Google Unveiled tools to set up Web sites

Google, already the world's most popular spot for finding Web sites, is aiming to become the go-to place for creating Web sites too.
The Mountain View-based company is taking its first step toward that goal Thursday with the debut of a free service designed for high-tech neophytes looking for a simple way to share information with other people working in the same company or attending the same class in school.

With only a few clicks, just about anyone will be able to quickly set up and update a Web site featuring wide an array of material, including pictures, calendars and video from Google Inc.'s YouTube subsidiary, said Dave Girouard, general manager of the division overseeing the new application.

"We are literally adding an edit button to the Web," Girouard said.

All sites created on the service will run on one of Google's computers.


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Apple recently unveiled new models of its Macbook models

Apple recently unveiled new models of its Macbook models, as well as its high-end Macbook Pro line, in an attempt to further boost the sales of the laptop lines.

Both models now come with the new Penryn processing chips by Intel, which were only recently released. The portable computers were also reconfigured to feature faster processors.

The Macbook now comes with the options of a 2.1 GHz or 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo processors for the white models, and the 2.4 GHz for the black models, according to CNet News. The $1,299 and $1,499 models are now with a standard 2GB of RAM - double that of the previous 1GB. An additional 1GB would have cost the user an additional $150.

The $1,299 models also come with a 160GB hard drive, from the previous 120GB, while the $1,499 black model comes with 250GB, from 160GB.

The $1,099 models come with 1GB of memory, and a 120GB memory, up from 80GB.

For the Macbook Pro models, Apple has included the formerly Macbook Air-exclusive MultiTouch trackpad technology, which allows users more flexibility in manipulation by means of pinching, swiping, and rotating displays with the use of fingertips.

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Apple shares rose more than 4% on optimism over iPhone demand

Shares of Apple Inc (AAPL.O) rose more than 4 percent on Thursday amid optimism on Wall Street that the maker of consumer favorites such as the iPod media player and iPhone can weather economic troubles.
The shares rose $5.46 to $128.42 in early trade on Nasdaq, a bright contrast to slumping broader markets weighed down by mounting U.S. recession fears.

The gains come one day after Apple affirmed its iPhone sales goal for this year and promised to give details of how outside programmers can create software for the device. The move is expected to spur demand for the Web-browsing and media-playing mobile phone.

Goldman Sachs analyst David Bailey, after a meeting with Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook on Wednesday, said he continues to believe that "Apple's industry-leading product cycles should help it overcome softer seasonality and sets the stock up for a strong second half."

Although the shares have risen over the past two trading sessions, they are still a long way from recouping a 30 percent decline over the past three months. Investors have soured somewhat on Apple amid concerns that a slowing economy could hit sales of its Mac computers, iPods and iPhones.

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MicroHoo is Unnerving says Sergey Brin

At a recent event, Google co-founder Sergey Brin called Microsoft's bid for Yahoo "unnerving" and said the move imperils innovation on the Internet. Google also posits that the merger would be illegal. Maybe the merger could violate antitrust laws. Or maybe Brin likes being King of the Mountain, and doesn't want anything to threaten that. Oh, and Brin? Innovation will continue with or without MicroHoo.

The remarks came at an event for the Google Lunar X Prize yesterday. In an interview with the Associated Press, Brin said, "The Internet has evolved from open standards, having a diversity of companies. And when you start to have companies that control the operating system, control the browsers, they really tie up the top Web sites, and can be used to manipulate stuff in various ways. I think that's unnerving."

That's pretty much what Google's chief legal officer David Drummond said in a letter published on Google's Web site shortly after Microsoft's takeover bid was announced. He wrote, in part, "This is about more than simply a financial transaction, one company taking over another. It's about preserving the underlying principles of the Internet: openness and innovation."

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Pre-orders for upcoming HD DVD stayed strong at Amazon.com

Pre-orders for upcoming HD DVD titles stayed strong at Amazon.com. despite Toshiba Corp.'s announcement that it will exit the HD DVD business.
Advanced sales for There Will Be Blood on HD DVD increased 1,341 percent, Sweeney Tood – The Demon Barber of Fleet Street up 1,099 percent, and I Am Legend increased 144 percent by Wed. afternoon.

Amazon this week said it will more prominently promote Sony Corp.'s Blu-ray hardware and software to customers, but continue the sale of HD DVD products.

The HD DVD camp faced a barrage of setbacks last week when Netflix Inc., Best Buy Co. Inc, and Wal-Mart stores said each would back the Blu-ray disc format over HD DVD.

Toshiba on Tues. said it expects to exit the HD DVD business by Mar.

Major retailers this week are offering steep discounts on HD DVD products to move inventory.

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Microsoft unveales Windows Small Business Server (SBS) 2008

Microsoft revealed details of the next version of its Windows OS for small businesses and formally introduced a new product line aimed at small and mid-size businesses.

Microsoft Windows Small Business Server (SBS) 2008, formally code-named "Cougar," is one of two software bundles in Microsoft's new Windows Essential Server Solutions line; it also includes Windows Essential Business Server 2008, formerly code-named "Centro" and aimed at mid-sized companies. Both products are based on the same code as Windows Server 2008, the next version of Microsoft's enterprise server OS.

The products in the Essential line bundle a server OS with other software products that Microsoft deems necessary to running a business -- such as Microsoft's messaging software, Exchange Server and security products -- to provide what Microsoft describes as an all-in-one, easy-to-install software stack for companies that may only have a small IT support staff.

SBS 2008 is aimed at companies with up to 50 PCs and includes one-year trial subscriptions to Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server Small Business Edition and Windows Live OneCare for Server.

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Micro-hoo: will that take a place?

