Saturday, April 29, 2006

Matsunichi's MF228 Football MP3 Player

Ah yes, that most convenient, ergonomic, and yet elusive of all MP3 player shapes: the soccer ball. Preceded by the Shiro AS, Matsunichi's new MF228 Football MP3 Player has managed to land a bit nearer the World Cup, but still we're not quite sure we're going to put up with the pocket bulge for six whole weeks. That said, the player features a 80 x 48 pixel display, supports MP3, WMA and WAV files, has FM and voice recording, 10 hours of battery life off of a built-in rechargeable battery, and an epic 256MB or 512MB memory capacity. The player also outsizes the 37.4mm diameter Shiro AS at 45.2mm. Reportedly, the MF228 is due "worldwide" on May 1st, and if that means us soccer-phobic Americans then more power to it.

JoyTech's LCD makes your Xbox 360 portable -- or something

Yeah, we've seen plenty of LCDs haphazardly attached to about every recent console out there in hopes of creating a portable system of sorts, but we're not sure they've ever looked quite as ridiculous as this 9.2-incher from JoyTech. Sure, 9.2-inches is a decent bit of display as far as these setups go, and the 800 x 480 widescreen resolution is welcome, but with as hot as the 360 gets already, we don't think it'll take very kindly to having its side vents sealed off by a hunk of plastic. We also can't imagine this thing riding on your lap while you game in the backseat of your next roadtrip, but it doesn't look like even JoyTech would presume that, and instead probably hope to squeeze this into a few tight dorm rooms that would otherwise resign to being entries in Xbox 360 Fanboy's most pathetic 360 setup contest.

Friday, April 28, 2006

Sony ready to take on the iPod ... again


Sony senior vice president Takao Yuhara met with reporters yesterday to announce that the company is working on -- drum roll, please -- a new digital audio player, software and download service to take on Apple's iPod. Yuhara didn't provide a whole lot of details, though he did say the player would be "typically Sony," by which we assume he meant it would be hobbled by intrusive DRM, poor support for formats other than ATRAC and prices that will make it completely uncompetitive in a market where you can get a decent 512MB flash player for well under $100. Still, we wish Sony luck. We really would like to see the company come up with an audio player that could return this pioneer to its early Walkman-era glory (we have an idea: hand the division over to the team that designs the Walkman phones). But we fear that what we'll be seeing will instead be this year's answer to the Bean.

Thursday, April 27, 2006

El nombre final de Revolution es Wii

Nintendo desvela finalmente el nombre comercial de su consola.

Nintendo acaba de anunciar que Revolution se llamará Wii (sí, sólo Wii, prescindiendo, al menos de momento, de "Nintendo" como parte del nombre).

Según la nota de prensa de la compañía, Revolution expresaba la dirección que querían seguir, y Wii representa a dónde querían llegar.

Wii suena como "we" ("nosotros" en inglés), lo que enfatiza que esta consola es para todo el mundo.

Wii es muy fácil de recordar para una persona de cualquier parte del globo, hable el idioma que hable. Sin confusiones. Sin necesidad de abreviaturas. Sólo Wii.

Wii tiene una peculiar doble i que simboliza tanto su mando único como la imagen de gente que se da cita para jugar. Cada "i" representa al mando de la consola, simbolizando a dos mandos juntos, es decir, dos personas jugando juntas; además "ii" en japonés quiere decir "bueno".

Asimismo, podéis ver un vídeo de presentación en el enlace que os facilitamos a la página oficial de la consola.


