VIA's Nano 3000 Provides an Atom Rival

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For the last year and change, Intel's Atom processors have basically been the first and last word in ultraportable CPUs. Today, VIA changes that with the launch of their new Nano 3000 series of processors (via Engadget). The Atom line is looking quite aged these days, but these six new Nano 3000 chips look much spiffier. Plus, they have a cool futuristic name. Nano 3000 sounds way cooler than Atom.

These CPUs run from 1 to 2 GHz in speed and each one packs an 800 MHz FSB, in addition to 64 bit support and Windows 7/Linux compatibility. The power ratings of this new line all measure in at about 20% more efficient than previous generation Nanos, and they also promise to have 1080p multimedia playback. Sign me the hell up for a netbook that packs one of these little darlings.

Posted on Tue, 3 Nov 2009 09:33:06 CST | by Robert Evans

3M 3D Displays Without Glasses Go Into Mass Production

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3M is already in volume production of auto stereo 3D displays.
The 3M 3D technology is actually an optical film that enables 3D display on LCD panels. the film consists of lenses on one side and prism structures on the other to reflect the corresponding imagery to our eyes to create a 3D effect - without wearing glasses. Read more

Posted on Tue, 3 Nov 2009 07:35:02 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Apple To Provide TV Through iTunes?

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I don't have access to cable TV, but I do have the Internet and an iTunes account. If I could pay $30 to get access to a wide variety of TV shows through iTunes, I'd be sorely tempted. Apple is apparently betting that there are a lot of people like me. According to AllThingsDigital Apple is pitching that very idea to several TV networks. And no, before you ask, this service has nothing to do with Apple TV.

There are over 65 million people with iTunes accounts. A potential audience of that size must look very good to the networks. While none of them have bought into the plan yet, it seems likely that Apple will be able to convince at least a few that its service has a future. The All Things Digital article states that Disney is one of the companies being courted.

Posted on Mon, 2 Nov 2009 11:56:57 CST | by Robert Evans

The Acer A1's Snapdragon Processor; Underclocked?

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The Acer A1 “Liquid” made headlines as the first confirmed Android smartphone to pack the badass Snapdragon 1 GHz processor under its hood. Unfortunately, it looks like people who buy the A1 won't actually get to make use of a whole GHz of power. According to MobileTechWorld (via Engadget) the Liquid's processor will be underclocked to just 768 MHz.

There are several reasons for Acer to gimp their own processor. Chief among them is battery life. The A1 boasts up to a week of standby battery life, putting it far ahead of most power-sucking Android handsets. It's also possible the Liquid team underclocked the processor as a way to avoid overheating issues.

Posted on Mon, 2 Nov 2009 11:32:47 CST | by Robert Evans

Flies Used In Awesome Airplane Banner Promotion

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The Frankfurt Book Fair is long over, but besides eBook Readers there were actual flies carrying banners filling the halls.

Well known German ad agency Jung von Matt/Neckar released 200 flies with attached banners to promote the Eichborn publisher. Eichborn has a fly in their logo, so it was not that far fetched, but as you can see in the video below the flies look quite awesome.

I first thought this was a bit cruel, but the ultra-light banners were attached to the flies with natural wax and after a short time the banner dropped off by itself. Jung von Matt said that no fly was harmed.
Read more

Posted on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 05:30:50 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

ICANN Approves Non-Latin Characters In Domain Names

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The Internet took a big step forward today with an announcement from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers that they would soon start accepting non-latin domain names. (via CNET) Currently all IP addresses and other web extensions must be written using latin characters. This isn't an issue for most of the developed world, but it's something that will need to change before the Internet can become truly international.

Starting November 16th, ICANN will start taking applications from various nations for new top-level domain names based on their country's character set. These Internationalized Domain Names, or IDNs, will only apply to local country codes at first. ICANN hopes to extend them to top-level domains like .com and .net sometime in the near future.