Microsoft believes that he's bluffing and plans to pursue this deal through to a conclusion.
In an interview with my colleague Ina Fried on Wednesday, Bill Gates made clear why Microsoft's in love with this grand vision of a future "Micro-hoo."
"We think that the combination with Yahoo would accelerate things in a very exciting way, because they do have great engineers, they have done a lot of great work. So if you combine their work and our work, the speed at which you can innovate and get things done is just dramatically more rapid," Gates said. "So it's really about the people there that want to join in and create a better search, better portal for a very broad set of customers. That's the vision that's behind saying, 'hey, wouldn't this be a great combination?'"

I'm still not convinced that this won't turn into a disaster, with all the messy corporate-culture clashes that always attend mergers--but on a massive scale. Still, Gates and Steve Ballmer believe that they can successfully steer clear of the potholes, and they're willing to put more than $40 billion behind that bet.

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Smuggled iphone return to china

The strange journey of Apple’s popular iPhone, to nearly every corner of the world, shows what happens when the world’s hottest consumer product defies a company’s attempt to slowly introduce it in new markets.

The iPhone has been swept up in a frenzy of global smuggling and word-of-mouth marketing that leads friends to ask friends, “While you’re in the U.S., would you mind picking up an iPhone for me?”

These unofficial distribution networks help explain a mystery that analysts who follow Apple have been pondering: why is there a large gap between the number of iPhones that Apple says it sold last year, about 3.7 million, and the 2.3 million that are actually registered on the networks of its wireless partners in the United States and Europe?

The answer now seems clear. For months, tourists, small entrepreneurs and smugglers of electronic goods have been buying iPhones in the United States and then shipping them overseas.


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Toshiba may say goodbye to HD DVD

Toshiba may pull the plug on its high-definition DVD format but no decision has been made, the Japanese electronics maker said in a statement Monday.
Toshiba Corp. has started a review of its HD DVD business, it said, amid reports by the Wall Street Journal and Kyodo News agency that Toshiba was considering pulling out after losing ground to the competing Blu-ray disc format.

The Journal, citing people familiar with the situation, reported Sunday that the company is likely to pull out early this week.

A Toshiba pullout would signal the almost certain defeat of HD DVD to Blu-ray, which is backed by Sony Corp., five major Hollywood movie studios and others.

Only one format has been expected to emerge as the winner, much like VHS trumped Sony's Betamax in the video format battle of the 1980s.

Recently the Blu-ray disc format has been gaining market share, while Toshiba has been forced to slash prices to sell its HD DVD machines.

On Friday, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the largest U.S. retailer, said it will sell only Blu-ray DVDs and hardware and no longer carry HD DVD offerings

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Sony Ericsson W910 review

The thin and elegant slider does look the part, while HSDPA (3.6 Mbps) and Walkman 3.0 are the right features to expect in a high-end device. At first glance, the W910 brings a few brand new software and hardware solutions to the scene. Stay with us as we go beyond the disarming looks and try to determine whether Sony Ericsson W910 has what it takes to win the hearts of the customers.

Key features

. HSDPA (3.6 Mbps), EDGE, Bluetooth (with A2DP)
. SensMe™ and Shake control features
. Slim sliding construction
. Media Center, Walkman 3.0
. Dedicated Call and End keys
. Fast photo browser
. Ample 2.4" display
. Powerful loudspeaker
. FM radio with RDS
. 1GB or 2GB M2 card included, M2 USB card reader

Main disadvantages

. Comes at an overpriced price tag
. Wobbly slider
. 2 MP camera with neither autofocus, nor flash
. Only 40 MB internal memory
. Video recording in QVGA resolution at 15fps
. Irrelevant gaming/photo keys
. No skins for the Walkman player

Sony Ericsson W910 comes in a nice compact black-and-orange box with all the necessary gear to get you started - charger, USB data cable, stereo headset, 1GB Memory Stick Micro (M2) (in our case, you may get yours with 2GB card), plus the usual papers and installation CDs. A tiny piece of hardware will make your face broaden into a grin. For the first time, a compact Sony Ericsson USB 2.0 M2 card reader with a status LED and a strap is included in the retail box. We ran a quick test on it comparing performance to a regular card reader on USB 2.0. The standard reader transferred 113 tracks totaling 492 MB in 4:30 min, while the Sony Ericsson USB 2.0 M2 card reader executed the task in almost the same time - 4:20 min. So, you get the same transfer rate and the compact dimensions are an added gain.

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HTC Touch Cruise review

HTC Touch Cruise is surely one of the most interesting Windows Mobile Pro devices to hit the shelves recently. It features the new version of HTC's TouchFLO interface and one of the heaviest feature sets in the PocketPC class. It is very close in terms of specifications to the omnipresent HTC TyTN II, except for the hardware QWERTY keyboard. However the Cruise is incomparably lighter and thinner and - as we see it - much better looking. Not that looks are the first thing about a PocketPC.

Key features

. Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
. 3G with HSDPA
. 400MHz Qualcomm processor
. 128MB of RAM
. 2.8" 65K color touchscreen TFT display with QVGA resolution
. Integrated Qualcomm GPS receiver
. TomTom satnav software pre-bundled, one free map included
. Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
. 3 megapixel camera with autofocus
. Sleek design
. Enhanced HTC TouchFLO interface
. Jog-wheel D-pad
. Great picture gallery
. Retail package is rich in content
. Good battery life


Main disadvantages

. No hardware keypad
. Inadequate video playback capabilities
. Paint starts to peel off very quickly
. Display image quality is a bit disappointing and is practically
. illegible under direct sunlight
. Photo processing issues

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Amazon.com Inc.'s data storage service was down for several hours

Amazon.com Inc.'s data storage service was down for several hours on Friday morning, leaving businesses that rely on the service offline.

As of around noon (EST), the issue had been fixed, according to an Amazon employee posting on a user group forum. "This morning's issue has been resolved and the system is continuing to recover," wrote Kathrin, the Amazon employee.

She said that the company plans to post technical information about what exactly happened, but its first priority is to make sure the system is stable.

