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by Darren Murph, posted Apr 11th 2008 at 8:28AMSo, how do you go about impressing the world after busting out a few systems based around the “fastest chip on Earth?” By getting us all worked up for a little thing called racetrack memory, that’s how. Far from being the first memory technology that runs laps around the DIMMs we’re relying on today, IBM researchers are suggesting that this iteration could enable users to store substantially more data at a lower cost and be available in around a decade. Put simply, the gurus working the project have discovered a way to overcome the prohibitively expensive process of manipulating domain walls in magnetic storage, essentially making a long-standing approach entirely more viable. If you’re totally in nerd heaven right now, we assure you, checking out the explanatory video waiting after the jump is a must-do.

[Via BBC]

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According to a report by MTV (and supported by a pitifully sparse sketch, see below), Microsoft is developing a Motion Controller for the Xbox, which will compete with the Wii for the affection of gaming grandmas everywhere. Game developer Rare (which is owned by Microsoft) has apparently been working on the device for a few months and might release it by the end of this year. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of a challenger to the Wii-mote – the Motus Corporation has also promised to bring a motion controller to the Xbox and the PS3.

Obviously, this rumor has some meat because Microsoft loves to take other people’s ideas and adapt them in their own vision. Plus, its recent turnaround record with the entertainment division has been impressive (see: Zune 2, and even the Xbox 360, developed and released in the shortest time ever for a major gaming console).

So if the report is true, it will be clear Microsoft is hoping to take away the juice from the Wii’s popularity, even as its spokespeople have belittled its graphics quality since its launch in 2006.  But everyone knows that it’s the games that matter. Many game developers working on Nintendo’s Wii games have had a major head start integrating their designs to the scheme (with many headaches), and making good games for a pastiche control scheme could be hard.

According to the ‘insider’ in the story, Rare is also developing different versions of the Mii Avatar concept, with more detailed design options. What do you think they’ll call them? The Mii Toos? Biills? Viistas?

Source: MTV

Photo: Microsoft/Nintendo

Gizmodo dropped a major bomb on notebook users yesterday–they somehow got their hands on details about the entire upcoming Lenovo line. They did break the news of the X300 launch back in January, though this does not appear to be from the same source. Everything is still unconfirmed, but a lot of the details make sense so it’s worth looking into.

Gizmodo does not have pictures or spec sheets this time, but there is still lot of great information (supposing most of it is true). The first big point is that we will see an expansion of the X series, specifically models based on the X300 notebook. The post states that the design behind the 13.3-inch X300 will be used in a 12-, 14-, and 15-inch models, which would give high-end consumers all the options they are looking for. The Xx00 models will get both HSDPA and EVDO and a 25 percent boost in battery life.

ThinkPad X300

The post goes on to cover refreshes of the T and R series. The entry-level R models will possibly arrive in a R400 (5.1lbs) and R500 (6.4lbs), probably 14-inch and 15-inch models as soon as July. The T will get refreshed video (256 or 512MB ATI HD3650) and start shipping in early June.

Another major part of the rumor is that we will see a new W line, which will replace the T as the workstation replacement series and possibly arrive in a 17-inch model some time in the future.

Gizmodo wraps up the post with what looks like a ThinkPad owner’s wish list, but is actually the potential standard features for the upcoming line. The list includes: a Blu-ray option, LED backlighting (not on the R models), 9-cell batteries (same size as a 6-cell but with 25 percent extended life), a solid state option (on all non W models), and a lot more.

We spoke to Lenovo representatives, but they had no official comments at this time.

Read more at Gizmodo

Sal’s Opinion 

All this is totally unconfirmed at this point, but parts of it seem spot on. We do know that the T/R series are ready for a few upgrades and that the technologies that Lenovo first rolled out on the ThinkPad X300 (for instance LED backlighting, SSDs, and a slimmer form factor) are going to be trickled down to new models. Plus we have already heard rumors about an X200, so that is not the biggest surprise.

It is a bit hard to swallow that Lenovo would go through the trouble of producing the X300 clones in three new sizes. They made a big deal about the 13.3-inch model being the perfect size for both portability and usability so for them to come out with a 14-inch and 15-inch model is less likely. We see the T and R models in 14- and 15-inches but why have a super-light notebook in both sizes, especially the larger one? The 12-inch model (potentially the X200) is easier to believe given that the X300 outshines the X61s in almost every aspect.

As for the rest, the changes to the R and T are believable, and while both lines are aging well, they could use things like solid state options, Blu-ray, and LED backlighting. The W would potentially be a desktop replacement, as the T has been doing a great job as the ThinkPad’s mobile workstation, which is probably why we see a rumor about that 17-inch model. It’s not clear how a 15-inch W900 would differ from the same model in the T series (what would be the T61p today).

All told, it’s huge news and there are certainly grains of truth in there. It’s not clear that everything is accurate, but based on the success of the X300 and the inevitable changes to the R/T lines people might want to hold off on any ThinkPad purchases for a little while.

Researchers at the Argonne National Laboratory in Argonne, IL, have managed to improve lithium-ion batteries to make them last longer, be more reliable and safer.

The improvements come from a change in the materials used to manufacture the battery. First of all, safety has been improved. Today’s lithium-ion batteries contain cobalt oxide electrodes, which when overheating occurs produces oxygen, reacts with the solvent in the battery and increases the overheating further; occasionally leading to the laptop fires we have all seen on YouTube. The researchers have managed to replace some of the cobalt oxide with maganese oxide, which is more stable and therefore cuts the risk of this happening.

Reliability improvements come in the form of an increased number of charges. This was achieved by replacing some of the metal oxide in the electrode with electro-chemically inactive material to form a composite. The composite does not store energy and makes the battery more stable meaning it survives more charges and does not degrade the amount of charge available after many charges have occurred.