Posted on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:09:08 CDT | by Robert Evans

Samsung's Profit Tripled, Sony Still Makes Losses

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Sony once again reported a loss for the last quarter. The loss was less ($287.5m) than the predictions of analysts though. The issues for Sony are still the high yen, bad economy, but also weak demand for Sony electronics.
In contrast Korean Samsung soars, tripling its net income to 3.72 trillion won for the quarter compared to last year.
Samsung is doing very well in chips and mobile phones, but also its LCD panel and TV business is thriving. Samsung also mentions that their bottom line was improved by increased sales of premium LED and 240Hz TV panels. Read more

Posted on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:35:40 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Nintendo Profit Way Down, Is the Wii's Reign Over?

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Nintendo announced their half year earnings and the profit for the April to September period is down 52% compared to last year according to the WSJ. Nintendo also lowered the forecast for the full fiscal year to 230 billion Yen profit compared to 300 billion yen forecasted earlier.
Nintendo blames the strong yen and the recent Wii price-cut for the drop in profit. Though Nintendo also sold way less Wii consoles compared to last year. Read more

Posted on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Target Black Friday 2009 Promises Their Lowest Prices Ever

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There is a lot of hype around leaked Black Friday ads in the weeks before retailers make the ads official. For retailers this period is a great opportunity for marketing their deals, but only a few of them really work this pre-Black Friday opportunity.
I just stumbled over Target's Black Friday 2009 page. They actually managed to get their place holder page onto the 2nd page in Google for the search term Black Friday 2009. Read more

Posted on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Belkin Recalls SurgeMaster Surge Protectors

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Belkin makes all sorts of accessories and peripherals for computers and other electronic devices. Today Belkin and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission have issued a recall of several models of Belkin's Surgemaster surge protectors due to the risk of electric shock.

The recall covers about 68,700 surge protectors sold by Belkin. The problem is that the molding of the plastic 360-degree rotating plug can crack or detach posing a shock hazard. Belkin reports that it has received seven consumer complaints about the cracking, but no injuries were reported. Read more

Posted on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:00:00 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

No More New Apple Products For the Holidays?

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It is October and there is still time to unveil new products for the Holidays. Nintendo for instance will still unveil a Black Wii this Holidays also in the United States. I cannot believe that Europe and Asia get a black Wii and not the United States. I am getting side tracked, back to the topic. Apple is apparently done with new product announcements for the holidays. Gizmodo reports that Phil Schiller said "The holiday lineup is set."
Read more

Posted on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:05:54 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Que proReader Hits Barnes & Noble In 2010

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I bet the boys at Amazon are longing for the good old days when they had virtually no competition. Now there are e-readers coming out of every nook and cranny in the tech world, including several that beat the pants off of the Kindle in functionality. Despite the fact that the nook is the Kindle's superior in almost every conceivable way, Barnes & Noble feels the need to hedge their bets. According to Engadget, they'll be selling two different e-readers come 2010.

The second reader to hit B&N shelves will be the Plastic Logic Que proReader. The proReader just had its press release sent out today, which announced to the world the coming of the 8.5 x 11” tablet. The proReader tablet, like the nook, will use the Barnes & Noble online bookstore to power its library.

Posted on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:51:06 CDT | by Robert Evans

Family Guy Is Not Promoting Windows 7

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In the middle of October reports appeared that Microsoft signed on to sponsor a Family Guy episode on Fox in November to promote Windows 7. Variety reports now that Microsoft canceled the Windows 7 sponsorship because of the show's content.
The Family Guy episode in question is actually a special one dubbed Family Guy Presents: Seth and Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show. Read more

Posted on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:02:19 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Tilera Unveils 100-core Processor

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When most of us think about processors, we think Intel and AMD. A third name is now offering up an interesting processor and the company is called Tilera. The firm has announced a new CPU that has way more cores than offerings from AMD or Intel can muster.

The new Tilera Tile-GX processors are aimed at the server market and boast 100-cores inside the single processor. The chips are targeted specifically at servers that execute web-related functions like indexing, search, and video search. Read more

Posted on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:00:00 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

MacBook Pro 6.1/6.2 Coming Soon?

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Put on your rumor caps, boys and girls, we've got a big one for you. Applesfera (via MacRumors.com) has been doing some poking around inside of OS X 10.6.2. Yesterday evening, they found something interesting.

