Among the countless laptop and notebook brands around the world, Sony VAIO series has a very special place because of its high quality components, excellent performance and sleek and elegant design. Now, the European division of the Japanese computer hardware manufacturer and seller Sony, announced the launch of two upgraded versions of notebooks from the Sony VAIO series.
Selected models in the new VAIO SZ6-Series and VAIO TZ20-Series now feature fully integrated Wireless WAN (WWAN) capability. Thanks to VAIO “everywair”, these machines can provide uninterrupted broadband Internet via mobile phone networks, freeing users from the confines of wireless hot spots.
“Soon WWAN will be the norm,” says Hidetoshi Takigawa, Director of Marketing for VAIO Of Europe (VOE). “But right now, we are trailblazing both by developing the VAIO ‘everywair’ hardware and by forging relationships with network providers. VAIO owners now and in the future will benefit from the technical know-how we’ve already built up. We are ensuring that VAIO becomes synonymous with cutting edge mobile connectivity.”
VAIO WWAN uses the latest mobile broadband technology called HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Address) running over mobile phone networks to deliver Internet connections of up to 3.6Mbps – 10 times faster than UMTS (3G) networks. Thanks to upgradable firmware, this will rise to 7.2Mbps when the service becomes available.
Source- Sony Press Release
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The new LG Chocolate (VX8550) slider phone will be shipped with the OneTouch solution coming from Synaptics. This technology makes it possible for OEMs to create even slimmer handset designs for consumers with the help of thin, flexible and under-plastic advantages.
LG Chocolate VX8550 has a pretty appealing design and the OneTouch solution could very well account for that. The phone has a capacitive interface that uses this new technology, with the great advantage of keeping the handset’s sizes low and the efficiency at a large level.
“LG strives to bring innovative products to market while ensuring consumer satisfaction through an enjoyable user experience and Synaptics’ OneTouch solution allowed us to incorporate a reliable interface in our new Chocolate phone that we expect will delight users”, commented Woo-Young Kwak, head of LG Electronics mobile handset R&D center. Moreover, “Synaptics’ OneTouch development kit, tools and support greatly reduced the cycle time from design to development to production”, he further added.
The producing company for this solution has high expectations from its new technology. “We believe OneTouch will enable greater adoption of capacitive interfaces by market leaders such as LG by simplifying the industrial design and development, processes and manufacturing”, said RK Parthasarathy, product line director at Synaptics.
This comes as a result of the fact that this is an end-to-end solution, meant to help mobile phone producers with designing intuitive and superior capacitive interfaces for their devices. LG Chocolate VX8550 is one of them and can be found at Verizon Wireless, on the US market.
Synaptics is a leading developer that creates interface solutions for a large number of various devices, including notebook PCs, PC peripherals, digital music players and mobile phones. The company already has a considerable experience with consumer electronics, as its TouchPad is already integrated into a majority of today’s notebook computers.
source- Softpedia
The new Yahoo Mail interface went into public beta in September 2006, although Yahoo was testing it long before that. Tonight Yahoo takes the “beta” label off of the product and makes it the default interface for all new Yahoo mail accounts.
Yahoo mail already has an integrated RSS reader and instant messaging. They also recently announced unlimited storage for all mail users.
They are also releasing a few new features.
Shortcuts: Mail now has a number of intelligent shortcuts. Things like addresses, places, dates, contact information, etc. are underlined with blue dots. Click on the link and see a mashup with maps (for addresses), travel guides (for places), calendar (for dates), etc. New services are being added regularly.
SMS/Text Messaging: Yahoo wants you to use their mail application whenever you contact your friends, however you contact them. In addition to emailing or instant messaging clients, you can now send them a text message from the mail interface. Their responses also come in directly to Yahoo Mail. It currently works for U.S., India, Philippines and Canadian mobile numbers.