A side effect of the use of the composite is the battery can also hold up to 30% more charge. This is because the inactive materials allow more lithium to be used for storing energy within the battery.

These improved batteries may be making their way into laptops fairly rapidly as a licensing deal has already been done with Japanese company Toda Kogyo. They manufacture around 30 million batteries a year making the chances high they will be in laptops sooner rather than later.

Read more at TechnologyReview.com

Matthew’s Opinion

This is a different breakthrough to the one reported in December last year where researchers increased the capacity of a lithium-ion batteries 10x. In that case the anode had been created with silicon instead of carbon, where as in this case it is the lithium and metal oxides that are being altered. Combining this breakthrough and the silicon anode should theoretically take the storage capacity even higher.

There is no suggestion that the changes made will have an impact on price. However, if I was a manufacturer of laptops and started recieving batteries that gave a 30% increased charge time I would be marketing it as soon as possible. New models carrying the batteries may appear and vendors may try and charge a premium for them.

The fact the update to the battery design offers better safety and reliability means they will hopefully start getting used across the board fairly rapidly. Other battery manufacturers will be forced to license the tech as vendors will be asking for the increased safety, reliability and charge time as soon as one of their rivals gets a shipment.

I am still looking forward to the day I can hover over the battery meter on my laptop and it reads “30hrs remaining”. Whether that will happen any time soon is anyone’s guess, but these incremental breakthroughs help get us there.

First the bad news. The number of unique viruses will reach 1,000,000 (1 million) by the end of the year. More bad news. About 25% have been generated in the last 6 months out of all generated in the past 20 years. Ugh.

The good news is that the number of viruses/malware making it through to user inboxes is down to 1 in 1000. Five (5) years ago, it was 1 in 40. Naturally, we need to get that down even more. So would you please stop adding your name to those weird mailing lists and yell at your friends for putting you on those mass forwarded e-mails!

via Webb Alert and PC Guide.

Posted in Computers, Networking & Internet

Western Digital has released ten new colors of its My Passport Essential portable hard drives. Aside from the traditional black and white, the My Passport Essential is now also available in brilliant orange, super sunny yellow, raindrop blue, arctic white, deep viola, cherry red, ultra mint, real red, intense blue, and vibrant pink.

My Passport Essential portable hard drives come with the usual specs such as 128-bit encryption, USB 2.0 ports, support for PC synchronization and storage capacities that range from 120GB to 320GB. The hard drives are still as portable as they can be weighing only 5-ounces. The My Passport Essential lineup ranges in price depending on storage size but tops out at $179.99 for the 320GB model.

Product [Western Digital] Via [I4U]

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If you’re like me, you hate seeing your iPhone covered in fingerprints, even though it’s as inevitable as death and taxes. And if a few smudges bother me, you can safely assume there’s no way I would take it anywhere close to a bathroom. So while I’m going to pass on their suggested use, I still like this unique iPhone/Touch stand from the Thought Out Company. The NAJA King (pronounced NAHA) uses a soft, flexible 3-foot coil that can be reshaped for a variety of uses. Like as a stand sitting on your desk, or wrapped around the back of your neck with the device hanging in front of you.

The grips that securely hold the iphone and Touch are covered with soft rubber so they won’t scratch your device, and the head is able to rotate 360 degrees. You can get it directly from the Though Out Company’s online store for $39.99.
[ Source ]

Shuttle is coming out with an AMD-based home theater PC (HTPC) that features a Blu-Ray & HD-DVD combo drive and a DVB-T TV Tuner. The memory is sparse: only 1GB, we recommend pumping it to 2GB, as sit as really cheap. I have good memories of my first Media Center PC – a Shuttle, but I think that it is time for the company to improve the form factor, especially the air-cooling system.

Highlights

• AMD Athlon X2 6000+
• 500GB HDD
• ATI Graphics
• Wi-Fi
• HD-DVD and Blu-Ray drive (combo)
• Windows Vista Premium

Asus has added a new addition to their product line, and for a refreshing change it does not fit in the Eee family. The newest addition is the Essentio CS5110 desktop PC, in which Asus is claiming that it is “the world’s smallest Desktop PC equipped with a fully embedded discrete graphic card,” which is an NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics card with 256MB of memory.

With the graphics aside, the CS5110 seems to be a decent offering, and one that would work equally well for a home PC or a media-centric PC in the living room thanks to the low 23.9dB sound output when idling. The CS5110 also has an S/PIDF out which offers up 7.1 audio as well as HDMI support.

Otherwise the CS5110 features an Intel G35-based motherboard, which can support a Core 2 Duo, Pentium Dual Core or Celeron D processor, up to 4GB of RAM and has room for one 3.5-inch hard drive and a slot loading DVD burner with an optional Blu-ray drive. The CS5110 also has Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, VGA port, built-in card reader, six USB 2.0 ports and a Firewire port.

Sadly with all the information that Asus released, they neglected to mention any pricing or availability.

Via [DailyTech]

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Opera Software has jumped on Google’s train regarding the new Android mobile operating system. Opera announced on Thursday that it has launched a version of the Opera Mini browser for the OS. The Android version of Opera Mini is available as a technical preview release.

The browser is available as a download through the company’s http://labs.opera.com website. Opera Software boasts that there are already over 40 million users worldwide using the Opera Mini browser on mobile platforms. The Opera Mini browser was first released back in January 2006.

Opera’s timing in regards to the Android operating system is good. They can get a jump on their competition and carve themselves out an early niche. This feeds into Opera Software’s marketing game plan for the Opera browser to make it available on a number of different platforms. What other browser can say it’s available on the Wii, Nintendo DS, mobile devices and the PC?

Read more from the Opera Software press release and the Opera Labs blog.