New Intel TV chip is backed by Disney

A new Intel chip designed to provide interactivity features to television content has been backed by Disney. The chip aims to allow users to interact in certain ways with their favorite programs. "It has the potential to make TV viewing more functional and more fun," Anne Sweeney, president of the Disney-ABC Television group said.
Sweeney said that viewers may be able to access complementary content during the series finale of the hit TV series "Lost", through use of Intel's new chip, which is designed to provide Internet applications on televisions. When present in a TV set, its on-board software lets networks, content creators and other developers to add their own applications and features.
"We know fans of Lost have a huge appetite for insight and information into the show," Sweeney said. "Using the Intel Widget for the series finale could be a great way to give our fans an extraordinary viewing experience for the end of a truly iconic show." ABC's Good Morning America was also presented as a viable candidate, where users could cast votes or comment in real-time on stories being broadcast.
"It's not just about great content and cool technology," said Sweeney, adding that there are some legal concerns that need to be addressed before such features can be introduced.

 

Source : http://www.afterdawn.com/

CES: Sony Vaio P the ultimate trophy netbook

The cost of Sony Corp.'s 1.4-pound Vaio P mobile computer is a ultimate trophy netbook in a crowded field of low-priced ultra-mobile machines.

The sparkling exterior cover and matte silver keyboard are unlike most standard netbook color schemes, and the 8-inch ultra wide 1600 x 768 resolution pops off the screen like a diamond in the desert.

The keyboard employs a trackpoint rather than trackpad due to the lack of width on the machine. The trackpoint works well and can be tapped to execute a left button mouse press.

Other premium features include built-in GPS, Wireless 3G WAN A 1.3Ghz Intel Atom CPU, 2GB RAM, and 60GB or 128GB Solid State Drive round out the specifications.

As a fashion-conscious PC, the Sony will offer a range of Vaio P accessories, including matching sleeves and leather cases.

Like most en vogue products, the dressed up netbook includes a premium price tag. The entry-level starts at $899, well above rival models by Acer Inc., MSI, and ASUSTek Inc.

However, owners of the Vaio P are likely to attract attention from bystanders who sneak and peek at the luxe PC – a thought not lost on potential buyers.

 

Source : http://news.punchjump.com/

COD 6: Hostage multiplayer game on Xbox 360 and Sony PS3

We have read many ideas for Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, some about the weapons and others about the game type’s in multiplayer. One of the best ideas we would like to see is a hostage online game.

You could save your hostages from the other team before they get killed or something along those lines. Maybe even have the hostages have the option to try and escape from their captors.

Another great idea in COD 6: is to have the lobby for Xbox 360 and Sony PS3 updated, especially on the PS3. When you go to find match it would be good to have it setup like this Find Match-> Countries-> Core/Hardcore-> Game Modes.

Playlists for different countries or regions should be added because people would rather be playing against people from their own country and have a good connection, other than being thrown into a random match with people from another country and have a bad connection.

Would you like a hostage game type in multiplayer and a choice of countries when finding a match?

Source : http://www.product-reviews.net/

New Sony DSC-G3 already ships from Amazon

Sony just announced the new cool Cyber-shot DSC-G3 camera at the CES 2009 this week. The Sony G3 is the world’s first Wi-Fi enabled digital camera that uploads photos and videos to Web sites through any public hotspot due to its built-in Web browser.
Amazon.com already ships the DSC-G3 for $499.99.
The new DSC-G3 model comes with complimentary AT&T Wi-Fi access to Sony’s Easy Upload Home Page until Jan. 31, 2012.
Other features of the Sony DSC-G3 include 10MP resolution, 4X optical zoom Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens, 3.5 inch screen, 4GB integrated memory, Dynamic Range Optimizer, Optical SteadyShot, and Face Detection technology.
More details on Amazon.com.

Source : http://www.i4u.com/

Asus looking toward Android, millions of WinMo’s and the BlackBerry Storm is passing

