1TB and 750GB notebook drives now available!

By
Ahleen
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0

If you’re like me who loves storing videos, pictures, installers and what-nots and hates having to delete even a single thing, then you’d be also overjoyed to be reading this news.

Western digital has just released today its new 1-Tbyte and 750-Gbyte WD Scorpio Blue 2.5-inch internal SATA hard drives.

These drives are in the 12.5-mm form factor, which means they can fit in notebooks and small factor desktops. These babies have a very high performance transfer rate of 3GB per second.

If you want to purchase them as internal drives, the 750GB WD Scorpio Blue is available for $189.99 and its 1TB counterpart is available for $249.99.

They can also be purchased as external USB 2.0 drives as part of WD’s Passport Essential SE line. The 750GB drive is sold for 199.99 and the 1TB drive costs $299.99. They have WD features like WhisperDrive for quiet use, drop resistant ShockGuard, and SecurePark for more shock tolerance.

Don’t expect for these large-scale memory drives to be available in netbooks though because it’s still too expensive and they wouldn’t fit in them either. L

Source:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2350788,00.asp

FZ28 from Panasonic overhauled

By
Ahleen
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0

Shutterbugs rejoice!

Panasonic has just revealed an overhauled (though not visible from the inside) FZ28 megazoom with the Lumix DMC-FZ35.

The upgrades? Higher resolution, improved optical image stabilizer, faster AF, and a new movie codec.

The image stabilizer uses the new Power OIS, optimized for low-frequency handshake which adds 2 stops of shakes reduction and is most effective in low light, according to Panasonic.

The company also made the new AF system faster than the old one. And if you want to shoot some videos, the FZ35 lets you use the more efficient AVCHD Lite codec which also supports stereo sound. Unlike most competitors, the FZ35 allows users to adjust shutter speed and aperture for movie recording.

Lastly, the FZ35 ha an extended battery life of approximately 470 pictures so you can keep taking those snapshots on and on and on…or as long as you have memory space left. 😉

The Lumix DMC-FZ35 will be sold for $399 and is expected to be available in stores by mid August.

Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10296249-1.html

Dancing wedding couple gains millions of YouTube viewers

By
Ahleen
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0

If you want your wedding day to be remembered by your family, friends, guests and er…millions of people across the globe, take a hint from this Minnesota couple whose wedding video racked up 8 million views on YouTube as of this writing.

The dance sequence opening the wedding ceremony of Kevin Heinz and Jill Peterson in St. Paul Minnesota went up just less than a week ago but already has 8,003,209 views (and still counting), around forty-one thousand ratings and forty thousand comments.

The five-minute video is starred by their dancing ushers, bridesmaids, groomsmen and the bride and groom! The song “Forever” by Chris Brown was played and the whole entourage danced their way down the aisle, surprising every guest gathered in the church. The groom even performed a somersault on his way to the altar!

The couple, interviewed by NBC’s Today Show, revealed that their parents were the only guests that were in on the idea.

The new bride said she has always “loved dance as a way to express yourself and share joy” and it was something she had always thought of doing.

What did the groom have to say? “I’m just glad I didn’t hurt myself,” Heinz said of his somersault.

Have I made you curious enough?

Here’s the link to this YouTube hit: http://youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0

Source: http://tech.yahoo.com/news/afp/20090726/tc_afp/ussocietymarriageinternetoffbeat

Stainless-style TV for you kitchen

By
Ahleen
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0

Pastel mugs and pastel plates? Check.

Mahogany dining tables and mahogany chairs? Check.

Stainless kitchen counter and stainless TV? Check.

Yup, you read that right. The most popular kitchen accent – stainless steel – is the look of the new Toshiba TV. If you’re the type who wants everything matched, you can now pair your kitchen appliances with their Stainless Style model which will be available on September.

The 19LV612U comes with a metallic styling (it’s not actually stainless steel but definitely looks like one) and has a built-DVD player. It has a decent 19-inch LCD and also comes with these specs as reported by ZDNet: an HDMI input, component-video port, and built-in ATSC/NTSC/QAM digital tuners. The DVD player also supports DivX-format discs. Now that’s what I call cooking in style!