Is Yahoo Mail a better webmail application than GMail? In our comparisons GMail always comes out on top, although the main reason is tagging of messages and the fact that GMail gives free forwarding and POP access to the account. Yahoo still charges $20/year for forwarding or POP access. For users who still like their desktop mail clients, POP access is an important feature. Yahoo says they are considering making it a free option, but they have a lot of paying mail customers. If they make too many features free, they jeopardize that revenue stream. Offering unlimited free storage really pushed the limits, so I don’t expect them to move more features from paid to free any time soon.
The new interface is the final realization of Yahoo’s 2004 acquisition of Ajax pioneer Oddpost. The new mail product is based largely on ideas first launched by Oddpost in 2002.
Source- TechCrunch
Razer is one of the world’s best-known manufacturers of gaming-oriented peripherals, the company launching, over time, such household names as the DeathAdder, Boomslang, Copperhead and more. However, none of the company’s previous models compares to the one they’ve just announced at the Games Convention in Leipzig, namely the Lachesis model, a gaming mouse that uses Razer’s own 3G Laser Sensor in order to achieve a hardware tracking resolution of up to 4000DPI, not to mention some pretty amazing tracking speeds as well.
Without flattering it too much, the Lachesis could actually be considered an epitome of Razer’s gaming mice. Thus, besides the aforementioned 4000DPI laser sensor, the device sports a tracking speed of 60-100 IPS (inches per second), as well as a variable DPI system (125 DPI increments, probably the most accurate DPI adjusting system on the market) and 1000Hz Ultrapolling / 1ms response time.
The Lachesis also comes packed with 32kb of Razer Synapse on-board memory, and features no less than nine independently programmable Hyperesponse buttons. It connects to the host computer via a 7-foot (2.13-meter) non-tangle USB cord (USB connector is gold-plated), which assures a 16-bit ultra-wide data path. Moreover, it’s not exactly bulky, as it measures 129mm x 71 mm x 40 mm, at a weight of around 128 grams.
The Razer Lachesis’ ambidexterity is favorable to gamers who prefer a “claw grip” on their mice for faster and more precisely controlled swipes. Moreover, the device features a rubberized non-slip matte finish, with a glowing scroll wheel and pulsating Razer logo, and is available in two color options, Phantom White and Banshee Blue.
“None of the DPI numbers on our mice are interpolated figures, which other mouse makers’ achieve by enabling tweaking of the software included with their mice. Our DPI specifications are all hardware-based, which essentially means what you see is what you get – true DPI,” said Robert “Razerguy” Krakoff, president of Razer. “We’ve also included two more buttons right below the scroll wheel with which gamers can cycle through pre-determined DPI stages. We’ve heard the communities’ requests for true on-the-fly DPI switching and we’ve designed the Razer Lachesis to make it possible.”
The Razer Lachesis gaming mouse will be available worldwide in October at an estimated retail price of around 80 US dollars, which is a surprisingly affordable price tag for one of the most advanced gaming peripherals released to date.
source- Softpedia
Microsoft is in full throttle with the evolution of Windows Vista Service Pack 1. Having released the first wave of pre-beta builds to a select pool of testers in mid July, the Redmond company is hard at work on the development of the operating system’s first refresh.
A clear indication of this is the fact that a new build of Windows Vista SP1 has shipped to testers. Microsoft however is still mute on the subject and under Sinofsky’s Windows Omerta, codename Translucency. At this point in time the Redmond company failed to officially confirm the new release of Vista SP1. Still, it seems that the fresh stage of the service pack is still in pre-beta phase, and the company delivered no indication pointing to when it plans to move Vista SP1 into beta.
The latest Vista SP1 beta release is build 6.0.6001.16633 (longhorn.070803-1655), according to Mary Jo Foley. Outside of the build number there is actually very scarce information available about this release. Undoubtedly, as the fresh Vista SP1 version will be dropped in the laps of more and more users additional details will leak. The previous release of the service pack made it clear that leaks are inherent, as Windows Omerta is not in effect outside of Redmond. One aspect seems to be clear though, the new pre-beta build of Vista SP1 is a standalone .EXE installer.