Kia Ora!
Hard to believe 2009 is here already, and there isn't a single flying car, meal-in-a-pill or alien holocaust to be seen. Sci-fi lied to us!
Still, there are some elements of technological extreme filtering through as we enter the last stretch of the new millennium's first decade.
According to O2, we celebrated the New Year by sending over 166 million text messages in a 24-hour period from 7:30 AM on December 31st. Good job so many phones now have a QWERTY, or 2009 is going to begin with an RSI epidemic.
Despite the MacWorld Expo this week, it's surprisingly quiet on the iPhone front. We'd hoped for some light to be shed on the iPhone Nano concept, or other juicy piece of hardware unveiling, but it would seem Apple is a bit exhausted after such a hectic six months.
The one bit of exciting news for iPhoners is that music will now be available to download over 3G, rather than requiring a wi-fi connection or syncing with a PC.
Of course, there are plenty of iPhone owners who feel this should have been available from the outset, so this isn't so much an improvement as a fix.
The iPhone isn't the only hot new handset in need of attention, however. A rumour is circulating that the BlackBerry Bold (nee Storm) is to be ditched by Orange due to unresolved problems with the hardware. Early adopters of the sweet looking handset – and probably the closest rival to the iPhone – are complaining of dropped calls, poor reception and difficulties with the user interface.
Orange has already suspended shipments of the Bold once, and if gossip is to be believed, it's patience with the gremlin-laden handset is wearing thin.
So that would seem to be another supposed iPhone challenger falling by the wayside, though Microsoft's outspoken Steve Balmer has been behind the podium once again to remind us that (although you never actually see any) Windows Mobile handsets are selling by the million.
According to some dubious calculations by Balmer at the CES show in Las Vegas, over 20 million Windows Mobile phones have been sold in the last 12 months – though it seems his figures are based more on third party inclusion of the aging OS, rather than actual consumer adoption.
And it might not be long before Steve and co will need to feign indifference to another competitor in a slightly different market – ultra mobile PCs.
Asus has seen considerable success with its excellent and affordable Eee range of mini-laptops, which attained much of their affordability by taking the initially controversial (though retrospectively astute) decision to drop Windows as an operating system – plumping for the free Linux OS instead.
Now Asus is apparently toying with the idea of adopting Google's Android operating system for its Eee PC range, and considering several hackers have already managed to get Android up and running on their 'puters, this could present yet another significant shin kicking for Microsoft.
Since Apple didn't announce any exciting new handsets, it looks like a fairly quiet hardware week.
Mobile phones are a subject that comes up quite regularly in eco-friendly circles – mainly in terms of properly disposing of your old handsets, though Motorola's new model takes sustainable manufacturing to a new level.
The Moto W233 Renew is built from recycled plastic bottles, and promises an impressive – and environmentally friendly – nine hours of talk time, making this about as green as any mobile phone we've ever seen.
But if novelty value is of more importance to you than tree hugging, check out the Logic Bolt – a superb new handset from Logic Wireless that comes with its own built-in projector.
It will be able to accept external connections and project the image up to 64 inches, with around two hours of battery life while running the big screen display.
Other than tedious sales presentations, it's a little hard to imagine what kind of use the projector will get, though watching a film against the wall of a train in full size widescreen is an intriguing notion – so long as the rest of the passengers keep their heads down and stop rattling their crisp packets.
Kia Ora!

 

Source : http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk

CES 2009 MSI Booth Tour in Photos

MSI is holding its own competing with Asus in the netbook, notebook and all-in-one PC announcements at CES 2009. Reason enough for us to feature the MSI CES 2009 booth in a 40 photo booth tour.
MSI unveiled at the CES 2009 for instance the new MSI Wind netbooks with the U120, U115 Hybrid, and the new NetOn Atom based All-in-One PCs.
MSI also exhibited new notebooks that are featured as well in this photo gallery.
The MSI CES 2009 Booth Tour features the following new MSI products: MSI Wind U120, MSI Wind U115 Hybrid, MSI Wind U100 Pinky Love, MSI PX600, MSI GT727, MSI GT725, MSI GT420, MSI GX630, MSI GT627, MSI Wind NetOn AP1902, MSI Wind NetOn AE1901, Wind NetBox DU100, and MSI Wind NetOn AC1600.
See the Photos of the MSI CES 2009 Booth now.

 

Source : http://www.i4u.com/

Mobility Radeon HD 4000 Series Introduced

Though AMD has equipped various laptops with the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3000 series, it will be now giving laptops the Mobility Radeon HD 4000 series chipset. These new chipsets are based on the 55nm architecture and is the only mobile graphics processors that can deliver up to 800 stream processes and GDDR5. This performance can be substantial over the 3000 series, as the highest line of chipset in that line was the HD 3800 series, which could only deliver up to 320 stream processors. Overall, gamers should definitely see a great performance increase in their games over other manufacturer chipsets provided by companies like Intel. AMD is also claiming that the 4870 chipset can provide a sixty percent increase in performance-per-watt when used with technologies such as ATI PowerPlay, ATI PowerXpress, and ATI Switchable Graphics

Source : http://www.overclockersclub.com/

Asus' angular laptop-of-the-future designs spied

CES Hidden away from the hordes of Eee PCs on Asus' CES stand - how many variants on the netbook theme can this company come up with? - was a set of concept laptop designs that quite caught our eye.

Will their angular styling ever make it to market? Well, as one Asus staffer noted, a couple of years back, the company's bamboo-clad laptop occupied just such a space. This year, it arrived as a product you can go out and buy.