Toshiba announces that their Stainless Style combo unit will be sold for $349.99. What do you think of the price?

Source:

http://blogs.zdnet.com/home-theater/?p=1283

From Apple: Cocktail anyone?

By
Ahleen
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0

If you’re tired with receiving those PDFs you get from iTunes when you download a song, or you think CD labels are so yesterday, you’re in for a big treat.

The Financial Times reports today that Apple and major record labels are teaming up to create bundles of interactive features which users get with their downloads. The project is code-named Cocktail.

Apple is known for making iPod and iTunes-related announcements at September events, so it’ll probably be launched on September too. The FT says their info comes from several sources who are “in-the-know” of the situation.

Through Apple’s collaboration with some of the big guys from the music scene including EMI, Sony Music, Warner Music and Universal Music Group, they hope to have customers buy digital albums (which obviously brings in more money) instead of just downloading single tracks.

Customers will be receiving the interactive book which includes material such as liner notes, lyric sheets and photos. According to the FT, it would also let users play songs without having to return to the iTunes software.

As cited by the Financial Times, an executive from Apple said: “”It’s all about re-creating the heyday” of the album when you would sit around with your friends looking at the artwork, while you listened to the music.

Hmmmn, makes you wonder what people today would digitize next. J

Source:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10296024-37.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0

Palm fights back: iTunes back on Pre

By
Ahleen
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0

If Apple thought that they could easily get rid of Palm and their “unauthorized” synching with iTunes, they thought wrong.

You might remember my post over a week ago about Apple releasing iTunes version 8.2.1 which disabled the feature enjoyed by Palm Pre users.

Now Palm just made a bold move by releasing WebOS 1.1 for the Pre which, among other things, allows media synching with even the latest version of iTunes. The news of the release was posted in Palm’s blog which so nonchalantly added at the end of the piece:

Oh, and one more thing: Palm webOS 1.1 re-enables Palm media sync. That’s right–you once again can have seamless access to your music, photos and videos from the current version of iTunes (8.2.1).

Well, well, well. I guess Palm’s really serious in making iTunes accessible for their consumers even if it means stirring up a possible dispute (?) with Apple. 🙂

And on the not so controversial side, the WebOS 1.1 also includes more additions to Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync support which now offers remote, PIN/password requirements, inactivity timeout, improved certificate handling and more, CNet report. Users can now also use emoticons with text, multimedia, and instant messages as well as set “personal reminders” in the Contacts app.

But still, I’m excited to see how Apple responds to Palm’s move. Are you?

Source:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10294633-1.html

Intel and Microsoft work together for Windows 7

By
Ahleen
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0

With their history going back more than 20 years now, the collaboration with Microsoft and Intel for Windows 7 OS is not that surprising anymore.

The two giants are working together to give Windows 7 the ability to better identify resources available and break up application processing over multiple chip cores and threads.

Joakim Lialias, an Intel alliance manager, wrote in a blog entry on Microsoft’s Web site that a feature called SMT parking allows Windows 7 to take advantage of Intel hyperthreading technology “better performance on hyperthreaded, multicore Intel processor.,”

In an article from PCWorld, it wrote that the feature will help users break up tasks like video encoding and image filtering over multiple task-execution threads. To make the long story short, “the more cores you have, the better”, Intel spokesman George Alfs said.

The two companies also worked on technologies that could improve Windows 7’s boot, shut-down, sleep and resume times. Hmmmn, about time too. 🙂

Source:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/168969/microsoft_intel_design_windows_7_to_be_speedy.html

Amazon apologizes for remote eBook deletions

By
Ahleen
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4

Last July 18, the Web was abuzz with the news that Amazon has deleted George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm from its Kindle e-book store, and apparently also remotely deleted them from the Kindle devices of readers who purchased them.

The move angered many consumers and generated lots of criticisms despite the refunds that Amazon gave to those buyers.

