Sunday, January 11, 2009

Microsoft Builds Retail Store


Think of this store as a "Circuit City plus a few Surface displays, Microsoft Tags and magical screen-equipped shopping carts." Unfortunately, it's not open to the public. Oh, and before you gather up your Zune pals for a road trip: the Experience Center is real, but the customers are fake.

The Swiss army knife with Bluetooth, USB drive, and only unlocks by fingerprint


The iconic Swiss army knife has had a technological makeover from its creator, Victorinox.
The Presentation Pro, which is designed to help survive the urban jungle rather a literal one, features a removable USB flashdrive with 32GB memory, a laser pointer, and most remarkably, fingerprint recognition.In the tradition of the famous penknife, the Presentation Pro also features a standard blade, some scissors and a file. Victorinox has also created an airport security-friendly version of the Presentation Pro, without a knife, aimed at business travellers.

Logitechs MX Air ~~~~


New Logitech MX Air from Amazon.com "tracks motion even after you lift it off the surface, making it great for home theater PC users and presentations." The Gyration mouse is also significantly heavier which is subjective by taste. At $149 the MX Air is expensive so this really is a case of form over function. After a week using the MX Air, I�m pretty happy.

LG Unveils 3G Cell Phone Watch


LG has unveiled the world's first 3G-enabled cell phone watch, the LG-GD910. It features a 1.43-inch touchscreen and will be officially announced at CES 2009. Apparently aiming both the Korean and European market, this masterpiece will be introduce next january at the 2009 CES.

iPhone Pro


The iPhone Pro is a big step forward in keeping Apple's handset up to date with its competition. Plus, there's also an integrated D-pad for gaming action. Mat made his concept and called it iPhone Elite: an iPhone with 60GB of storage, true 16:9 aspect ratio, slide-out keyboard, one megapixel front camera for iChat, and a high quality camera, with good lenses, optical zoom, and video capability.

NEC's Curved Widescreen Display is Perfect for Gaming


NEC's Curved Widescreen Display is Perfect for Gaming. Alienware isn't the only company with a slick curved display. Gamers and graphic designers alike will adore the NEC Ostendo CRVD-42DWX+. NEC introduces the Ostendo CRVD-42DWX+, which sports a 10000:1 contrast ratio and 2880 x 900 resolution. This provides gamers with a panoramic view, but DLP technology prevents the image from being truly seamless. Unfortunately, there is no word yet on pricing or availability.

Cool!!! Metal Sculptures


Have an artist build you a custom metal sculpture, with the metal scraps leftover from building your backyard shed. Use these amazing examples for inspiration -- includes Transformers, Yoda, Spider-Man, and more.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Feature: The World's Largest Subwoofer


In addition to being the world's largest subwoofer, the "MATTERHORN" just might be the most powerful as well -- built by Danley Sound Labs. Don't let the 20' x 8' x 8' shipping container fool you -- the "MATTERHORN" consists of 40 subwoofers, 40 1,000-Watt amplifiers, 1100' of 12-gauge speaker cable, and 23-pounds of 0.030 welding wire. This subwoofer was built to military specifications.

Windows 7 Beta Now Public


According to a new press release, "Microsoft is making this pre-release version of Windows 7 available to the first 2.5 million people who download."The Beta expires August 1, 2009, and Microsoft is of course pilling on the caveats in case this destroys your computer with fire -- and limiting this first run of downloads to 2.5 million users.

iPhone + Palm Pre +.G1


CES 2009 brought us a new player in the smartphone upper-echelon. Let's drill down and see how the Palm Pre compares with the iPhone and Android's G1.All three are capacitive, only the Pre and iPhone have multitouch.The Pre has an LED Flash for its 3MP camera, something both the iPhone and G1 lack. Flash cellphone photos are ugly, but for a lot of people, they're good enough. So credit for throwing it in. Apple's still an outlier with their non-removable battery; like the G1's, the Pre's comes out for a spare swap too. We've heard Apple's reasons for this a million times, we know the drill, but removable batteries will never stop being handy. All three use a browser based on WebKit, which has become the standard for the mobile web. We couldn't put it through our Mobile Browser Battlemodo ringer obviously, but what we saw looked great, and it's the only other mobile browser besides the iPhone that supports multitouch zooming.

