Gadgets Mobile

Posted Mar 20th 2008 5:33PM by Nilay Patel
Filed under: Laptops
It’s been a while since the HP dv2000 laptop made its original appearance, and it looks like HP’s giving the newest version a new model number as well as a slight redesign — say bonjour to the dv3000. Based around an oh-so-hip 13.3-inch display, the overall look of the machine is basically the same as the older model, but it’s slightly smaller. Inside, you’re looking at a 2.5GHz T9300 Penryn Core 2 Duo, GeForce Go 8400M graphics with HDMI out, 2GB of RAM, a 160GB disk, VGA webcam, a dual-layer burner, and an unusual combo USB / eSATA port that we’d like to take a closer look at. Not a bad piece of kit for $1,399 — too bad it’s only coming out in Asia around May.

After Intel let some details of its roadmap loose earlier this week, AMD responded. An AMD VP noted that Intel is playing catch-up on features, and AMD will not be standing still with plans for 8 or more core processors in 2009 along with HyperTransport enhancements and DDR3 memory support.

Even with Intel playing catch-up, its performance is higher than AMD’s at the high end. There is no denying that. So, will the company get a huge boost from adding in these new features?

I think the features may be more like icing on the cake than adding much to the cake itself, probably only giving incremental benefit. However, when you are in the lead already, all those increments will add up.

Another note from AMD mentioned Intel’s interesting Larrabee architecture, which seems to combine graphics and CPU processing into multi-core designs of over 16 cores. The company noted it wasn’t x86 compatible, begging the question if x86 is feasible deep into the multi-core future. So far it is, but we will see.

Posted Mar 20th 2008 3:08PM by Chris Ziegler
Filed under: Wireless
After yesterday’s wrap-up of the gargantuan Auction 73 to offload the newly-freed 700MHz spectrum, it looks like the two champions to emerge are Verizon and AT&T. Big Red has emerged with virtually all of the highly coveted C Block save for Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the Gulf of Mexico, a logical move considering its recent foray into the wide world of open access. AT&T, meanwhile, has scored much of the B Block, giving it 12MHz of spectrum in many of over 700 “cellular market areas” nationwide. In total, Verizon laid out a whopping $4,741,807,000 to pick up the Block C airwaves, leaving early competitor Google in the dust — and affirming rumors that Mountain View wasn’t in it to win it, it just wanted to make sure the reserve price was met and open access rules were assured.

Other winners include Qualcomm, which won bits and pieces of the B and E Blocks — more MediaFLO spectrum, perhaps? — and Frontier Wireless, scoring the overwhelming majority of the low-bandwidth E Block. Frontier is in cahoots with Echostar, though it’s not clear how (or if) the new spectrum would augment its satellite TV service.

Left out in the cold was the D Block, a wireless range which the FCC had required to be used in partnership with public safety groups; it failed to meet its minimum reserve price of $1.33 billion, which means that a new Auction 76 will be automatically spawned for bidders to have another go at it.

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BlockBig winnerTotal spent (approximate, across all blocks) A
B
AT&T $6,636,658,000 C
Verizon Wireless $9,363,160,000 D
Qualcomm $472,042,000 (did not meet reserve) E
Frontier Wireless $711,871,000

The StereoStone Fountain Speaker is a marriage of convenience, bringing together a piece of garden decor and audio playback courtesy of its 250-watt, 8″ dual voice coil speaker, concealed within a water fountain. It boasts a wrought iron-look and features a built-in fountain as well, providing you with a relaxing environment that is completed with the inclusion of a speaker, enabling you to enjoy your favorite relaxing tunes while listening to the gentle bubbling of the fountain. The Fountain Speaker will be available this April, retailing for $599.95.

The RAmos RM955 portable media player looks elegant and sleek enough to be a cell phone, and it comes with the following features :-

• 2.8″ touch screen QVGA display at 320 x 240 resolution
• Bluetooth connectivity
• Support for AVI, MP3, WMA, JPEG and BMP files
• microSD memory card slot

The RM955 will be available in 2GB and 4GB varieties, although there is no mention of price as at press time despite having an April shipping date.

Posted Mar 20th 2008 11:14AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Desktops
Granted, the Nova P22 is probably small enough for the vast majority of folks, but if you weren’t feeling the aforementioned machine for whatever reason, here’s another option. The NOVA LITE Mini 2L measures in at 9.09- x 7.24- x 2.00-inches and weighs just a few raisins more than the X300 (3.3-pounds for those taking notes). Apparently, this box was designed to simply “meet everyday computing needs” while keeping noise to a minimum, and ASUS has three lovely flavors for you to choose from. Packed within, you’ll find up to 2GB of DDR2 RAM, an 80GB / 160GB hard drive, a DVD burner, Ethernet, WiFi (on select models), built-in speakers, four USB 2.0 ports, DVI / VGA and audio in / out connectors. No word on a price, release date or any of that pertinent information, unfortunately.