Companies use Amazon's Simple Storage Service, known as S3, to store and quickly retrieve large amounts of data, often to run Web sites and services.

A press spokesman said that one of three geographic locations for the service was unreachable for about two hours. "We've been communicating with our customers all morning via our support forums and will be providing additional information as soon as we have it," said Drew Herdener in a statement.

Many customers appeared not to have gotten that communication. They complained on the forum about a lack of information from Amazon about the outage and when it would be fixed. One suggested that Amazon could have at least posted a message on the front page of the Web services site, so that customers would be aware that the problem wasn't on their end

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Apple`s second major update to Mac OS X Leopard

Apple released its second major update to Mac OS X Leopard, the operating system it shipped in October. Mac OS X 10.5.2 Update, as Apple calls it, is one of the largest operating-system patches I've ever seen. The "combined update" download, which applies every fix issued so far to an unpatched copy of Leopard, weighs in at 343 megabytes, but even on a Mac with the 10.5.1 update applied, 10.5.2 was a 341-meg download.

(A conspiracy theorist could note that the mammoth size of these files forces dial-up users to drive to the nearest Apple Store to use the shop's broadband connection to grab their own copy--and maybe they'll wind up buying a new iPod while they're around.)

A note at Apple's tech-support site inventories the fixes 10.5.2 brings. Most are the usual security, stability and performance improvements, but Apple also fixed two of the bigger sources of complaints about Leopard's interface--the partially-transparent menu bar and the Dock "Stacks" that offer quick access to the contents of your Applications, Documents and Downloads folders.

You can now return the menu bar to a solid shade of light gray, and you can tweak the Stacks icons (via a right-click menu) to change their appearance, vary their order in which they display their contents, or make them act like standard folders. Those may not sound like major changes, but Mac interface-design connoisseurs had objected vociferously ("Transparent Menu Bar, Die Die Die!") to Leopard's earlier implementations of these ideas.

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Activision Inc unveiled new "Guitar Hero" video game focusing on the rock band Aerosmith

Activision Inc on Friday unveiled a new "Guitar Hero" video game focusing on the rock band Aerosmith, taking the billion-dollar franchise in a new direction.

Called "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith," the new game will arrive in stores this summer, a surprise to many analysts and fans who had expected the next title to come out closer to the year-end holiday shopping season.

Aerosmith, known for hits such as "Dream On" and "Sweet Emotion," is the top-selling American rock band of all time, with sales of 66.5 million albums in the United States alone.

The game will feature about 30 Aerosmith songs as well as others from various acts that have opened for the band. The price has not yet been set.

"The premise is that it's going to cover the 30-plus years of the band, from high school all the way through the rock superstardom of today," Kai Huang, head of Activision's RedOctane unit, which guides development of the franchise, told Reuters in an interview.

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iPhone and Android are Internet clients

The iPhone and the Google Android platform, which was finally shown-off (sort of) in Barcelona this week, aren’t mobile telephones.

They are Internet clients.

Internet clients use exponentially more data bandwidth than ordinary digital phones, which use thin streams of compressed data. Maybe several exponentials.

Operators are thinking of expanding their networks into homes and offices to handle the extra load.

The Android clients shown in Barcelona aren’t much. What they mainly prove is that the specification can be built and deployed quickly.

While the Apple iPhone roll-out has gone at a predictable pace, with one vendor delivering specified numbers to a handful of networks, the Android roll-out will be far more helter-skelter.

That’s because the Android is designed to work anywhere, first on any GSM network and then, with a little tinkering, anywhere else

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The Lenovo: ThinkPad X300's development

When Apple announced its MacBook Air in January, many people were in awe over the notebook's sleek design, relatively light weight and thin frame. Even many die-hard PC fans admitted that the design of the MacBook Air was quite attractive to the eyes.

Opinions began to sour, however, when people realized what Apple had to leave out in order to achieve the "cut down" dimensions of the MacBook Air. Apple left out a network port, optical drive, removable battery and only included one USB port. To make matters worse, users can not upgrade the memory on the device and despite the "Air" moniker; there is no integrated support for EV-DO or HSDPA.

So while Apple was getting flak for its lack of features on its MacBook Air, Lenovo had its own lightweight ultra-portable notebook brewing in the background: the ThinkPad X300. DailyTech brought you coverage of the device when it first leaked as well as Walt Mossberg's initial impressions of the device and final specifications.

The X300 corrects all of the MacBook Air's missteps and adds one major disappointment of its own. The X300 includes all of the features missing from the MacBook Air listed above in addition to Wireless USB, a fingerprint reader, 13.3" 1440x900 LED-backlit display and the ability to add a secondary battery.

The sole disappointment in my eyes is the processor speed when compared to the MacBook Air. Lenovo includes a 1.2GHz Core 2 Duo processor with the X300 compared to the 1.6GHz and 1.8GHz Core 2 Duo processors available with the MacBook Air. On the plus side, the 12W processor used in the X300 is more power efficient than the 20W processors used in the MacBook Air which should lead to greater battery life

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Sony Ericsson W910 took Best Handset award for 2007

The Sony Ericsson W910 Walkman phone is the best handset for 2007. The high-end music handset won a tight group of nominees in the Best Mobile Handset or Device category.

It was a tight game with 3 Skypephone, LG KU990 Viewty, Nokia 6500 classic and Samsung G600 putting pressure on the Walkman W910
The judges believed Sony Ericsson W910 deserved the Best Mobile Handset or Device title for being "… a superb all-rounder. A compelling, easy to use design that has captured the imagination of consumers around the world in 2007." For what we made of it back in the day, please feel free to revisit our extended Sony Ericsson W910 review.

The Best Mobile Handset or Device category was the only one with a consolation prize. Hutchison 3 and Skype were given a good pat on the shoulder as their 3 Skypephone got highly commended. The judges appreciated that "… in addition to the headline Skype service, the phone offers extremely good value for money with a wide range of features not previously seen at this price point."