HP FireFly


HP Firefly is air-cooled, with dual fans sitting under the speakers, which are themselves surrounded by heat-sink-like heavy metal grills. Phil says he's actually sat with the 13-lb laptop on his lap, and it doesn't heat up in any uncomfortable way.An integrated, secondary display is the HP FireFly's highlight, especially for those who love widgets. Inside, you'll find "dual graphics cards, quad-core processor and what they call 5.1 sound."It's an interesting engineering oddity, fun to toy with, but it's no wonder they only built 50 or 60 of them, with no plan to release them commercially.

Friday, January 9, 2009

Cool!!! Ferrari Motorcycle


More than just looks, this Ferrari motorcycle features "a modified engine from a Ferrari Enzo, hand controls from a F-16 fighter jet and buttons from a Formula 1 race car." Other controls for the sound system and trip computer are located on an all weather touchscreen.

Sync Desktop


Designed by Gareth Battensby, the Sync Desktop basically consists of a "fold-away widescreen monitor/keyboard, built-in USB hub, scanner, mouse, webcam, DVD unit, and plenty of storage space." No word yet on availability. Also, the easy to access power and DVD unit mean you don't have to lean over your chair to get to them. The desk flaunts avant-garde design and clean lines.

Cuppa Smart Device


Its a very smart device that combines the functionality of a cell phone and desktop PC? Look no furthur than "Cuppa". It essentially "makes full use of extra monitors and TVs in your home to extend the product's use." No word yet on availability. Cuppa continues to add the social by allowing unlimited social tagging of product and devices which can be read by Cuppa. You no longer need to give a file, you give need to give a Cuppa Rfid chip, which will access the data from the super computer.

Tote Computer


The Tote Computer is a portable PC "that is comfortable to view and use yet practical to carry anywhere users commute throughout the day."The bright OLED touch screen keyboard and monitor share space on the go and hook up to other systems. Users can control their TVs and home lighting systems. They can surf the web downstairs and edit photos upstairs on separate TVs without cords.

Cool!!! Futuristic Motorcycle


The Icare is a futuristic motorcycle that sports a "powerful body which gives you a sense of security while driving on the tarnished highways and its design looks more that of an alien." The engine, which is Honda 6 cylinder flat engine and 1800cm3, is completely out of this world and will definitely keep you mesmerized

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Razer Mamba Mouse


Razer gets it: The sleek Mamba mouse "features 2.4GHz "gaming grade" wireless technology, an optional, detachable cord, first-in-class polling rates of 1-millisecond, a "world's fastest" 5,600DPI Precision 3.5G Laser sensor and a battery life / DPI stage indicator." With dual mode wired/wireless functionality, the Razer Mamba lets users immediately and seamlessly switch from wired to wireless play. With first in class polling rates at 1ms as compared to traditional wireless mice that poll at 8ms, players will have virtually lag free game play.

Citroen GT


Dubbed the Citroen GT, this "3,000-pound two-seater takes a virtual 3.6 seconds to get to a virtual 62 mph, and that's with a 646 digital ponies boosted by an additional 136 hydrogen-powered horses." As for the design, if you're wondering what that rear overhang is about, the phrase you're looking for is "retinal persistence."

Energy Mate


Simply put, the Energy Mate "system wirelessly monitors the gas, water and electricity usage within the home in real-time, allowing the user to take control of their energy consumption."An array of sensors around the home collect the usage information and transmit it to the display unit, where it is converted into meaningful figures such as pounds and carbon output. The system has been designed to be retro-fitted with ease in any domestic property.

Insecta


Unlike other car concepts, the Insecta is powered by "hub-mounted wheel motors and features an adjustable suspension that is one part bug-leg, two parts Citroen, changing the height of the car to suit traffic conditions."This is a battery powered personal vehicle that looks much like a grasshopper with its legs connected to the central chassis as a thorax.

Google Chrome--A New browser of Google..


This Google Chrome presentation "dives under the hood and delves into how Chrome improves the capabilities of web apps."He goes on to speed test Chrome against Internet Explorer with local static content. Chrome is blazing at 77.28ms vs 220.64ms for IE.
Visit the link below to download this new cool browser.

Peugeot Touch!!!