Presumably, then, we'll be seeing these prismatic PCs in shops two years from now... ®

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Asus Eee HTPC-In-A-Keyboard Specs: Includes Wireless HDMI, 5" Display, Our Collective Drool

We got a look at Asus' so-crazy-it's-brilliant HTPC keyboard concept earlier this week, but now we've got the important specs save the big two: pricing and availability.

The keyboard is packing a 5-inch built-in display, a 1.6 GHz Atom proc, 1 GB of RAM, 16/32 GB SSD, WiFi, and Bluetooth. As far as ports, it's got wireless HDMI, 2 USB 2.0, VGA, HDMI, and audio in/out. It's running Windows XP home, which is an odd choice for something that's asking, nay, begging to be a home theater PC, although it's not packing a TV tuner either. No word on price or release date, but the Asus CEO claims it'll be available in the next 3 to 6 months. [Boy Genius Report]

 

Source : http://i.gizmodo.com/

CES 09: ASUS clocks 9.5 hour battery with Eee PC 1000HE

The 1000HE could be our new favourite if ASUS’ claims of 9.5 hour battery life stack up.

Among the sub $1,000 mini notebooks (or netbooks), the Eee PC 1000H is one of our favourites, which is why we were interested a new and improved variation, the Eee PC 1000HE on show this week here at CES.
As you can see from the pics, this latest Eee is similar in style and size to it’s cousin. Under the hood it runs Intel Atom N270, with 160GB HDD, Bluetooth and an LED backlit screen, and weighs 1.45Kg.
The killer is the battery life – Asus is claiming 9.5 hours, which will make this notebooks a standout if it’s anywhere near accurate. By comparison, in our test the Asus 1000H lasted about 6 hours under light use, but more realistically you’ll be looking at closer to 5.
With Sony also doing something about battery life with custom-shaped batteries for the tiny Vaio P, hopefully we’ll see an end to crappy battery life sooner rather than later.

Source : http://www.pcauthority.com.au/

Microsoft postpones Windows 7 public beta

Microsoft Corp. postponed the rollout of the Windows 7 beta today, citing "very heavy traffic" on its Web site.

The company did not offer a new schedule for delivering the beta of its newest operating system.

"Due to very heavy traffic we're seeing as a result of interest in the Windows 7 Beta, we are adding some additional infrastructure support to Microsoft.com properties before we post the public Beta today," a spokeswoman said in an instant message reply to earlier questions about Microsoft.com's performance. "We want to ensure customers have the best possible experience when downloading the Beta."

On Wednesday, CEO Steve Ballmer promised that the beta would be released to the general public today. Later, a company spokeswoman said that Microsoft would post the beta today at noon PST.

Early today, however, several Microsoft domains, including the main page and the designated download site, were overwhelmed by users eager to grab the beta. Although those URLs were later revived, attempts by Computerworld and others to download Windows 7 from a TechNet page aimed at IT professionals have been stymied for several hours.

Users who have tried to download the beta have been greeted with messages such as "Server is too busy" and "This site is currently experiencing technical difficulties, please check back in the next business day."

The Microsoft spokeswoman did not know when users could expect to download the beta. "No ETA at this point," she said via a follow-up instant message.

Although Microsoft has said it will cap the number of Windows 7 beta activation keys at 2.5 million -- perhaps one of the reasons users felt a sense of urgency today about getting the download -- it is not expected to yank the download after that mark is reached. Users unable to obtain an activation key in the initial rush will still be able to download and install the beta, then run it under the operating system's 30-day trial.

By using the same "slmgr -rearm" command that gained notoriety after Windows Vista's debut, users can extend that trial period to a total of 120 days.

This is not the first time that Microsoft has run into problems offering beta code by download. In June 2006, after it launched Windows Vista Beta 2, it urged users to order a DVD copy of the preview rather than download, claiming that if it boosted its bandwidth enough to handle all the demand, that could cripple the Internet as a whole.

"We are literally saying that if we increased our bandwidth any further there's a possibility of taking down the Internet," an unidentified Microsoft representative told Dutch blogger Steven Bink at the time.

In 2006, Microsoft also reportedly considered, then rejected, distributing Vista Beta 2 using the BitTorrent file-sharing protocol.

Late last month, a copy of a 32-bit Windows 7 build -- later identified as the same as the beta Microsoft began offering developers this week -- leaked to BitTorrent sites. In the past 48 hours, the official beta -- apparently obtained from a subscriber to TechNet, one of Microsoft's paid services used by developers and IT professionals -- has also appeared on BitTorrent sites.

 

Source : http://www.computerworld.com/

Microsoft's Zune stands up for its future

With the Financial Times reporting that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer "seemed all but ready to throw in the towel on the Zune mobile device," Microsoft's Zune team stood up for itself in a blog post today.