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Android: Google released a new version of the software development kit

Google released on Wednesday a new version of the software development kit for its open mobile platform called Android.

The new SDK has a new user interface, a geocoder that lets developers search for businesses as well as translate an address into a coordinate and vice versa, support for new media codecs, and code that lets developers create layout animations.

One thing missing is change to the telephony package, laments one developer on the Android Developer discussion on Google Groups.

"This is very disappointing, especially because we were told in the Android coding day in Israel that the telephony package will be updated soon," the developer wrote. "We still cannot detect the ingoing/outgoing call number or send DTMF tones properly." Prototypes of Android phones were shown at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona

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RIM:The secret of the BlackBerry's success is security and social networking is its future

Speaking during a session on mobile services at the GSMA Mobile World Congress, Balsillie said having security validations worldwide, and features such as built-in firewalls and the ability to remotely lock and wipe devices, are key.

"If you don't address this, you don't get to be accepted by the organization," Balsillie warned.

Echoing Vodafone Group chief executive Arun Sarin's words from an earlier keynote, Balsillie said carriers have come to a fork in the road that will see them either become pipes or platforms. They must therefore provide a managed service to users, seamlessly integrating Web services and desktop applications onto handsets. "This is not a concept. This is a reality," he said.

And change is afoot elsewhere too, according to Balsillie, who said a business-to-business social-networking revolution is coming that will bring networking benefits to the enterprise and also help drive data usage. "Once social networking becomes a B2B phenomenon--not unlike IM and texting--I believe every single social-networking user will want a data plan," he told the GSMA audience.

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Nvidia unveiled a new applications processor industry`s first HD 720p vedio on mobile device

Cell phone makers aren't the only ones hoping to one-up the iPhone these days. Increasingly, it's the silicon wizards themselves that are scrambling to conjure up powerful (yet low-powered) processors and diminutive architectures that will serve as brains for this future generation of iPhone killers/imitators.

Following in the footsteps of Intel and others, graphics chip maker Nvidia unveiled a new applications processor at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona on Monday. According to the company, this new chip will let smartphone users shoot, watch and stream video in full 720p video, snap up to 12-megapixel pictures, and pave the way for a whole array of sophisticated 3-D mobile games thanks to a graphics core that delivers performance similar to Nvidia's own GeForce 6 desktop counterpart. Oh, and this chip's for Windows Mobile users only, in case you were wondering.

"If you give truth serum to the executive of any phone company -- and believe me, I've talked to them all -- they'll all tell you they want to make a better iPhone" says Michael Rayfield, the general manager of Nvidia's mobile business unit.

That's precisely what Nvidia is hoping its new APX 2500 processor will do for phones running Windows Mobile, which incidentally is already getting spanked by the iPhone in U.S. marketshare.

What the iPhone did for the mobile industry, Rayfield notes, was to "fundamentally changed what a phone architecture could be…it basically forced a PC architecture into a smartphone."

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LG showcased LG KF700 at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona

LG are hitting it hard in Barcelona with a dozen of handsets showcased. There are quite a few exciting features across the bunch, which is quite an all-round offering in terms of form factor, OS, user interface and functionality.

LG KF700

We start with the spanking novelty LG KF700 - a multimedia slider, which stands out with its multiple control-and-navigation methods. The handset puts together a 3" touchscreen display, slide-out standard keypad and the novel Shortcut Dial at the back. Managing a virtual on-screen dial, it allows quick access to user-defined features across applications and menu levels. The dial has the added functionality of scrolling web pages and messages, volume control and zooming.
LG KF700 sports a full featured Web browser integrating Google Search, Blogs, Gmail, Maps and Youtube. HSDPA enhances web browsing and makes video calls possible. Other goodies include an MP3 player, MPEG4 video player, 3 megapixel camera with autofocus and image stabilizer, Bluetooth and microSD memory expansion.

The tri-band slider offers a 3" 262K-color touchscreen display with a resolution of 240 x 480 pixels.

The phone will start selling in Europe towards the end of 1Q 2008, before it gets available in other markets.

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Samsung unveiled G810 3G enabled handset

The Samsung G810 cameraphone is obviously the successor of the groundbreaking Samsung G800, but this time the imaging prowess comes in Symbian flavor.
Samsung G810 is a quad-band, 3G enabled handset with HSDPA 3.6Mbps support. G810 is running on Symbian v9.2 S60 3rd edition OS and has an ample 2.6" TFT QVGA display.

The 5 MP autofocus camera goes with 3x optical zoom and xenon flash. Thanks to the built-in GPS receiver, geotagging is available.

Images can be viewed on a TV screen thanks to the integrated TV-out, while listening to music on standard headphones is possible thanks to the 3.5 mm AV jack. Naturally, an audio and video player are available with multiple file format support.

Connectivity is ensured by Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0 and USB 2.0. Samsung G810 offers integration of Youtube, Google search, Map and Gmail.

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Xperia X1 a Windows Mobile smartphone by sonyericsson

Sony Ericsson this week introduced several phones, each targeting a different group of users: mobile professionals, music lovers, photo enthusiasts, and prosumers that want a mix of functionality, advanced features, and small form factor.

The phone maker unveiled the new phones at the Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona.

The first and most notable device in Sony Ericsson's lineup is the Xperia X1, a Windows Mobile smartphone with a touch screen overlay and a full QWERTY keyboard. The phone comes with 3G technology called HSDPA and Wi-Fi for a high-speed mobile experience. It also has built-in GPS for personal navigation.

"Xperia represents the first brand that is truly borne from within Sony Ericsson. It represents our vision for a premium, energized communication experience," said Dee Dutta, head of marketing at Sony Ericsson, in a statement.