The Peugeot Touch Boasts Touch Sensitive Doors.Unlike other vehicles, the Peugeot Touch "has a light weight body that in some areas, like the doors, are placed touch-sensitive sensors and finger recognition -- these sensors ensure that only the owner can use the car." The lights compose symbols made out of LEDs, in this way the car has its own identity at night. This associates the car with its parent company, identifying it uniquely as the Peugeot Touch.

Skinny Phone!!!!!!!!!!


This Skinny Phone is Perfect for Skinny Jeans.

Slightly thicker than a credit card, the "Skinny Phone" features a touchscreen display, slide-out QWERTY keyboard, and dual cameras. No word yet on if this concept will go into production.I know this phone doesn't have a lot going for it, being concepted before the current spate of touchscreen wonder gadgets, but I've always had a hankering for longer, skinnier phones that won't make pockets bulge.

Superheroes Might Drive this in the Future!!!



Designed by Matus Prochaczka, this eco-friendly car might be what superheroes drive in future action flicks. From the pictures, it appears that the rear wheel doubles as the vehicle's exhaust.And of course superheroes car should be environmentally friendly, the vehicle is powered by a bio-diesel fuel and electricity both generated by pumpkin seed oil.

Holographic --Zero Phone


Its really very cool. When both halves are combined, the Zero Phone concept "creates a virtual interface wherein the numbers pad, battery meter and signal strength are very much a part of it."Overall the design is simple, nice and easy. The phone is also user friendly due to its innovative looks.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Peugeot Car


The RD3 Peugeot car concept "works mainly through articulation -- giving direction while also being capable of folding up during high traffic and low speeds."Therefore, this vehicle remains low at the high speed and also displays information required during a trip by voice command by the driver.

Screen 2 docking station!!!


The Screen 2 docking station "extends your phone's standard feature set to include email, web browsing, photo viewing, video watching, document browsing, speaker phoning, and AIM/MSN chatting all via touchscreen." Technically it COULD be used with smartphones like the iPhone or Blackberry but I see a much bigger boon with older mobile phones.

Sony Walkman X-Series Is Surfable, Touchable and Shuts Up the World Around You


Sony's Walkman NWZ-X1000 features an OLED touchscreen, Wi-Fi and built-in noise cancellation. The X-series Walkman seems like a very impressive piece of hardware.

Much like its direct competitor, the iPod Touch, it comes in 16GB and 32GB flavors and can be used to surf the web. The screen's half an inch smaller, but it's also OLED (rather than the Touch's LED) so you can expect brighter colors and better contrast.
It also comes with digital noise canceling—a first for any MP3 player I've seen. The feature, allows any accompanying 13.5mm EX headphone to block out ambient noise, and basically renders those expensive Bose earphones you just got for Christmas obsolete.
What I like about this is that it's one of those “D'oh, of course!” ideas. I've always hated how the sound gets muffled and crappy (or turns off completely) when your noise canceling headphones run out of batteries—you don't have to worry about that if it's all incorporated into the MP3 player.
We'll have to run it through the standard tests to see if it's all it's cracked up to be, but what worries me most about the X-series, and it's most likely roadblock to widespread success, is the price. Right now it's TBD. Sony has come out with a ton of outstanding MP3 players, but unless it's willing to sell this one for $400 and lower, the X-series probably won't knock the iPod Touch off its perch.

Logitech Harmony 1000 Universal Remote


So it’s been a little while since I made a large, stupid, purchase. The last lapse of santiy I had came last spring, when I bought an obnoxious Traxxas Revo, a remote control truck that runs on actual fuel. I suppose with that setting the bar riduclously low, there was no way to go but up. So I ponied up $350 for a remote control… well now that I’m saying it out loud, it seems even more idiotic.

To feebly try and defend why I would spend such a ridiculous amount on a remote control, let me explain that I’ve sort of an amateur home theater fan. The crowning jewel of my otherwise mediocre setup is an Infocus Screenplay 61md10, a 61″ HDTV DLP. The one thing you start to realize as you get into this stuff, is that being able to simplify the control of your setup is crucial if you actually want to have friends. While I might have no problem fiddling with three remotes to watch a movie, the average person will find it maddening to do so.

iPhone Alternatives: Samsung F700


In my quest not to get rail-roaded into buying an iPhone simply due to the juggernaut that is the Apple advertising machine, I will be occasionally posting information about alternate smart phones that will soon be coming to market. I have recently been seeing a lot of gadget sites, including Gizmodo and Engadget (two of my favorite sites for tech news) comparing every upcoming phone with a large (touch)screen to the iPhone. Somehow, a few people have managed to convince themselves that touchscreens and media-centric phones did not exist until Apple announced the iPhone, which is rather idiotic if you ask me.