Toshiba's Dynabook Satellite CW1 flies low

Toshiba just squeezed their new low-end Dynabook Satellite CW1 laptop onto the scene. A base model kitted out with a 1.6GHz Intel Celeron M420 processor, 14.1-inch WXGA display, 60GB disk, 512MB of RAM, ATI Radion Xpress 200M graphics, and dual-layer DVD burner will set you back, oh just $957 in Japan. Yeah, that kind of green will get you Core Duo power 'round these parts but that still constitutes affordable in the land of the rising sun.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Nokia's N73 and N93 launched

Well hello there N73 (bottom) and N93, how nice to see you in the for realz at last. Other than finally making these phones official we don't really have too much new information to offer. Both models run Series 60 3rd Edition and feature large 2.4-inch 262k color QVGA displays, Bluetooth 2.0, a MiniSD slot, MP3 / ACC media players, FM radio with Visual Radio, and a chubby 3.2 megapixel shooter with Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, mechanical shutter, and integrated flash. Want to share those snaps? Coolio daddy-o, 'cause a new partnership with Flickr gives you the ability to upload and add comments to your photos directly from your new N-series cellphone without the need to download any additional software (don't forget to ZoneTag!). The N73 will launch as both a quad-band GSM / EDGE model and another which includes 3G (2100MHz UMTS). It features 42MB of on-board memory and 3D stereo speakers at the top and bottom of the unit to kick out some tinny jams. Meanwhile the N92-lookin' N93 turns out 900 / 1800 / 1900 GSM / EDGE and 3G (2100MHz UMTS), 50MB built-in memory, 802.11b/g, UPnP, TV-out, and adds a 3x optical zoom to the camera, which can record MPEG-4 VGA video at 30fps. If you're looking for mobile TV, you'll have to stick with the N92 though, since the N93 does not feature a DVB-H tuner. Both will drop in July; welcome to the show, boys. More product images after the break.

Monday, April 17, 2006

"Conroe" To Account for 40% of Intel Desktop in Q1'07

Intel plans to put multi-core processors in 85% of new Intel-based desktops by 2007, at least according to the most recent roadmaps from the company. Three quarters after the launch of Intel's upcoming Core processor, dubbed Conroe, is expected to account for a staggering 40% of all Intel-based desktops. 65nm Pentium D processors will account for the multi-core desktop processors not allocated for Conroe -- roughly 45% of all Intel desktop sales.

Intel also released its guidance for retail processor sales of Conroe, and the trend is identical to the OEM forecasts; Conroe will account for 40% (or more) of retail Intel desktop chip sales in Q1'07. The 65nm Pentium D processors still in the retail and OEM channel by 2007 will mostly be used in business platforms and low cost systems. Pentium 4 processors will still hold a small percentage of the Intel market, but these chips are for the absolute lowest end systems and include Celeron single core forecasts.

This is one of the most aggressive ramps for a new technology outlined by Intel on the desktop. Prescott, Intel's 90nm single core CPU, was only expected to consume 30% of OEM desktop sales three quarters after launch. Even a year after Intel's Pentium D launch, dual core technology still accounts for less than 35% of all desktops.

Conroe gave enthusiasts a bit of a double take after benchmarks from the Intel Developer Forum put the CPU 20% faster than AMD's best offerings in head to head benchmarking. AMD has plans of its own to counter Conroe. By the middle of 2007, AMD is expected to launch its K8L architecture. AMD's Henri Richard claims K8L is more "evolutionary than revolutionary," but even minimal improvements on the tried and true K8 could cascade into large gains in performance.

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Google Opens Calendar Beta

Google has opened up yet another beta program. This time, the company is showcasing its Calendar service. Google Calendar is fully integrated with GMail and can even recognize dates from email messages and add them to your calendar.

Google Calendar features the ability to share calendar information with family and friends, integrated search, mobile access with event reminders and notifications and of course it's absolutely free. The service supports calendar data from Apple iCal, Microsoft Outlook, Yahoo! Calendar and any application that support .XML or .CSV files.

Google Calendar supports IE 6.0+ and Firefox 1.07+ on Mac, Linux and Windows platforms.