Like Apple's iPhone, the X1 has a large home screen with a variety of panels that can be selected with the tap of a finger to access the Web, multimedia, and applications. The panels can be configured, depending on a user's preference, which is an option that Apple also recently started offering on the iPhone. The panels, however, are larger than icons and look like snapshots of actual applications, which makes the home screen appear quite busy.

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Nokia N96 specifications

General 2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network HSDPA 850 / 2100
Announced 2008, February
Status Coming soon. Exp. release 2008, Q3
Size Dimensions 103 x 55 x 18 mm, 92 cc
Weight 125 g
Display Type TFT, 16M colors
Size 240 x 320 pixels, 2.8 inches
Ringtones Type Polyphonic (64 channels), Monophonic, True Tones, MP3
Customization Download
Vibration Yes
Memory Phonebook Practically unlimited entries and fields, Photocall
Call records Detailed, max 30 days
Card slot microSD (TransFlash)
- 16 GB internal memory
- 128MB RAM, 256MB system memory
Data GPRS Class 32, 107 / 64.2 kbps
HSCSD Yes
EDGE Class 32, 296 kbps; DTM Class 11, 177 kbps
3G HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps
WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, UPnP technology
Bluetooth Yes, v2.0 with A2DP
Infrared port Yes
USB Yes, v2.0 microUSB
Features OS Symbian OS, S60 rel. 3.2
Messaging SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging
Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML, RSS reader
Games Downloadable
Colors Black
Camera 5 MP, 2592x1944 pixels, Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, video(VGA 30fps), flash; secondary VGA videocall camera
- Built-in GPS receiver
- A-GPS function
- DVB-H TV broadcast receiver
- Dual slide design
- Java MIDP 2.0
- MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC+/WMA player
- 3.5 mm audio output jack
- TV out
- Stereo FM Radio with RDS
- Organizer
- Office document viewer
- T9
- Push to talk
- Voice dial/memo
- Built-in handsfree
Battery Standard battery, Li-Ion 950 mAh (BL-5F)
Stand-by Up to 220 h
Talk time Up to 3 h 40 min


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Samsung officially confirmed Samsung Soul

Samsung officially confirmed the style-driven Soul, a high-end handset to crown the Samsung Ultra lineup. The Soul (standing for Spirit Of Ultra) will debut at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Samsung Soul is a feature loaded full metal slider. The front is dominated by the 2.2-inches 16M QVGA display along with the magical touch navigation pad. The navigation indicators on it change icons and functions across applications. A similar navigation decision is implemented in the recently announced LG KF510.
Among the other innovations is the new customizable graphic user interface. Users are allowed to create their own skins with the on-handset User Created Skin setup. Additionally, display skins are customizable with fonts, colors and background images.

Samsung Soul is recognizable for its 5-megapixel autofocus camera with powerful LED flash, equipped with the latest camera tech goodies like face detection, image stabilizer and Wide Dynamic Range. On top of that, the camera is capable of video recording in QVGA resolution at 30fps.

The multimedia set includes FM radio with RDS, MP3/WAV/WMA player with Music library navigation. Sound quality with no distortion even at the highest volume is entrusted to the Bang & Olufsen-patented ICEpower technology.

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Nokia 8800 Arte review

Stainless steel and OLED screen: there's no way a handset with that kind of features will ever blend in with the crowd of handsets. Add the hefty price tag and you got the high-end biting the dust too, just like that. But then, there's always someone like us to ruin the pleasure. Poking and prying, finding out if it's worth your dime. Wait a minute, did we say dime?! Sorry, we got carried away. Can't help it with the Nokia 8800 Arte.

Key features

* Looks
* Body made of the highest-quality materials
* 2" 16M color OLED display with QVGA resolution
* 3G
* 3 megapixel camera with autofocus
* Full-house retail package
* Decent battery life
* Fingerprint resistant surface on the back
* Turn-to-mute
* Magic clock
* Large internal memory
* Series 40 5th edition user interface

Main disadvantages

* Poor legibility under direct sunlight
* Tri-band only
* No memory expansion
* Smallish display
* Expensive, believe it or not


Nokia has long stuck a pole into the ground of premium lifestyle. Ever since the original Nokia 8800 saw the light of day, the Finnish-based company has been the first choice for phones made of exclusive, highest quality materials. Exquisite and beautifully crafted, the 88xx series handsets will get away with anything, be it their underperformance or exorbitant price.

Nokia 8800 Arte will face the greatest amount of competition inside its own pack, with every other 88xx-series handset a potential rival. Looks will be the weapons of choice, although the Arte duo has an ace up their sleeve in terms of functionality too.


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Planned job cuts at Yahoo are expected on Tuesday

Planned job cuts at Yahoo are expected to come on Tuesday, with managers possibly finding out Saturday who is on the list, according to sources inside the company.

The layoffs come as Yahoo executives and board members discuss Microsoft's bid for the company. So far, Yahoo has not acted on the offer. Chief Executive Jerry Yang has told staffers that executives would take their time evaluating the proposal. However, Microsoft's share price has dropped since the offer was made a week ago, lowering the value of the deal from $44.6 billion to about $41.8 billion.

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reports that Yahoo directors on Friday discussed taking Google up on a reported search advertising outsourcing pact to thwart the Microsoft bid or figuring out how to get Microsoft to sweeten the bid. The next scheduled meeting is Wednesday.

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Apple chopdown the production of iPods, iPhones

Two research analysts have reported in recent days that Apple is aggressively cutting back production on iPods and iPhones, while increasing production on Mac computers.

Craig Berger, an analyst with FBR Research, told clients in a research note this week that Apple has reduced orders for iPhones and iPods for the second time in two months. Berger concludes that Apple is experiencing weak sell-through in the fourth calendar quarter of 2007 or in the early going this year.