17-inch MacBook Pro is on the Market


New 17-inch MacBook Pro is most impressed with the new screen -- it's huge, it's gorgeous, and it has 1920 x 1200 resolution." The 8 hour battery life is impressive. Obviously, we'll have to wait for the reviews to see how accurate that lifespan actually is, but it certainly sounds impressive.

New Eee Keyboard...


Everything is not as it seems, or at least in this case. The Eee Keyboard is essentially a "'fully functional PC' with full QWERTY and a mini secondary touchscreen." No word yet on pricing or availability. Asus was vague as to if/when we'll actually see the Eee Keyboard come to market (though we're pretty sure it's a semi-real product), but it's a fantastic concept for a home theater PC if we've ever seen one.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Lenovo IdeaCentre A600---Super Cool PC!!!


The best desktop systems usually consist of a high-definition, widescreen display, powerful processor(s), and plenty of storage. The sleek Lenovo IdeaCentre A600 was designed with that in mind. Offering Intel Core 2 Duo CPUs, 1TB hard drive, 4GB of DDR3 memory, and ATI Radeon graphics. Available in April, priced from $999.

Speaker Lamps!!!


Its not a joke.

Now think about a new way hang your speakers?Even audiophiles will agree that mounting speakers for the perfect soundstage isn't the easiest of tasks, so these speaker lamps aim to make things a bit easier -- sound is transmitted wirelessly via Bluetooth.

Cool "Cowon S9" 16GB OLED Portable Media Player


is selling the Cowon S9 for only $239.99 shipped. Its "3.3-Inch 16:9 Wide AMOLED screen lets you play all your digital entertainment: movies, TV shows, photos and music."

One Account!!!! to Rule the whole "Net World"


Thanks to the constant advance of communications technology, there are now more ways than ever to reach the people you know. But this doesn't necessarily mean that life's more convenient. Checking every account for new messages can be tedious and time consuming, and nowadays many people have multiple telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, and instant-messaging accounts--even several social-networking identities. TelCentris, a company based in San Diego, hopes to untangle this mess by providing VoxOx, a single piece of software that can be used to communicate with contacts in a wide variety of ways.

Unifying communications tools is hardly a new idea. Over the years, several popular instant-messaging clients have been developed to let users from one network chat with those from others. And as cell-phone use has grown, companies like Grand Central (now owned by Google) and Ribbit (now owned by BT) have focused on bringing together multiple phone numbers. The idea has proved especially popular in the business world, with companies such as IBM building products that combine a variety of communications tools--voice mail, IM, Web conferencing--with business applications like Lotus Notes. 

VoxOx continues this trend but offers a more exhaustive list of services. It allows users to send e-mail and instant messages, send text messages, host video conferences, make phone calls, post messages to social networks, and even share files--all from the same place. 

Rebecca Swensen, a research analyst with IDC, says that the product is interesting and ambitious. She cautions that "they're still working out the kinks in terms of how to make it easy to use." Swensen also questions whether consumers will be willing to put in the effort required to configure a service like this. Although ultimately, the service might make one's life a little easier, she says, it's a fairly big commitment to start using a new service, and to get all contacts loaded in and sorted out. 

Michael Faught, chief financial officer with VoxOx, says that the service is, initially at least, aimed at younger users who "are confronted with this chaotic world of many kinds of communication tools." Faught sees social networks as compounding the problem and says that there's no simple, efficient solution.

Authentic X-Men Cyclops Visor--in eBay


For $3,900 on eBay, you could pick up an authentic X-Men Cyclops visor. The seller reports that "this is the clay mold curving for Cyclops on the movie X-men III 'The Last Stand'."

Monday, January 5, 2009

Microsoft Vista SP2 (Beta Now Available)

A new beta preview of Windows Vista Service Pack 2 is now available for testing. Vista has proved something of a disaster for Microsoft, but the company is slowly fixing many of the issues that users have reported.

