad UIs, and closed systems for the current state of affairs.

The trend has huge implications for Google and its Android partners, including T-Mobile and HTC, whose G1 phone will be released to the public next month. However, Miner seemed confident that Android would prevail, thanks in large part to software improvements, the presence of a true Web browsing experience, and Google's open development platform. "These are factors which are helping to realize the mobile Internet, which has eluded us," he said.

Real Life will Trump Second Life, Microsoft Says

noreply@blogger.com (Khapeace Khalead) — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 14:05:00 +0000

Microsoft's Craig Mundie has dismissed the potential of "synthetic virtual worlds" like Second Life, saying that the potential for immersive environments will be likely realized through 3D tools that capture and model the real world.

Mundie and robot/Photosynth demoMundie, who oversees research and long-term strategy for Microsoft, devoted a significant portion of his "Rethinking Computing" presentation at MIT's Emerging Technology conference to what he called the "Spatial Web," a blend of 3D, video, and location-aware technologies. At the center of several of his demos was Photosynth, a Microsoft software tool that can create 3D models using 2D photographs taken with an ordinary digital camera. In one brief demo he showed how a small, camera-equipped robot could be used to model a large room. In another, he showed a 3D model of a commercial district in Seattle that had been created with Photosynth, and demonstrated how a virtual visitor could come to the district using the Internet, enter an art shop in the area, and examine and buy a virtual sculpture that had also been "photosynthed" by the shop clerks or the artist.

Mundie noted that Microsoft is counting on the creation of a 3D "parallel universe" modeled with tools like Photosynth. However, he dismissed the potential of social virtual worlds that include user-modeled objects. "Many people are familiar with Second Life, which is a synthetic virtual world that people came quite enamored with," Mundie said. "Our view was that there was a fairly limited audience who was willing to deal with the construction of avatars and operating in that virtual space."

Another location-based visual technology demonstrated by Mundie had a lot in common with the "augmented reality" vision that Ray Kurzweil and other futurists have described. He showed how a Sony hand-held computer could display live video overlaid with information about shops and other addresses in the field of view. Mundie predicted that the required processing power for such an application would be available in mobile phones within two years.

The host of the conference, Technology Review Editor in Chief Jason Pontin, pointed to the impressive demos and noted that Microsoft Research has had a reputation of being a "graveyard of good ideas." Mundie responded that his group had a "lot more effective transfer than you see with the naked eye," adding that for many Microsoft tools and features, researchers "have to do some incubation in order to make it more tangible and then figure out how to productize it."

Watch for 'Metal Gear Solid Existence'

noreply@blogger.com (Khapeace Khalead) — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 14:03:00 +0000

A month after Metal Gear Solid 5 was unofficially announced, Konami has registered "Metal Gear Solid Existence" with the Japanese trademark database.

It's unclear when the name was registered, but it exists just the same, reports gaming blog Siliconera. Konami was not immediately available for comment when contacted by GamePro on Friday.

In August, outgoing Konami producer Ryan Payton let slip that Konami is working on Metal Gear Solid 5. "It'll be hard not being involved in MGS5," he said upon leaving the developer for greener pastures. "But I've got the utmost confidence that Hideo Kojima, Ken Imaizumi, and our amazing team will put together another blockbuster game. I'll be cheering from the sidelines."

Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima is notorious for saying he's done with the series after every release, but it appears he's still on for the next game, tentatively entitled Existence.

Pentax Optio A40 Digital Camera

noreply@blogger.com (Khapeace Khalead) — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 13:59:00 +0000

The Pentax Optio A40 is the latest result of Pentax's tradition of producing simple, usable, ultracompact cameras that have high-quality optics. Retailing for about $250 (as of September 1, 2008), this 12-megapixel black-and-silver model has a serious look.

At 2.5 inches diagonally, the camera's screen is smaller than the screens on some competing models, though it works just fine indoors and out. When I saw how petite the Optio A40 was--it's only about 3.5 inches wide--I was a little concerned about how it would handle, but the camera felt substantial in my hand, and two well-placed grips kept my fingers away from the lens and the flash.

The camera's image-stabilization feature has you covered if things get shaky. Though I'm a pretty steady shooter, this feature worked so well that I kept it turned on nearly all the time. In photos of moving subjects, it definitely improved the sharpness of my shots.

Getting into and around the menus is fairly simple, even without poring over Pentax's detailed manual. If you do have a question, you'll probably find it answered in the documentation. And the Optio A40 has enough dedicated function buttons that you probably won't have to slow down, even in full-automatic mode. Macro, zoom, and flash settings are readily accessible via dedicated buttons, and pressing the menu button lets you change everything else, depending on the mode you're in.