"For both iPods and iPhones, we believe Apple was previously targeting a roughly 50 percent quarter-over-quarter decline for first quarter units, whereas we now think the firm is targeting a 60 percent quarter-over-quarter unit decline for first-quarter units," he wrote.

iPod Touch Weakness

It seems that the iPod Touch may have seen the weakest sales. Berger reported production orders for the Touch have fallen the most. The device may suffer from being less than an iPhone, since it has no phone capabilities but is substantially more expensive than Apple's music-playing iPhones. The touch relies on Wi-Fi for connectivity, so users who aren't in range of a Wi-Fi connection simply can't get online.

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Samsung SGH-G800: Review

For more than a couple months, an eternity in the gadget world, the Nokia N95 enjoyed the distinction of being one of the only 5-megapixel camera phones on the market, at least outside of Korea. However, considering that change is the only constant with cell phones, it wasn't surprising when Samsung released a high-resolution camera handset. Besides its powerful shooter, the Samsung SGH-G800 has a lot in common with its Nokia rival. Inside a relatively boxy design is a media-centric feature set that includes: a music and video player, an FM radio, stereo Bluetooth, expandable memory and support for 3.5G HSDPA networks. On the whole it lived up to our expectations. However, the disappointing Web browser, dim camera flash, and lack of Wi-Fi ultimately put it behind the N95. The GSM SGH-G800 isn't available with a U.S carrier, but you can buy it unlocked in the United States and Canada from third-party retailers like Dynamism.com

Design

It would be difficult to squash a 5-megapixel camera into a svelte design, so we don't mind that the SGH-G800 is on the hefty side. At 3.97 inches by 2 inches by 0.74 inch, it rivals a standalone camera in size, but it's still small enough to slip into a pocket. Even though it weighs in at 4.9 ounces, it has a comfortable feeling in the hand. On the whole, it has a sturdier feel than the N95, but we noticed the slider mechanism felt a tad loose. It could just be our review model, but it didn't exactly click into place. The silver finish is attractive, but the phone is rather boxy.

The 2.4-inch display supports 262,000 colors (240x320 pixels). It's vibrant, and displays graphics and photos well. You can change the backlighting time, the brightness, and the dialing font type, size, and color. The simple and intuitive menu interface (available in two styles) is classic Samsung; we continue to love the nifty pop-up menus.

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Steven Spielberg`s Wii puzzler Boom Blox unveiled

Electronic Arts formally unveiled Steven Spielberg's previously announced Wii puzzler, Boom Blox - for both younglings and the young at heart.

Boom Blox, the first of three original EA games being spearheaded by Spielberg, features 300 brain-busting levels, 30 semi-adorable characters, co-op and versus modes, and a custom level editor which can share designs over WiiConnect24.

"My inspiration for this game came while I was playing the Wii for the first time," said Spielberg. "BOOM BLOX plays on the enjoyment of building and knocking down blocks, something that can appeal innately to kids and adults of all ages."

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iphone: Review

From the moment Apple announced its iPhone at Macworld 2007, the tech world hasn't stopped asking questions. Because Apple has kept many iPhone details under wraps until very recently, we've been forced to speculate. Until now. Is the iPhone pretty? Absolutely. Is it easy to use? Certainly. Does it live up to the stratospheric hype? Not so much. Don't get us wrong, the iPhone is a lovely device with a sleek interface, top-notch music and video features, and innovative design touches. The touch screen is easier to use than we expected, and the multimedia performs well. But a host of missing features, a dependency on a sluggish EDGE network, and variable call quality--it is a phone after all--left us wanting more. For those reasons, the iPhone is noteworthy not for what it does, but how it does it. If you want an iPhone badly, you probably already have one. But if you're on the fence, we suggest waiting for the second-generation handset. Even with the new $399 price for the 8GB model (down from an original price of $599) and $499 for the 16GB model, it's still a lot to ask for a phone that lacks so many features and locks you into an iPhone-specific two-year contract with AT&T.
Design
On with the review: the iPhone boasts a brilliant display, trim profile, and clean lines (no external antenna of course), and its lack of buttons puts it in a design class that even the LG Prada and the HTC Touch can't match. You'll win envious looks on the street toting the iPhone, and we're sure that would be true even if the phone hadn't received as much media attention as it has. We knew that it measures 4.5 inches tall by 2.4 inches wide by 0.46 inch deep, but it still felt smaller than we expected when we finally held it. In comparison, it's about as tall and as wide as a Palm Treo 755p, but it manages to be thinner than even the trend-setting Motorola Razr. It fits comfortably in the hand and when held to the ear, and its 4.8 ounces give it a solid, if perhaps weighty, feel. We also like that the display is glass rather than plastic.

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Nokia N82 Black version released

The Finland giant Nokia silently released the highly expected and speculated Nokia N82 Black version. The phone appeared nowhere else but in the USA Nokia online store with an "Unlocked" status. The sleek Nokia N82 Black version is already available for purchase at a price of $629.00 with free shipping for USA.
Let's refresh your memory with the Nokia N82 main features, starting with the HSDPA with video calls and quad-band GSM support. The 100MB of integrated memory is complemented by the microSD memory slot. The 2.4" 16M color QVGA TFT display is among the other highlights.

Nokia N82, is pretty much identical in hardware to the N95. It has 5 megapixel autofocus camera with Carl Zeiss optics, capable of capturing 30fps MPEG4 videos at VGA resolution, and has a TV-out port to watch those on your TV set.

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Iqua sun:First eco-friendly bluetooth headset

Though Iqua is quite an unknown brand in the U.S., it’s popular in Europe and is known for making stylish, well-made Bluetooth products. Now Iqua has introduced a new Bluetooth headset that is surprisingly eco-friendly, dubbed the Iqua Sun. This is the first solar-powered Bluetooth headset as far as we know, complete with a tiny solar panel right on its front face. It has pretty standard Bluetooth headset features and it doesn’t look like much, but Iqua promises practically infinite standby time depending on ambient light. If that alone is enough to get your wallets out, prepare to cough up around $100 for one.