The post:

There's been a lot of speculation today about some comments made about Zune in the Financial Times ...

... We've been saying for some time that our strategy for Zune is to provide a great entertainment experience across multiple screens and devices. Software and services have always been at the core of this strategy -- this is nothing new. Today, this means a great Zune experience on the PC and portable Zune devices, and as we have said before we think it makes sense to extend that experience to other devices in the future.

The demise of the Zune as a device is premature. In an interview with the P-I, Entertainment and Devices President Robbie Bach acknowledged that "We have already started to see some flattening and even declining in the stand-alone MP3 player market. I think you'll see that continue."

But he also said he did not think the device would go away, at least in the short term.

"I just think it's not going to be where most of the growth is," he said. "We have some great assets in the software we do for the Zune -- both on the PC and on the Zune device -- as well as the services we provide -- Zune Social, Zune Marketplace. We see opportunities for those beyond what we do on the device itself."

I asked Bach if there would still be Zunes, five, ten years from now.

His response: "Who knows. I won't prognosticate."

 

Source : http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/

GL Golf for the iPhone and iPod Touch

Of all the golf games and simulations I’ve played so far for the iPhone, there’s one that stands head-and-shoulders above the rest. GL Golf. No fancy ‘just swing your iPhone to make a swing’ here. This game gets back to the basics of classic golf games. Select your club, judge the wind, slope and distance, and use the swing gauge to make your swing.

As you can see in the main menu (included in the image gallery below) there are plenty of options in the full version of the game. Choose from one of six courses, each one designed after a famous course (Augusta, Pebble Beach, and St. Andrew’s to name a few!). You can choose the number of players, how many holes you want to play, the difficulty, time of day, season, and ball color. Plenty of options to fiddle around with. I found it fun to try playing different ’seasons’, because the graphics actually looked more defined and pleasing in certain seasons. Try this for yourself to see what you like best. Also, in a more recent update of the game there’s a ‘best rounds’ leaderboard that shows your best scores, as well as low scores from all over the world. It is my understanding that the developer is working on an online-play version of the game (which will be awesome), and I’ll let you know when that happens.

The actual gameplay screen and controls are easy. Slider your finger up and down the screen to change clubs. You’ll see the ‘range’ your selected club has in the bottom-right hole overview. Move your finger left and right across the screen to adjust your aim. You can also control backspin, draw/fade and loft/punch setup for each shot with sliders on the left hand side of the screen. To make a shot, simply tap the ’swing’ button once to start the swing, and once again to stop your swing. 100% power is the line in the red area of the bar, right where it starts to fan out. Go over it, and you’ll lose a bit of control… so be careful. Putting follows the same principle. Aim where you want, taking into account any break you might see thanks to the grid set down on top of the green. Tap to start your putt, and tap again to set the power. That’s it!

All that good stuff said, I do have a few areas I’d like to see improved. First, the physics. They’re a bit off at times. Uphill putts are sometimes impossible to get up the hill, and break wildly. Any seasoned golfer will also notice some slight variations in how the ball reacts in different situations (try adding backspin to some shots). Not a HUGE deal, but something that should be addressed. Second, the graphics. It is my belief that if the graphics in this game were taken to the next level, you’d have an absolute must-have here. The graphics are basic, but in my opinion still provide enough of a ‘good thing’ to make the gameplay experience enjoyable.

For more information you can always hit up the developers’ site at Nuclear Nova Software. Also feel free to check out their GL Golf for iPhone Forum.

To get a taste of the game, you can download GL Golf ‘Lite’ for free. Get it here.

For the full-on experience of GL Golf, you can pick up the full version for $7.99. (iTunes Link Alerts!)

 

Source : http://www.intomobile.com/

Track Your Auctions with eBay on iPhone

EBay on iPhone is notable for what it doesn't include just as much as what it includes. It's a free, very small utility that lets you monitor your current auctions as a seller and bid on auctions as a buyer, among several other frequent tasks. It also has a simple auction search function. But a few key features are missing.

What it can't do is start a new auction, check out of a completed auction that you won, leave or view feedback, or look at your eBay messages. These are pretty crucial features for any serious eBayer, and their omission means you'll end up at eBay's page back at your PC anyway.

I found one annoying bug. EBay on iPhone censors the high bidder's name when you look at item details. It's supposed to happen only when you're looking at items that aren't yours, but it happens even when you're the seller.

The best use of eBay on iPhone is to keep an eye on bids for stuff you're selling, or to quickly bid on an item when away from the computer. It would be nice if eBay were to add more advanced functionality to a future version, or even release a full-featured pay app. For an eBay addict, it would definitely be worth the money.

 

Source : http://www.washingtonpost.com/