Service Pack 1 was unquestionably a step up from the initial release and, judging by the features set to land in SP2, the Vista experience is, if not exactly a "wow," at least looking up.

While SP 2 won't arrive in final form until April 2009 (possibly later, Microsoft hasn't confirmed a date yet, preferring to wait on feedback from the new beta), the beta release offers a glimpse of what's to come.

Among the improvements are a less resource-hogging Sidebar, a better wifi connection dialog, Blu-Ray support, better third-party hardware support and more.

One thing to note if you're thinking of trying the beta — upgrading to the final release will require uninstalling the beta. Also note that, in an effort to reduce download sizes, SP1 must be installed before you upgrade to SP2 beta (that will also be true for the final release version of SP2).

ASUS Eee PC!!!


ASUS expands its Eee PC lineup with the Eee Box B202, which is priced at "$269 for the base 1GB RAM, 80GB storage Linux model, $299 for XP." It's powered by a 1.6-GHz Atom processor and weighs just 6.6-pounds.

Memory and storage are configurable, running from 512MB to 2GB, and 80GB to 250GB, respectively. 802.11n is standard, and it has a pleasant number of ports - serious potential as a TV streamer box.

Zune Touch.........


Here's a first look at the Microsoft Zune Touch, which is set to give the iPod Touch a run for its money when it's released. Unfortunately, no specs have been

10 GB tranmission through the air

A new millimeter-wave technology sends data at 10 gigabits per second developed by engineers at Batelle, a research and development firm from Columbus, OH. The technology operates on 60-100 Ghz.
Read more on this amazing feat here: http://www.technologyreview.com/communications/21464/?a=f

Free Wireless Near You

Find Free Wireless Near You : http://www.anchorfree.com/hotspot/finder/

Recovery Windows Forgotten Passwords

Easily reset/recover windows passwords, clone NTFS filesystems over the network, recovery and undeletion of files with utilities and procedures, recovery of lost partitions, evacuation of dying disks
How? Get the Trinity Rescue Kit:
http://trinityhome.org/Home/index.php?wpid=1&front_id=12
Permalink

To protect your confedential files on your computer

Protect your Private Files

TruecryptFree Open-Source Disk Encryption Software; strongest and most bulletproof consumer encryption tool out there is the free, cross-platform
http://www.truecrypt.org/downloads.php

KeePassKeePass is a free, open source password manager that helps manage passwords securely. All passwords can be kept in one database and is locked with one master key or a key-disk.

http://keepass.info/

Z-ZipZip up and password protect your files http://7zip.org/

101 Photoshop Tips in 5 Minutes

101 Photoshop Tips in 5 Minutes

Watch it here: http://www.deke.com/content/101-photoshop-tips-5-minutes

Transcript also available there.

Edit Vista Boot.ini

Windows Vista does not have a boot.ini file. Instead, you must edit it under administrator using bcdedit in the command prompt. There is a steep learning curve when using bcdedit, and make sure to backup your current settings as you are messing directly with the registry.

Here is a quick tutorial : http://www.vistaforums.com/FORUM/Topic587-9-1.aspx

Transferring data from old 20GB Xbox 360 drive to new 120GB drive

Got my new 120GB Xbox 360 drive today. Ordered it from Amazon on Thursday, 27 November 2008 and received it promptly today. Cost was $135 and shipping was free. Can't say enough how much I love Amazon.
Before I did the transfer, I wrote down all the Xbox Live Arcade games and 360 theme packs I had downloaded to the old hard drive.
The transfer process went pretty smooth. Basically you turn on the 360, hook the transfer cable to the new drive, connect the other end to the USB port on the back (must be the back USB port) of the 360, insert the transfer CD and start up the CD (I have CD autorun turned off on my 360). The software runs you through some prompts and then begins.
Remember that this process is irreversible. You can't move the games and data from the larger drive back to the smaller one, once the transfer has completed.
Once the transfer was done, I did a check and found that all my Live Arcade games were still there as well as the themes I had downloaded or purchased.
The only other cleanup I had to do was to get rid of a bunch of demos and videos that Microsoft preloaded on to the larger hard drive.
Total time for transfer was about 1 hour 20 minutes or so for 16GB worth of content including cleanup.
No additional steps were required to transfer licenses or anything. The whole process was about as easy as it gets.