"Real video iPod" delayed by display problems, studio talks

Whew. That's a relief. We were afraid for a while there that we'd have to go a whole week without any rumors about Apple's alleged plans for a "true video iPod." But ThinkSecret has come through as usual. According to the site, Apple had been on track to release the widescreen video iPod in time for the company's 30th birthday this month, but had to delay the project due to display problems and negotiations with movie studios. ThinkSecret claims that Apple is committed to a touchscreen controller including a "virtual track wheel," but actually achieving this has proven to be a challenge for Apple's display manufacturer. Meanwhile Apple is reportedly having a hard time negotiating content deals with movie studios. According to ThinkSecret, the company wants to stick with the iTunes model of selling individual flicks, while the studios are looking for a MusicNet-style subscription service. We've got an idea: as long as Apple is chatting it up with the other Apple, why not see if the rights to "Help" and "A Hard Days Night" are available? Either that or they can see if Disney's working on a sequel to "High School Musical."

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

TDK hard at work on 8-layer 200GB Blu-ray Disc

Since Sony, et al.'s hammered out the Blu-ray Disc spec, there's been speculation, theorization, and discussion of an 8-layer 200GB disc. Sony even supposedly had some working 200GB BRD demos way back in 2004. Well, now those mammoth coasters are in the works over at TDK, who apparently hope to commercialize the first presumably quad-layered dual-sided discs (or possibly octo-layered single-sided discs -- yeah, right). They're not giving it up as to when these discs could come out or how much they'll cost, but right now we're more worried about just getting our hands on some players, you know?

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Una de cada dos PC no podrá ejecutar Windows Vista

En general, prácticamente todas las computadoras actuales podrán ejecutar Windows Vista, pero sólo la mitad estará en condiciones de aprovechar todas las funciones del próximo sistema operativo de Microsoft.

Tal sería la conclusión de un estudio realizado por la prestigiosa consultora Gartner. La entidad sugiere a los directores de Ti de todo el mundo tener tal situación presente al comprar nuevas computadoras.

Gartner indica que incluso en aquellos casos en que sea suficiente con los procesadores actuales, de todas formas será necesario adquirir una nueva tarjeta gráfica. Esto será especialmente relevante para aquellos usuarios que deseen aprovechar al máximo el nuevo interfaz Aero. También será necesario disponer de, al menos, 1 GB en RAM para que el sistema operativo funcione óptimamente.

Microsoft, por su parte, asegura que 512 MB en RAM serán suficientes, aunque aún no ha presentado todos los requerimientos de hardware para su próximo sistema operativo.

Gartner sugiere a los directores de adquisiciones TI tener presente que los nuevos sistemas que adquieran deberán contar al menos con el set 945 G de Intel, un procesador Pentium 4 y un GB de memoria. Para el caso de las notebooks, Gaurner recomienda que al menos estén provistos de procesadores de nivel Core Duo.

Monday, April 10, 2006

Varibel glasses sport eight conversation-enhancing mics

Any gadget that enhances two of your senses at once is worth at least a mention in these pages, so we hereby present you with the not-completely-unattractive-looking Varibel hearing aid eyeglasses. The manufacturers would take issue with calling it a hearing aid, however, as regular in-ear models pick up conversations as well as ambient noise, while the four mics on each arm of Varibel's glasses supposedly separate the two types of sound, enhancing the former while dampening the latter. Developed by the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, these devices will initially be limited to a Dutch release, but because of Varibel's partnership with Phillips and Frame Holland, they may end up seeing a wider release. Integrate these with a pair of those bifocal-eliminating LCD glasses, and you've got something that actually makes us look forward to old age (well, kinda). [Warning: foreign language link, may be confusing to some.]laptop computers


La pesada herencia de Microsoft retrasa a Vista

Microsoft arrastra una pesada herencia debido a que cada nueva versión de Windows ha de ser totalmente compatible con antiguos programas y computadoras. Esto pudiera explicar, al menos en parte, que Windows Vista haya sido retrasado hasta enero de 2007.

Recientemente, Microsoft anunció que el ya atrasado sistema operativo Windows Vista será lanzado en enero de 2007. La última versión de Windows para usuarios particulares y empresas, Windows XP, fue lanzado hace cinco años. ¿Cual sería la razón de que los miles de desarrolladores de Microsoft al cabo de cinco años no logren tener a tiempo la nueva versión?