By most measures, the Iqua Sun looks like a pretty ordinary headset. Measuring 1.88 inch long by 0.98 inch wide by 0.47 inch deep and weighing a little under 0.5 ounce, the Sun is certainly not the smallest headset we’ve seen, but it’s not that much of a clunker, either. The defining feature of the Sun is, of course, the slab of photovoltaic cell that lies right on its front face. Iqua says that it uses any available light–indoors or outdoors–to extend the talk and standby time of the headset. Theoretically, you may only ever need to charge the Iqua Sun once if you live in a sunny climate.

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Sony introduced its 11-inch OLED

Sony made a big splash by showing off the 11-inch XEL-1, which will be the first OLED HDTV available in the United States and measures just 3mm thick. Samsung also had a 31-inch prototype OLED on display and there's no doubt the OLED technolgy is promising: razor thin screens, low power consumption and an excellent contrast ratio. At this early point in the game OLED isn't commercially viable--Sony's 11-inch set will cost $2,500--but as prices drop and screen sizes increase, OLED could be a major flat-panel TV technology

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Microsoft may borrow money for the first time in its history to buy yahoo

Microsoft said, it may borrow money for the first time in its history to fund a portion of its $44.6 billion unsolicited offer for Yahoo.

Microsoft also said it expects Yahoo's board to agree to the proposed deal quickly, but Yahoo said over the weekend that it expects to take "quite a bit of time " to weigh all of its strategic options including remaining independent.

A source familiar with Yahoo's strategy said it is considering a business alliance with Google to fend off Microsoft's offer.

Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said the software company may issue some debt to finance the cash portion of its 50-50 stock and cash offer for Yahoo, instead of drawing down its entire $21 billion cash pile.

"It's likely we're actually going to borrow for the first time," Liddell said in an annual strategy meeting with analysts. "It's going to be a mixture of the cash we have on hand plus debt."

Liddell declined to say whether Microsoft was already buying Yahoo stock on the open market. He also did not give any information on what form of debt Microsoft will seek in the capital markets.

Microsoft made public on Friday its offer to pay Yahoo shareholders either $31 in cash or 0.9509 of a share of Microsoft common stock. The deal aims to create a formidable No. 2 to challenge Google's dominance in Web search and digital advertising.

Analysts applauded Microsoft's decision to take on debt.

"Microsoft can probably get a lower price of debt than equity," said Kim Caughey, senior analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group. "I've often wondered why Microsoft sits on the pile of cash. It doesn't make a lot of financial sense."

Liddell, when asked why Microsoft chose to dilute its stock instead of making an all-cash offer, said analysts need to keep the offer in perspective with the $31 billion that Microsoft spent in share buybacks and dividends in fiscal 2007.


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BlackBerry "blackout" between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.

It may be wishful thinking, but a Canadian government ministry has sent out a directive to its employees urging them to relax and not use their BlackBerry smartphones at night or on weekends and holidays.
Trying to re-establish a proper balance between work and life, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, which manages immigration and resettlememt services for the government, is starting by trying to cut the chains to what some have called CrackBerrys.

The department's deputy minister, Richard Fadden, sent out a memo asking employees to implement a BlackBerry "blackout" between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. and on weekends and holidays.

"Work/life quality is a priority for me and this organization because achieving it benefits us both as individuals and as a department," Fadden wrote.

"When we can 'balance' our work and personal responsibilities, we, as a team, stand to not only serve and perform more effectively, but also to attract and keep employees to help us build a stronger Canada."

BlackBerrys, made by Canadian-based Research In Motion, are handheld communication devices that can be used to send e-mails and make phone calls--thus allowing people to bring the office to their homes, vehicles, or even the ski slopes.

They have become an essential workplace tool in politics, business, and the professions.

Fadden also asked employees not to use BlackBerrys during meetings and also not to schedule meetings over lunch

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Nokia 6555 3G-enabled handset:Review

The two quality displays and great keypad provide for comfortable handling, while 3G support adds to the excitement with this elegantly tall and sleek clamshell.

Key features
. Stylish slender clamshell
. High-quality 2-inch QVGA 16M color TFT display
. Comfortable keyboard
. UMTS and EDGE support
. microSD memory card support up to 4 GB
. Good music player
. Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP profile
. microUSB connector and 2.5mm jack
Main disadvantages
. Shiny surfaces suffer fingertips
. Loose hinge and the "cracking" back cover
. Only 1.3 megapixel camera with rather basic interface
. Memory card slot under the battery
. No FM radio
. No video calls support
. microUSB port is still not widely popular
. No headphones and memory card in the retail package

Nokia 6555 is a midrange 3G-enabled handset, joining the clamshell ranks of the Finnish company. The form factor inevitably brings back memories of the likeable push-to-open Nokia 6131. Nokia 6555 lacks the auto-open functionality but the 3G support is one of the strong points of this stylish clamshell.

Slender black

The first thing about Nokia 6555 to sure make an impression is its elongated silhouette. Compared to 6131, Nokia 6555 is 8 mm taller and 4 mm narrower, keeping the same thickness. The actual dimensions are 99.6 x 44.3 x 19.6 mm, at a weight of 97 g. We are testing the black variety, but Nokia 6555 is also available in sliver, red and beige. The colors only vary on both the front and rear framing; the middle glossy sections on the face and the back of the handset are always black. Enclosed in handsome chrome-colored accents, they do contribute to the stylish looks and feel of the device, but are critically prone to fingerprints.

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Microsoft’s acquisition of Yahoo mean?

If You’ve got a Yahoo e-mail account, and your best friend uses MSN.You use Yahoo Messenger and she uses MSN Messenger for instant messaging.When it comes to search, you both use both Google, and sometimes Yahoo and MSN.
So, what could Microsoft’s acquisition of Yahoo mean in all these areas if the software giant acquires the Internet company?