With the initial versions of SP1 released to testers Microsoft choose to deliver an ISO containing the entire operating system, with the service pack installed on top. The full build tag of the first Vista SP1 was 6001.16549.070628-1825. Microsoft had to face not only a feast of information about the 6001.16549 after the July availability but also leaks of the actual pre-beta version of the service pack to torrent trackers. The Company failed to react in any manner to the fact that Vista SP1 6001.16549 was offered for download via peer-to-peer file sharing networks. The only difference is that with the new release, Microsoft scrapped the 3+ GB ISO file in favor of an executable file with the Vista SP1.
Build: 6.0.6001.16633 (longhorn.070803-1655)
Filename: windows6.0-kb936330-x86.exe
Size: 684MB
source- neowin
The first beta build for Windows Vista Service Pack 1 will be made available for download in September via TechNet. As of yet, Microsoft has failed to reveal the actual release date of the beta build for the service pack of Windows Vista. However, the Redmond company did point to a Vista SP1 beta launch prior to November 2007. Microsoft only committed to delivering the public version of Vista SP1 Beta by the end of 2007. One aspect that cannot be denied is the fact that Vista SP1 is continually evolving and, in this context, drawing near to the availability date.
TechNet subscribers will be able to access download of Windows Vista SP1 Beta as early as September. This news comes on the heels of Microsoft delivering a new pre-beta build of Vista SP1 to testers. Build 6.0.6001.16633 (longhorn.070803-1655) of Vista SP1 is a standalone .EXE installer much in the same manner as the pre-beta download of Windows XP SP3, and not the 3+GB ISO image offered in mid July.
As of yet, Vista SP1 6001.16549.070628-1825 dropped in July is the only pre-beta build leaked to peer-to-peer file sharing networks. It appears that with build 6.0.6001.16633, Sinofsky has improved his selection of “selected” testers, and as of now, not a single screenshot of the second pre-beta version was leaked.
source- softpedia
Nokia, the world’s largest mobile device manufacturer, and Microsoft Corp., a global leader in online communications and communities, have joined together to provide customers with a new suite of Windows Live™ services specifically designed for Nokia devices.
Starting today, Nokia customers in 11 countries with compatible S60 devices can download the new suite enabling access to Windows Live Hotmail®, Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Contacts and Windows Live Spaces. Starting next year, customers who purchase compatible Nokia Series 40 handsets will also have access to these popular Windows Live services.
Nokia and Microsoft are empowering the “mobile lifestyle” by providing mobile customers with easy access to their world of online relationships, information and interests. By enabling access to Windows Live services on both the Nokia S60 and Series 40 platforms using standard Web services protocols, our mutual customers will have the power to seamlessly move between contacts, e-mail, messenger, phone calls, text messaging, camera, gallery and browsing, all in an integrated way.
Source- Microsoft PressPass
Microsoft’s legendary SideWinder line is back, with a new mouse announced this morning at the Games Convention in Liepzig, Germany. The SideWinder Mouse has been designed from the ground up for superior gaming performance, and is brimming with top-end features:
- A “macro record” button, for binding a string of commands to a single button
- Five other buttons that can be mapped to your choice of function
- Removable weights for perfect balance
- A “quick turn” function, enabling you to spin on the spot with a touch of a button
- On-the-fly DPI switching, as already seen in Microsoft’s Habu Razr: click a button to choose between three sensitivity levels
- A built-in LCD screen that shows the DPI setting and macro record icons
- Changeable feet, so it’ll glide perfectly over any surface
- A dedicated Game Explorer button, giving instant access to the Games Explorer in Windows Vista.
It’s wired - no chance of missing a vital shot thanks to a tricky wireless signal - but it comes with a cable anchor, so the cable is weighed down on the desk and you don’t have to worry about hauling it throught the mass of cabling lurking behind your gaming rig.
That would be just about every excuse for losing at Quake busted in one single product, and it’s all wrapped up in a black-and-red chassis with metal switches that should perfectly complement the pimped-out, blue-lit gaming rig without looking too out of place next to a slightly more normal PC. It’s out on September 27th, and will be $79.95 in the US; we’ll update this when the UK price is confirmed.
source- Windows Vista Magazine
Ankur Mittal | August 28, 2007