Al mismo tiempo, su competidor Apple ha lanzado cuatro versiones de su sistema operativo, y Macintosh ya ofrece muchas funciones -como gráficos 3D, búsquedas en el desktop, etc- que los usuarios de Windows recién conocerán con Windows Vista.

La explicación es que Mac OS X sólo necesita ser ejecutado en las computadoras de la propia Apple, en tanto que Windows debe ser compatible con decenas de miles de distintos modelos de computadoras, y decenas de millones de configuraciones individuales. A ello se agrega que Microsoft arrastra una enorme carga en forma de antiguos programas y hardware antiguo, que debe ser soportado por Windows.

Esto significa que la complejidad de Windows aumenta exponencialmente con cada nueva versión: más de 300 fabricantes de computadoras venden sus máquinas con Windows preinstalado. Además, decenas de miles de unidades de hardware como impresoras, escáneres y reproductores de música han de funcionar junto al sistema, e innumerables conectores que funcionan con el sistema operativo.

”Windows ha llegado a ser tan voluminoso e intimidatorio debido al tamaño de su código fuente y a la decisión de mantener la compatibilidad retroactiva. Esto repercute en la velocidad. Por ello, la innovación es mucho más fácil para una compañía como Apple”, comentó el catedrático David B. Yoffie, de la Escuela de Negocios de Harvard, a la publicación New York Times.

Respecto de las críticas, en el sentido que los desarrolladores de Microsoft no han producido nada digno de mencionar durante los últimos cinco años, la compañía responde que se han liberado dos versiones de Tablet PC y cuatro versiones de Windows Media Center.

”La idea de que la División Windows de Microsoft no ha hecho absolutamente nada desde XP es muy alejado de la realidad”, comentó Brad Goldberg, director de Windows al periódico neoyorquino.

Algunos observadores consultados por New York Times indican que Microsoft podría verse obligada a abandonar la compatibilidad retroactiva, que hace que Windows sea demasiado complejo y aparatoso. En 2001, Apple decidió incorporar un nuevo sistema operativo basado en Next, Mac OS X, que no era compatible con OS 9. Al ”sacrificar” la compatibilidad con software y hardware antiguo, Apple consiguió un sistema operativo más ligero y moderno.

Microsoft ha explicado que el atraso con el lanzamiento de Vista no obedece a un problema específico o error determinado, sino a que desea usar más tiempo para asegurar la calidad del producto. Los clientes corporativos de la compañía podrán comprar Vista a partir de noviembre; sólo los usuarios particulares deberán esperar hasta enero.

Saturday, April 08, 2006

New FT "FemaleType" femme bot brings the sexy



Alright, we've seen plenty of these man and boy-man styled humanoids, when are the ladies going to get their proper send up as an anime-styled future bot? That's a good question, and Takahashi-san -- creator of the wonderful Chroino and Manoi bots -- has an answer with his new femme bot, the FT "FemaleType." Of course, being sexy isn't all about how you look standing still, so FT has the strut of a fashion model with the twist of her hips and feminine posture. We'll keep an eye out for video of this strut in action, but we do know that FT is built out of carbon fiber, stands 14-inches tall, weighs a mere 1.8 pounds, and should be in production in a bit more than a year. Rumors of romantic interest between Manoi and FemaleType could not be confirmed at this time, but apparently Chroino and FT have a "history."

Friday, April 07, 2006

OMFG Primer Juego de REVOLUTION























Mis comentarios : No lo puedo creer Revolution callnado boca , para los que decian k no llegaria a la altura grafica de otras consolas.