Keeping an e-mail address is probably the biggest issue for most consumers, and one that is likely to be left as is for awhile, with each brand staying in place, said Allen Weiner, research director for Gartner, Inc. market research.

“The issue is, particularly as Microsoft has moved people in their e-mail business around, from Hotmail (which Microsoft bought in 1998) to Live Mail, and created some confusion around that, they certainly don’t want to basically say, ‘We’re all going to move you now to Yahoo mail,’ ” he said.

“The question is, how do they keep those brands in place, where appropriate, and then, where appropriate, do they bring those brands together?”

David Smith, lead Microsoft analyst for Gartner, said if Microsoft acquires Yahoo, there likely “would be ways to provide interoperability, to provide support, so that people don’t have to change” their e-mail addresses.

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Intel's MacBook Air Chip will be available to PC laptop Makers Also

Intel is allegedly starting to ship its miniaturized 65-nanometer Core 2 Duo processor which is used in Apple's MacBook Air laptop to other manufacturers. This means we will start to see soon similar offerings from PC makers. The first customers are apparently Lenovo and Fujitsu.

The chip, miniaturized 65-nanometer Core 2 Duo which is 60 percent smaller than the typical Merom chip and uses less power at comparable speeds, was designed by Intel at Apple's request. The Mac maker asked Intel last year to provide a chip which is smaller yet it doesn't overheat when fit into a tight spot.

The MacBook Air laptop is less than 1 inch thick, features a backlit 13-inch screen, a full-size keyboard and a pad responsive to Apple's multi-touch control gestures. The MacBook Air has the following measurements: Height - 0.16-0.76 inch, Width - 12.8 inches, Depth: 8.94 inches. Selling in the US for $1,799, the laptop is powered by Intel's miniaturized 65-nanometer 1.6 GHZ Core 2 Duo processor, with an available 1.8GHZ upgrade. It has 2 GB of RAM, battery life of 5 hours and an 80 GB hard drive.

The new chip is a much better compromise between speed and power consumption (~heat). Intel already has special versions of Core 2 Duo processors designed for ultraportable notebooks, usually defined as notebooks weighing 3 pounds or less. They are the LV (low-voltage) and ULV (ulta-low-voltage) versions, but their performance is pretty flimsy compared with their larger brothers. The new design is almost as good as a full-size, full-power chip when it comes to performance.

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Apple has postponed the release of the Apple TV software update

Apple has postponed the release of the Apple TV software update by a week or two, saying it needed more time to finish the upgrade that would let people rent movies directly from their televisions.
The company also said on Wednesday it had started shipping the MacBook Air, the ultra-thin notebook introduced at Macworld in San Francisco this month. The Air, which costs $1,799, weighs about 3 pounds, has a 13.3-inch display, and is 0.16 of an inch thick at its thinnest point.

In delaying the Apple TV upgrade, the company said the software wasn't quite finished. "Apple now plans to make the free software download available to existing Apple TV customers in another week or two," the company said in a statement. Apple chief executive Steve Jobs had said during his Macworld keynote that the software would be ready by the end of January.

The software update will allow people to rent movies from Apple's iTunes online music store directly from their TVs. Apple expects to have more than 1,000 movie titles available by the end of February, including more than 100 high-definition titles.

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1.4 million missing iPhones not Really Missing, Says Analyst

Calculations that claim Apple Inc. is "missing" 1.4 million iPhones may be missing the point, according to an analyst, who said Monday that talk of uncounted phones overlooks the fact that the mobile market is only a small part of Apple's overall business.

"Stock analysts have been paying lots of attention to the iPhone numbers," said Ezra Gottheil, an analyst at Technology Business Research Inc., "and clearly the revenue [mobile service] providers give back to Apple affect profitability. But if you look at Apple, it's solidly profitable without the iPhone. The iPhone just takes it up to another level."

Gottheil was responding to calculations by Toni Sacconaghi, an analyst at Bernstein Research, that were widely reported last week. Sacconaghi used the 3.7 million iPhones reported sold by Apple and the 2 million activations cited by AT&T Inc. to conclude that about 1.4 million of the devices are either in inventory or have been unlocked.

"Some unknown number of iPhones are being unlocked by purchasers and some, probably a larger number, are being unlocked for resale," said Gottheil. "Some are in inventory. Some will be returned. And some are being used for the non-phone features, as iPhone Touches, until the owners can change their wireless contracts.

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Sony announced its forthcoming "flagship" Alpha branded SLR

Its chief defining feature so far is its use of a 24.8-megapixel sensor that's unusually large--the size of a full frame of 35mm film. That move makes Sony only the third digital SLR (single-lens reflex) maker, along with Canon and more recently Nikon, to aim for that part of the market. Sony's flagship is geared toward advanced amateurs, but Sony hopes professional photographers will like it, too. The camera is scheduled to go on sale later this year.
The back of the SLR features a large LCD and controls on the attached, but optional, vertical grip.

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Microsoft has made a bid of $44.6 billion to buy Yahoo

Seeking to reshape the online landscape andwith a single bold stroke, Microsoft has made a US$44.6 billion unsolicited bid to buy struggling portal Yahoo create a serious challenger to Google.
The offer -- shareholders can choose either cash or the equivalent amount of Microsoft stock -- valued Yahoo at $31 per share, a 62 percent premium over the stock's closing price on Thursday. Yahoo shares surged 44 percent higher in Friday morning action to $27.75. Microsoft shares were down more than 6 percent to $30.52.



The surprise bid may be a sign of how eager Microsoft is to match up with Google. If it lands Yahoo, Microsoft would instantly gain a sprawling Web empire that draws hundreds of millions of users from around the world as well as partnerships with advertisers. There would also be significant overlap: Both Microsoft and Yahoo offer Web mail, instant messaging, search engines and other Web services.

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