Unlike many other digital cameras priced under $300, the Optio A40 delivered outstanding image quality. Photos was sharp without undue halos or artifacts. Don't expect miracles, though: Like most digital cameras, the A40 is not immune to noise, though it does all right. Shots were occasionally hit-or-miss in my low-lit indoor situations and in quick street snaps, but this Pentax's output consistently beat the results from several competing point-and-shoot cameras I've been testing--and the camera did especially well in bright sunlight.

The Optio A40 includes a setting for expanding its dynamic range; using this setting added quite a bit of detail to shadowed areas in my tests, though it didn't appreciably affect highlights. Overall, my pictures showed good color, sharpness, and exposure. If anything, the camera tended toward underexposure, yielding good-looking, balanced, and saturated landscapes. Highlights were generally under control regardless of whether I expanded the dynamic range.

The Optio A40 throws in a handful of other features that have been cropping up on similar cameras: slide shows in playback mode, face recognition, soft-skin portraits, kids, and even different settings for pets of different colors. You also get a silly feature that adds a cartoon frame around your subject, so you can capture manga-style photo-booth shots wherever you want. Manual settings include manual exposure (in preset, nonstandard increments only), shutter priority (but not aperture priority), saturation, contrast, color filtration effects, and white balance. The camera shoots 640 by 480 video and lets you zoom in and out fairly smoothly while recording.

A few minor complaints: I wish that Pentax had included a RAW image option (at 12 megapixels, why not?). I'd also love to have seen a 5X (rather than 3X) optical zoom and a wider-angle lens. Despite those minor shortcomings, the Optio A40 is a good, no-nonsense camera that captures pictures with surprisingly good image qualit

Rising energy costs may usher in workplace changes

noreply@blogger.com (Khapeace Khalead) — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 13:56:00 +0000

The tipping point on fuel prices arrived about a month ago for Bill Lucas, an engineer in the IT department at Milwaukee-based utility We Energies. He stopped using his car for his 35-minute commute and now takes a bus, which costs only $2.50 each way, thanks in part to a ticket subsidy from his employer. Lucas says he has a lot of company on his bus rides.

At the corporate level, the escalating cost of petroleum products has IT departments at companies such as The Procter & Gamble Co. expanding their videoconferencing capabilities. The technology has helped P&G reduce corporate travel spending over the past year by 15%, said Marta Foster, vice president of business solutions, global business services, at the Cincinnati-based company.

Escalating fuel prices are forcing all kinds of changes by individuals and companies. In interviews at Forrester Research Inc.'s IT Forum 2008 conference here, about a dozen IT managers and senior staff said their companies are either exploring or implementing telecommuting, as well as turning to, more often than not, virtual-meeting technologies.

There is also an awareness of risks for companies that don't take such steps, especially in employee hiring and retention.

Mark Wilson, a managing consultant at Delta Initiative LLC in Chicago, said some clients consider the length of a job candidate's commute in a hiring decision.

"Our clients believe attrition is very connected to the amount of miles [employees] have to drive to work," said Wilson, who added that companies may be more inclined to hire someone with a shorter commute in the belief that a long, expensive commute "is going to wear on them sooner or later." His company provides IT enterprise consulting.

Jim Bagozzi, associate vice president of business solutions at Toronto-based Canadian Tire Corp., said his company is also moving toward expanding telework. The company has already found that in hiring some people with specialized skills, it has had to make it possible for them to work from remote offices rather than commute to headquarters, he said.

Telework is "a fairly new concept for us," said Bagozzi. He noted that Canadians are already on their way to paying what amounts to $5 a gallon for gas. In Toronto, for instance, gas prices are around $1.25 (Canadian) per liter (3.78 liters equals one gallon).

David Trumble, an enterprise architect at a company he asked not be named, said gas prices will likely limit the geographic radius of job candidates.

Trumble, who works in the Boston area, said it wouldn't be uncommon to hire people living in Southern New Hampshire, but he doesn't believe prospective job candidates will want to deal with a commute of 40 to 50 miles. "Time-wise it's reasonable, but cost-wise it really doesn't add up," he said.

Fred Balliet, who works on global IT strategy at London-based AstraZeneca PLC, a global pharmaceutical firm, said his company already has a "fantastic" work/life program that includes flexible schedules and telework arrangements.

Balliet, who is based in the U.S., said the response to rising energy costs has been to increase use of virtual communications and meeting tools. He has cut back on his travel to Europe, as have others at the company.

Balliet said economizing on gas also extends to his personal life. He said his family members now "bundle" their trips; they don't use the car to go shopping unless multiple errands can be accomplished by one trip. "There has to be more than one reason to go seven miles somewhere," he said.

At P&G, Foster said the company is using Cisco TelePresence, which involves having three monitors set up in a conference room. She noted that her company may be the largest user of the technology, outside of Cisco itself.