Just days after Flickr reached its fourth birthday. the photo sharing site confirmed plans to start an online video service through its parent company Yahoo!.

With research this week putting YouTube at over 34% marketshare, the responses to Flickr’s news are decidedly mixed. Certain commentators suggest Flickr is coming to the market far too late, whereas others are putting forward Flickr’s 23 million members as evidence it clearly has a chance of taking on the established sites.

Yahoo! comments on the subject as follows:

We don’t discuss specifics on future plans, but it will be available soon, and we are very excited. We want to do it the right way and we’re taking the time to make sure the experience is seamless.

Read more at PC Pro.

Matthew’s Opinion

I’m not sure what all the fuss is about regarding adding video to Flickr. It seems like a general progression of the service, and it offers users a choice in the content types they want to offer. Rather than just providing a link to your latest holiday pictures, you will be able to put your video footage there, too. Is that such a problem?

I don’t think Flickr is going to take the same stance as YouTube. Flickr is an already established photo sharing site, and video is an add-on to that. The focus will remain on the content as a whole, with an opportunity for them to link photos and videos in a unique way that is different than the YouTube service.

Flickr being a success as a video sharing site will come down to how it integrates with the existing service. It should not try to be another YouTube, but instead offer the same level of service in a different way that benefits its millions of members.

Apple has begun testing the water with music companies over new business models to offer consumers music via its ipod and iPhone. The two new models under consideration are an unlimited plan and a subscription plan.

The unlimited plan would be available for both the iPod and the iPhone. Users would pay a premium when they first bought the device of their choice, and in return, they would get as much free music as they like from iTunes. That offer would last for the entire life of the device.

The subscription plan would only be offered to iphone owners with a predicted cost of no more than US$8 a month. Users would then get unlimited access to music on iTunes while they subscribe. It is also thought Apple will allow users to keep up to 50 tracks permanently and independently of the subscription every year they remain a subscriber.

At the moment, these plans are at the discussion stage, with pricing a major concern for both Apple and the music companies. Nokia already has a relationship with Universal Music, which offers unlimited tracks for a premium price. It is thought Nokia pays around $80 per mobile phone sold on the plan to the music company. Apple is thought to be offering a plan much lower than this.

Read more at Financial Times.

Matthew’s Opinion

Although Apple is trying to sell more of its gadgets through these new plans, I think in the long run it will mean people holding on to their devices. If I had paid a premium to get unlimited music on a device, then I will want to keep and use it for as long as I possibly can. It would also be a real pain to think that upgrading meant losing all that music, or at the very least having to get it again on the new device.

I like the subscription idea, because it has an additional incentive over current models. That money you pay out every month for access doesn’t just allow you to listen to the music, but also lets you keep 50 tracks every 12 months you are on the plan. With most plans, you stop paying and you lose all the music, so this is a nice incentive that I hope other services pick up on.

If Apple can improve the unlimited plan, so you can keep some of the music when you next upgrade and ensure all your music can be easily transferred, then it may prove popular. I doubt the music companies are going to settle for anything less than what Nokia is purportedly paying, however.

LG have been showing off their new LG LH2300 smartphone. Part phone, part Internet tablet, the LH2300 comes packed with some serious features, as you’d expect. It’s most obvious claim to fame is the huge 3 inch touchscreen, featuring a glorious 800 x 480 pixel widescreen VGA resolution that makes browsing the Web on your mobile seem just as good as it does on your desktop (well, according to LG it does, anyway!)

The LG LH2300 also comes with mobile TV (T-DMB), Bluetooth 2.0 and a 3 megpixel camera complete with face recognition. More intriguingly, it may, or may not, come with one of those fancy projected keyboard jobbies…

I say may or may not, as the picture up top comes from Korean site Cetizen, and my Korean seems to be as good as BabelFish’s, which keeps banging on about a sprouting screen and a grass browsing function! The only sense I can get from it is that the the LH2300 is bedspread mobile machinery, and “…the keyboard when about will come out? B possibility is in 22 century B?”

Er…?! Does this mean the phone does come with the projected keyboard, or will do in the 22nd Century? Any Korean speakers shed any light on this?

Regardless of whether the LH2300 does come with built-in projected keyboard, you have to admit the phone itself looks stunning, and with a nice set of features, it should sell well.

[Source: Cetizen, Aving.net]

One might think that the devil had a hand when it comes to the ZJ268 cell phone that claims to have a legendary 666 days of standby time. Now I would most certainly say that this is but a hoax - unless it is nuclear powered, of course. Rather, this handset has a 32,800mAh “super battery” running the proceedings, featuring a dual SIM, GSM900/DCS1800 support and a 3″ display. Retailing for $128 a pop, I’m surprised it does not self-combust if you don’t offer it a monthly animal sacrifice.