While browsing through they came upon a list of MacBook Pro support files. These files went all the way up to supporting versions 6.1 and 6.2 of the Pro. Now, the most recently shipped set of Pros carry the version 5 designation. That means OS X has support for two MacBook Pros that do not currently exist.

Posted on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:01:49 CDT | by Robert Evans

T-Mobile Project Dark Even More And Even More Plus Plans Are Official

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The intensively rumored T-Mobile Project Dark is now official. T-Mobile published the new Even More and Even More Plus plan options on their web site.
Under the new T-Mobile Even More Plus plan you do not need an annual contract. The plan options under Even More require a 2 year contract requirement. For that you get phone discounts.

Under Even More Plus the unlimited data plans (Talk+Text+Web) start at $59.99/month, which is nice. If you do not have a cool phone yet you need to pay for instance $499.99 of the myTouch 3G or $549.99 for the HTC Touch Pro 2. Read more

Posted on Sun, 25 Oct 2009 11:45:24 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Universal Cell Charger Approved By ITU

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Republicans, Democrats, Europeans, Americans, Theists, Atheists, Circus Clowns, and small children can all agree on one thing; waste is bad. One of the most needlessly wasteful by-products of our modern existence is, wait for it, the cell phone charger. Think about it; every time you get a new cell phone, you get a new charger. Many of them aren't compatible and most cell chargers get thrown away when you stop using the phone.

Gizmodo states that we could reduce our waste by 51,000 tons a year if we were to switch to a universal charging standard. That's what they're doing over in Europe (Reuters) and all of the major manufacturers seem to be on board. If everyone uses the same charger, new phones don't need to come with new chargers. That's money saved for manufacturers, and for the carriers who have to ship all of that extra charger weight to their customers.

Posted on Sat, 24 Oct 2009 11:48:55 CDT | by Robert Evans

Project Dark Fliers (With Catherine Zeta Jones) Go Up In Corpus Christi

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Project Dark isn't supposed to launch until October 25th. Apparently some T-Mo employees in Corpus Christ didn't get the message, though. TMo News reports that several fliers advertising Project Dark plan prices have been spotted in the town of Corpus Christi, Texas. These fliers brag $99.99 for unlimited individual talk/text & web plans, as well as $179.99 for unlimited talk/text/web family plans.

Posted on Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:17:55 CDT | by Robert Evans

MySpace Launches Music Products for Artists and Fans

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MySpace has announced a new music service aimed at connecting artists and fans together. The global rollout of the program has started and it is called MySpace Music Video Experience. The product also includes a MySpace Artist Dashboard that is a free data and analytics tool for artists.

Users can now also purchase the tracks they listen to directly on iTunes. Functionality of the new service includes a new music video hub within MySpace. Music Video Recommendations based on what friends are watching, alphabetical Video search, and a video player with buy buttons. Read more

Posted on Thu, 22 Oct 2009 07:00:00 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Microsoft Starts Up 7 Days of Windows 7 Savings Promotion

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Microsoft launches Windows 7 today and to kick start hardware sales Microsoft partnered with retailers and PC makers to offer Windows 7 deals for the next 7 days.
The 7 Days of Windows 7 Savings start today with for instance the Best Buy PC Home Makeover including an HP laptop, netbook, desktop & monitor package with Windows 7, Geek Squad wireless home network with router and new PC set-up included for $1,199.99. More details on this big package deal on Best Buy.
Read more

Posted on Thu, 22 Oct 2009 03:35:03 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Sanyo Unveils PLC-XF1000 Projector with 12k Lumens

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Sanyo has added yet another massively bright projector to its line of offerings called the PLC-XF1000. This projector is one of the brightest that the company offers with 12,000 lumens. That should be plenty of light for large venues and bright rooms.

To get so many lumens of output the projector uses a dual lamp system. The contrast ratio for the projector is also very good at 4000:1. Sanyo equips the projector with its active maintenance filter system and its QuaDrive optical engine. Read more

Posted on Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:00:00 CDT | by Shane McGlaun