Archive for November, 2005
A working prototype of MIT’s US$100 laptop will be presented at a UN technology conference this week. The production of the device is rumored to begin in late 2006 or early 2007.
The low-cost laptop created controversy for months. In spite of this, many countries expressed their desire to purchase it. Aimed at children in the developing countries, the US$100 laptop received attention from Brazil and Thailand especially, but nevertheless, the state of Massachusetts, USA, wants to spend over US$54 million
and give a laptop to every middle and high school student in the state.
Many important companies like Google, AMD and Red Hat gave a helping hand in the development of this laptop, and Microsoft is also interested in joining the project.
Apple tried to help as well but MIT was not interested. Apple wanted to give free copies of Mac OS X for use in the laptop, but the company’s proposition was rejected, claiming that the OS is not open source.
It seems that the US$100 laptop will use Linux OS, Red Hat’s distribution to be more specific. The designers also said that the notebook will also run any operating system that supports AMD processors. The software that comes with it will include a word processor, a Web browser, an e-mail client and software development tools.
The cheap laptop will be offered to governments and educational institutions, but also available will be a US$200 commercial version.
November 17th, 2005
Despite Hollywood’s growing support for Sony’s Blu-Ray technology, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive reaffirmed Microsoft’s support for HD DVD.
Microsoft’s next generation operating system, Windows Vista, which will be launched at the end of 2006, is going to be compatible with Toshiba’s HD DVD format, Ballmer stated. Also, the Redmond giant settled to introduce support for HD DVD as soon as more compatible drives
arrive on the market, so initially, the format will not be supported in Windows Vista.
Microsoft stated earlier that it had chosen the HD DVD format because, in their point of view, it’s more effective and easy to integrate with a PC. Also, MS claims HD DVD has some real advantages and that they are working with Toshiba to promote the concept.
Ballmer contradicts MGM and Warner’s statement of Blu-Ray only agreement, saying that these studios have the technology that supports both major next generation formats.
As long as HD DVD and Blu-Ray keep competing, users will be disoriented and won’t know which player format to buy. Although over 20 million Blu-Ray players will be available on the market in 2006 with the help of Sony’s PlayStation 3, the adoption of a certain format will be slow in this case and users may look for video content elsewhere.
November 17th, 2005
Microsoft’s Xbox 360 will be launched on November 22.
Early next year Sony will launch its PlayStation 3.
The mystery now surrounds only Nintendo’s Revolution. Only a few system specifications are public, and, so far, we know only about a new controller, promoted as “revolutionary†by Nintendo.
The buzz on the Xbox 360’s launch and its competition with PlayStation 3 took from the spotlight Nintendo’s Revolution. To gain back attention, Reggie Fils-Aime, Executive Vicepresident of Sales and Marketing for Nintendo, gave an interview for CNN, stating that Revolution will be cheaper than both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
It is said that Xbox will be on the market for about 300 USD, a lot cheaper than its production costs, but Microsoft hopes to earn back the money from the game title royalties. As for Sony’s PlayStation 3, we know that it isn’t going to be cheap. Reggie Fils-Aime said that Nintendo hasn’t decided over a price for the Revolution yet, but rumors confirm a 199 USD price, although such a statement has no solid ground.
Unveiling other features of the Revolution, Reggie Fils-Aime also announced that the Revolution won’t support HD television, so we can say that the new console will be low end oriented.
Nintendo tried to attract consumers before, by cutting prices well below the competitors. An example is the GameCube which was launched for 100 USD, less than PS2 (PlayStation 2) and Xbox. Though, Nintendo’s console didn’t outsell its competitors.
November 15th, 2005
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Sharp introduced a new line of MP3 players, very original and shock resistant, as the company claims.
The Sharp MP-S200 and MP-S300 feature a mountain-climbing style carabiner design, have an aluminum metal case and an internal honeycomb structure. Sharp claims that its new players can be dropped from a height of 140 cm without suffering any damage.
The two players can also be used as a fashion accessory like a key holder or attached to your belt.
MP-S200 has a 512 MB capacity and MP-S300 can store 1GB of data. Both players have an FM Tuner,
FM Transmitter and direct encoding as MP3 or WMA and support USB 2.0 connectivity.
Sharp’s new players’ only highlight is the carabiner. It is not a match for the iPod mainly due to the small storage capacity. As for the simplicity and functions, iPod has many others than MP-S200 or MP-S300. Indeed, no iPod has a built in FM radio, but you can get it as an accessory.
Because the two players cannot compete with iPod, Sharp won’t launch them in Europe or USA, but only in Taiwan.
Source: SP
November 15th, 2005
While the new iMac may not be as dazzling as the original five-flavor iMacs or the flat-screen, anglepoise-lamp design that followed, this latest model is a true home entertainment personal computer.
The new iMacs come equipped with a built in iSight, there are no cables, no drivers and no settings, just fire up iChatAV and you are two clicks away from a video conference with up to three friends. Like with all things mac, video chat becomes fast and easy, and the new iMac is quite possibly the computer that will bring video
conferencing into the mainstream.
Front Row also comes with all of the new models, making it easier than ever to turn the mac into a digital media center. The brilliant full screen graphics , intuitively laid out menus large text make it a snap to browse music, photos, movies from anywhere in the room with the new Apple Remote. Combine this with the iTunes Music Store from which you can now also buy music videos, podcasts, audiobooks and TV shows and you have a winning combination. Truly, the new iMac G5 was born to entertain.
Mighty mouse is also standard issue with any of the new iMacs, and apart from it and the keyboard, you won’t have any cables dangling around your desktop. A pre-installed AirPort Extreme card and the internal Bluetooth 2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) for the latest wireless devices, let you surf the web or synchronize with your mobile’s phonebook anytime, on the fly.
The 17†model only comes in one version with a 1.9GHz processor, without a built-in modem, but since the new iMac is cheaper than its predecessors, most people will not mind.
November 15th, 2005
Pictures of a so called “mini me†of Sony Ericsson’s P990 can be found on the Internet. The new phone is dubbed to be named P970, and it’s a slimmer and smaller version of its much bigger brother P990.
It is not known if the photos are official or real, but the phone looks really good. The P970 is the reduced size version of P990. At first sight the main difference is the lack of the QWERTY keyboard. Instead of the old keyboard, only numerical buttons are present, like in any other phones.
Also, P970 is said to feature the Symbian UIQ 3.0 interface and all the functions that P990 has, plus Wi-Fi. The phone is said to be 3G enabled and
might feature also Sony’s Walkman mp3 player capabilities.
The P970 will probably be youth oriented, as it is rumored to sport a 2 or 3 megapixel camera. This might just be true, as Sony Ericsson’s W900 has a graphic chipset capable of dealing with a 3 megapixel camera.
If a phone like P970 will finally be launched, it might be a hit, because it features PDA capabilities, decent photo camera, mp3 player capabilities and an attractive design.
November 15th, 2005
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