Samsung Plans to Ship World's Slimmest Cell Phones


The Samsung SGH-T509 will compete with the Motorola RAZR and SLVR

The third largest cell phone maker in the world, Samsung, hopes to make a big splash in the US with one of its newest phones. The company has unveiled the t509 which will be the thinnest cell phone on the market in the U.S. The Samsung T509 will be released in May, designed specifically for the T-Mobile wireless service. Some of the features of the T509 will include the following: a color display to watch videos, integrated Bluetooth wireless technology, instant messaging and an external battery slot. The slim phone is 9.8 millimeters thick, compared to the 11.5-millimeter thick Motorola SLVR. According to Reuters:

Samsung will unveil the new phone and other models at the annual CTIA Wireless show in Las Vegas this week in a bid to boost its market share in the United States, where it competes with Nokia and LG Electronics for second place, according to the Gartner research group.

The popular Motorola RAZR cell phone shows that there is a high demand for ultra-thin cell phones in the United States. MobileMedia has a few more specifications for the device.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

AMD to Invest $5.8B USD into Dresden Fabs

AMD prepares for a major ramp up this year leading all the way through to 2008

AMD's position as a force to be reckoned is no longer under question. The company has invested significantly over the last several years and made very good bets on its strategy that are now bringing fruits to the effort that was put in.

We previously reported earlier in the year that AMD was putting in a rough sum of $500M USD to upgrade Fab 36 in Germany. The money was laid out to upgrade the facility to produce larger wafers with smaller lithography processes. Since then, Fab 36 has been operating at a good pace and is now producing a good amount of revenue.

Despite the initial investment, competition often sparks innovation, and innovation doesn't stand still. According to German reports (english), AMD is in the process of rounding up another $5.8B USD which is to be spent gradually up to 2008. The company is using the money to further invest into its Dresden location. If this plan goes through successfully, AMD would have made one of its largest ever expansions in its history -- or for that matter, any semiconductor company.

The money is initially slated for Fab 36 and Fab 30 in Dresden, but the German report indicates much of the earmarked money will also go towards a third AMD foundry in the Dresden area, with work beginning this summer. Some of the funds will also be used for employee salaries at the new and upgraded facilities.

The year so far has been exciting, with many announcements from both sides of the camp. Thanks to first impressions of Intel's upcoming Conroe processor, many analysts are now looking at AMD with a great deal of anticipation to see what the company will come out with next, specifically the K8L architecture. AMD is currently on track in terms of timely product releases and expects to deliver quad-core desktop solutions in early 2007. The company recently broke its own 3GHz barrier with its Opteron family.

Firefox da otro paso en su carrera por vencer al Internet Explorer

Los fanáticos de Firefox vuelven a estar de festejo. Según la encuesta que realiza Net Applications, el navegador gratuito de la Fundación Mozilla es utilizado por el 10,05% de los internautas del mundo.

El espacio que gana mes a mes Firefox coincide prácticamente con el que pierde el Internet Explorer de Microsoft.

Según los datos de marzo del 2006, el producto mantiene una alta cuota de mercado: 84,7%.

En abril del 2005 Firefox era utilizado por el 7,38% de los internautas, mientras que el IE ostentaba el 88%.

En la lista elaborada por Net Applications, el navegador Safari de Apple se ubica en el tercer lugar con el 3,19% de mercado. En cuarto lugar está Netscape (1,05%), seguido por Opera, con el 0,54% del mercado.

“Con su atractivo paquete de características, un ciclo de desarrollo de producto agresivo, su plataforma de código abierto y su carácter gratuito, Firefox cuenta con la estrategia correcta para mantener su crecimiento”, aseguró el analista de Net Applications Vincent Vizzaccaro.

Sin embargo, “Microsoft tiene la tarea mucho más sencilla de defender una posición afianzada en lugar de tener que estar atacando otra”, concluyó.

Firefox saltó a la fama luego de publicar un aviso en The New York Times gracias al aporte económico de más de 2.500 usuarios. Desde ese día, el crecimiento del producto completamente gratuito se fue generando más que nada gracias al “boca a boca” y ahora al atrevimiento de algunos de sus usuarios.

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

LG's LG550 musicphone

CTIA is just getting rolling here in Vegas, but we've already spotted a couple of fine looking new handsets, most notably LG's new LG550 musicphone. LG was lame and wouldn't let us take any hands-on shots, which turned out to be a big mistake since the press shots they gave us really don't do this thing justice.