New Usb 3.0

Intel and other companies have formed a group to promote the USB 3.0, which should deliver more than ten times the speed of the existing USB 2.0 standard.Ten times faster than the old USB spec, USB 3.0 can transfer a 27GB file in just 70 seconds. Plus, with more "lanes" of data within the connector, new USB will be able to simultaneously send and receive information—that might not sound like much, but the old USB couldn't do so.President and general manager of the chipset business unit at AMD, Phil Eisler, released a statement saying, "The future of computing and consumer devices is increasingly visual and bandwidth intensive. Lifestyles filled with HD media and digital audio demand quick and universal data transfer. USB 3.0 is an answer to the future bandwidth need of the PC platform.”Intel stated that the USB 3.0 specification would be optimized for low power and improved protocol efficiency. The USB 3.0 ports and cabling will be designed with both copper and optical cable capabilities, meaning even higher speeds will be possible in the future.Jeff Ravencraft, Intel's technology strategist, said: "The digital era requires high-speed performance and reliable connectivity to move the enormous amounts of digital content now present in everyday life. USB 3.0 will meet this challenge while maintaining (USB 2.0's) ease-of-use experience."
Microsoft launches new invention

The neon pink and orange three dimensional "Z" located at the top left corner of zune.net is the new 30GB digital media player, Microsoft Zune, trademark. Microsoft's newest invention could be dubbed as another "wannabe iPod," but Zune has something the others don't. Zune can locate other Zune players and wirelessly exchange content music and pictures, for starters, according to nytimes.com. "It seems like a good idea but you can share songs with an iPod too but through iTunes," Stephanie Castrilli, a sophomore marketing major, said. Microsoft is including a few pre-loaded songs, music videos and film shorts which will allow the user to experience something different. In turn, the artists that are being installed on the Zune's will be given more exposure to fans. Users may purchase a plan for $14.99 a month which allows the consumer to access millions of songs per month. They may also purchase songs individually by using Microsoft Points. Microsoft Points is a stored value system that can be redeemed at a growing number of online stores. Each song will go for 79 points. "It's better to wait for the better cheaper version," Victoria Matkowski, a sophomore elementary education major, said. "Something better always comes out." Kayla Moran, a sophomore special education major, said, "I don't trust the iPod wannabe's because they are never as good as the original." Apple is overpowering the market by 90 percent with their iPods, but Microsoft says that the Zune "Was just a stepping stone."

Sunday, January 4, 2009

ASUS: ASUS Downgrades P6T Deluxe to P6TThe new motherboard is said to target the value segment of the market

About a month ago, ASUS released its P6T Deluxe motherboard, one of the most affordable mobos from the computer maker's LGA 1366 motherboard series supporting the new Intel Core i7 processors. However, the X58 part is not as affordable as it may seem when compared to similar products from other vendors, which means that the leading company needs to focus a little more on the value segment of the market.

Going for a lower level market won't be an easy task for ASUS, as the value-ended LGA 1366 segment is already lead by great products from other PC vendors such as MSI, with its X58 Platinum motherboard, or Gigabyte, with the EX58 DS4 part, to name but a few. According to the latest news on the web, ASUS decided to tune-down a little its P6T Deluxe board and to launch a new mobo, named P6T. The part is stated to be based on the Intel X58 + ICH10R chipset and to feature an 8+2 phase design for the CPU power circuitry. In addition, the motherboard is also expected to feature a 2-phase circuit for the memory. As the news states, the ASUS P6T motherboard would feature uniform spacing between the three PCI-Express x16 slots, which now sport electrical lane arrangements of x16/16/x1 or x16/x8/x8, since the company decided to rework the arrangement of the expansion card slots. Besides, the part includes a rather simplistic component cooling.The new ASUS P6T motherboard is stated to feature support for both ATI CrossFireX and NVIDIA 3-way SLI, as most of the X58 parts do. There will be only a single gigabit Ethernet controller sported on the mobo, while the number of USB ports has been lowered from 14 to 12. Since the capabilities of the motherboard have been diminished from the original version, the board should hit the market at a rather attractive price tag.