“I never imagined that Amazon actually had the right, the authority or even the ability to delete something that I had already purchased”, Charles Slater, an executive with a sheet-music retailer in Philadelphia, who bought the digital edition of “1984” for 99 cents last month said.

The digital eBook bought for the Kindle devices are sent from Amazon via wireless networks – apparently, the company can also use that to make the eBooks vanish.

Yesterday, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos apologized for the remote-deletion of the two eBooks. In a post on Amazon’s Kindle Community forum, he wrote:

This is an apology for the way we previously handled illegally sold copies of 1984 and other novels on Kindle. Our “solution” to the problem was stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles. It is wholly self-inflicted, and we deserve the criticism we’ve received. We will use the scar tissue from this painful mistake to help make better decisions going forward, ones that match our mission.

Amazon has received blistering criticism for the move, which removed purchased files from Kindles while refunding the purchase price to a customer’s account. The books in question were offered for sale by an Amazon publishing partner that did not have the rights to distribute them in the United States.

“Stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles” – very well said Mr. Bezos. 🙂

Source:

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/macworld/20090723/tc_macworld/amazonapologizesforkindlebookdeletions

Laptops for under $300

By
Ahleen
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0

Laptops today have clearly stopped being a luxury and have become a necessity. That’s why laptops nowadays are priced even much lower than ever to target more consumers.

Retailers like Wal-Mart and Best Buy are no exception to those who try to capture buyers delivering fully-equipped laptops for under US$300 dollars as part of promotional offers.

Starting July 26, Wal-Mart will be offering limited quantities of full loaded Compaq laptop for just $298!

For all you guys interested in the specs of this killer deal, the Compaq Presario CQ60-419WM from Hewlett-Packard is powered by Advanced Micro Devices’ Sempron SI-42 processor running at 2.1GHz and has a 15.6-inch screen. It comes with a 160GB hard drive, 3GB of RAM, Nvidia’s GeForce 8200M integrated graphics, a dual DVD player and comes installed with Windows Vista.

You can also expect that it won’t run out of stock quickly as Wal-Mart has prepared for this offer to become “quite popular”, according to a Wal-Mart official. The giant retailer also plans to add a “very cool Acer laptop” that has an eight-hour battery life and a HP netbook over the next few days.

Earlier this week, Best Buy offered an Acer laptop with a 15.6-inch screen for $299 but was later pulled after they ran out of stock.

Source:

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/pcworld/20090724/tc_pcworld/laptoppricesdipunder300intheus

A makeover for Apple’s App Store

By
Ahleen
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0

In Tuesday’s earnings report conference call, Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook has acknowledged that there is room for improvement in its App store in terms of its categorization method and they already have “some ideas” to improve it.

With over 65,000 applications available for download in the App Store, users are finding it hard to find new applications.

“As you know, today we do it by type of app and also have show popular apps and top-selling apps, et cetera,” Cook said. “We realize there’s opportunity there for further improvement and are working on that.”

The apps that receive the most exposure are the ones that belong to the top 25 downloaded from the App Store. These apps are mostly priced at $0.99.

Analyst Charles Wolf of Needham & Co. has asked Cook whether Apple is taking steps to “enable consumers to separate quality apps from the garbage” as more and more app developers are targeting on the cheap price.

“In some respects, the App Store has taken its place alongside YouTube, where poor taste is the defining metric,” Wolf wrote. “More ominously, it has led to a deterioration of the entire pricing structure for iPhone applications. The risk is that developers who hope to build quality applications that have a long shelf life may be discouraged from doing so because prospective development costs exceed the revenues they expect to earn on the applications. In short, this race to the bottom has the potential to degrade the overall equality of the applications sold at the App Store.”

Cook’s response however, gave no indication that they will interfere with how developers price their apps.

Oh well, I guess we’ll just have to wait for this makeover of the App Store to see how Apple takes on this new challenge.

Source:

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/07/22/apple_suggests_app_store_redesign_in_the_works.html

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