Yeah, that touchpad on the front definitely reminds us of you-know-what, but the rest of the phone is sleek and thin, and along with the Chocoloate Phone, the LG550 represents an evolution of LG's handset design sensibility Specs are decent, but not extraordinary: EV-DO, Bluetooth, a MicroSD memory card slot, a 1.3 megapixel digital camera, swappable faceplates, and software for creating your own ringtones by humming the melody of what you want it to be (or something along those lines). No carrier or price confirmed yet, but the LG550 should be available here in the States sometime in Q2.

La UE advierte que podría prohibir Windows Vista

La Unión Europea dice estar dispuesta a prohibir la distribución de Windows Vista si Microsoft incorpora ”demasiadas” funciones en su próximo sistema operativo.

Diario Ti: Neelie Kroes, comisario para temas de competencia, ha informado por escrito a Microsoft que si Windows Vista incorpora demasiadas funciones, el
sistema operativo podría ser prohibido en la Unión Europea.

Kroes envió la semana pasada una misiva al presidente de Microsoft, Steve Ballmer, donde describe las preocupaciones de la Comisión Europea sobre Windows Vista. La UE considera improcedentes los planes de Microsoft de incorporar en Vista diversas funciones que ahora son cubiertas por aplicaciones independientes.

Entre otras cosas, la UE menciona la relación entre el software integrado en Vista y las búsquedas por Internet, como asimismo la integración de funciones de seguridad.

Microsoft, por su parte, asegura que será posible configurar el navegador de forma que pueda usar servicios de búsqueda de otros proveedores. Asimismo, ha señalado que Vista no integrará software antivirus. No obstante, las funcionalidad mejorada de búsqueda y la seguridad integrada han sido precisamente factores que Microsoft ha destacado al referirse a Windows Vista.

La reacción de Kroes fue motivada en parte por una carta recibida en la Comisión Europea de compañías como IBM, Sun y Oracle, donde señalan que las ”funciones integradas” de Windows Vista podrían atentar contra la normativa comunitaria de competitividad.

Microsoft no ha comentado la carta, pero recalca que cumplirá con las expectativas de los consumidores, a la vez que respetará los aspectos jurídicos aplicables.

Monday, April 03, 2006

AMD Socket AM2 Pricing Information

We have received some rather interesting info on AMD's new range of Socket AM2 processors. According to internal AMD documents, system builders will be able to purchase the new AM2 processor starting on May 15th. Dual core and single core Athlon 64 processors will be available as well as 64-bit Sempron processors.

According to our previously published roadmaps, AMD's Athlon 64 FX-62 will be the company's top desktop offering for the remainder of the year. It is not until Q1 of 2007 that we will see the FX-64 hit the market. All other AM2 processors are officially under embargo until June 6, 2006.


AMD Desktop Processor Price List
Processor Socket SSBP
Athlon 64 FX-62 AM2 $1,236
Athlon 64 X2 5000+ AM2 $696
Athlon 64 X2 4800+ AM2 $645
Athlon 64 X2 4600+ AM2 $558
Athlon 64 X2 4400+ AM2 $469
Athlon 64 X2 4200+ AM2 $365
Athlon 64 X2 4000+ AM2 $328
Athlon 64 X2 3800+ AM2 $303
Athlon 64 3800+ AM2 $290
Athlon 64 3500+ AM2 $208
Sempron 3600+ AM2 $123
Sempron 3500+ AM2 $109
Sempron 3400+ AM2 $97
Sempron 3000+ AM2 $77
Sempron 2800+ AM2 $67

The SSBP above denotes the Suggested System Builder Price. Actual manufacturer purchase prices are approximately 10% less. And of course, you can be sure those new CPUs will come with heatpipe coolers and new packaging. AMD insiders have confirmed to us that AM2 motherboards will be shipping for several weeks before the launch to assure widespread availability at launch.