Foster said P&G is working with Cisco to improve the performance and capability of videoconferencing, but she added that she is pleased with how Cisco TelePresence works. "Within the first three or four minutes of the meeting, you forget that the technology is facilitating the meeting. It really feels like you are sitting across the table," Foster said.

Tom Jackson, an IT manager at a consumer products company he didn't want to identify, said he could work from home every day but does so only two days a week. Jackson said he likes going into the office, even though the trip in his self-described gas guzzler costs him.

New Apple iPod Nano ad

noreply@blogger.com (Khapeace Khalead) — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 13:55:00 +0000

New iPod nano a notch above the rest

noreply@blogger.com (Khapeace Khalead) — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 13:49:00 +0000

Apple Inc. has done it again.

Each year its competitors add new features to their mid-range mp3 players, making already good products that much better. But then September rolls along and the iPod nano undergoes a redesign that puts it just out of reach at the top of the class.

Call it the September syndrome. Watch as it spreads, pushing Microsoft, SanDisk and Cowon back down the charts of the nation’s most popular mp3 players.

With a splash of color – actually nine vibrant selections – Apple revved up for the holiday sales season with the unveiling of the 4th generation iPod nano earlier this month. Gone is the squat body of the 3rd generation. The new nano returns to roughly its original size, but instead of being flat, it’s slightly oval in shape with a curved body and screen. Even the click wheel is slightly bowed to match the curvature of the face.

Inside, the nano now is outfitted with an accelerometer, the same device that debuted in the first iPhone and allows the handheld players to sense when it is rotated or shaken. Turn the nano to the left and enjoy browsing through album covers or watching a movie. If you are left-handed, you will want to turn it to the right in order to keep the click wheel controls in your dominant hand. Shake the nano and it launches into shuffle mode. If you don’t like that first song, just shake it again for a reshuffle.

Lefties aren’t the only group to get consideration from Apple. Visually-impaired users will like the option of spoken menus.

Another new feature is the ability to record voice memos via a line-in microphone. To support the function, Apple next month will release headphones that include a microphone built into the cord.

While gamers will lean toward the iPod touch or iPhone, the nano does offer another new platform for casual gaming. It comes loaded with one game, Maze, which uses the accelerometer. No doubt, more paid games that take advantage of tilting and moving controls will follow.

Consumers looking to directly download music from online stores or listen to their favorite radio stations still will have to look elsewhere to players like Microsoft’s Zune or SanDisk’s Sansa mp3 players. If playing a variety of movie formats appeals, then a Cowon device might be the choice.

However, the latest iPod nano continues to hold the edge over competitors, thanks to two main factors: ease of use and third-party accessories.

While some critics hate the fact that you cannot use an iPod without iTunes, Apple’s online store remains the best. The store’s navigation is brilliantly simple. Likewise, the syncing between iTunes and iPod could not be easier. Never used an iPod? No need to fret because its easy enough to figure out, even without a manual.

Outfitting your new nano is also an easy task – just be ready to spend more than the price of the device if you have any leanings toward being a gadget junkie. While it’s possible to find a few accessories built for Zune or Sansa players, the selection is nothing like that available for iPods. Top audio companies have flooded the market with high-quality docking speakers while dozens of others make everything from cases to video glasses.

The nano comes in 8GB ($149) and 16GB ($199) models. For the first time, all colors – silver, black, purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, red and pink – are available for both models.

Tech by Khapeace Khalead

Nokia bows touchscreen 5800 XpressMusic

Microsoft and Cray to unveil $25,000 Windows-based supercomputer

Canon EOS 5D Mark II Digital SLR Records HD Video

Latest in Flurry of Full-Frame Cameras

HD Video Capture

Other Enhancements

Canon EOS 5D Mark II Digital SLR Records HD Video

Top 10 Smart Phones

PC World Test Center reviews found that these 10 models are the best of the smart phones, also known as PDA phones.

1. RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8120 (T-Mobile)

2. RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8120

3. RIM BlackBerry Curve 8320

4. RIM Blackberry Pearl

5. Apple iPhone 3G

6. Dash

7. T-Mobile Shadow

8. Samsung Instinct

9. T-Mobile Wing

10. Palm Centro (AT&T)

Windows 7 hits Milestone 3

Nintendo to Launch New Handheld DS-i This Year in Japan

Amazon launches pre-emptive strike against Microsoft’s planned cloud platform

iHome Audio IH70SRC

Using Apple's Online IPhone Buying Program

Tools to Speed Up Your PC

General Tune-Up Tools

Application and Startup Optimization

Indie Gaming Goes Mainstream

Little Big Planet (and Knytt Stories)

Lock's Quest (and Desktop Tower Defense)

Line Rider 2 (and Line Rider)

De Blob (and, well, De Blob)

Nokia's new touch-screen device launches

Mobile phone sales expected to grow 13 percent this year

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