Macbook Air Killer: Thinkpad X300

Lenovo is lunching first Macbook Air Killer from the PC side. Thinkpad X300 has 1.13kg of weight and it is 18.6mm thin.

Spec:

13.3 inch LED WXGA display (1440×900)

RAM up to 4GB

Gigabit Ethernet, IEEE802.11n draft, Bluetooth, WIRELESS USB, WIRELESS WAN

64GB of SSD

DVD Multi-drive

3 of USB2.0, ExpressCard slot/34

Ultra Nav (TrackPoint+touchpad)

Stereo Speaker

As I just wrote, X300 has almost everything in it which Macbook Air does not. If this Thinkpad runs Mac OS X, I definitely get this rather than Macbook Air.

Source: GIZMODO

Rivals becoming friends?

Sony and Sharp are partnering up in the flat-panel TV business, with Sony investing in a Sharp plant for making liquid crystal displays, both sides said in a statement.

Sony’s LCD TV Bravia

Sony Corp. had fallen behind in developing flat panel TVs, and does not make its own liquid crystal displays. It has been buying LCD panels from a joint venture with Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea.

Sharp’s LCD TV Aquos

With the latest partnership with Sharp, it can hope to ensure a stable panel supply for its TVs.

Demand for slimmer and bigger TVs is growing around the world. Although the televisions use various panel technologies, LCD is the leading technology so far, along with plasma display panels.

Source: msn.ca

Apple reduces their books’ prices

Apple’s Macbook and Macbook Pro have just updated this morning. The biggest change is that Macbook Pro now has Multi-touch pad which gives you more flexibility to play with screen and the prices. According to my memory, those macbooks cost $100 more than they are now.

Here are new specs of Macbook and Macbook Pro

Now, my Macbook Pro is old and becoming dinosaur…

Walkman in the 21st century

Sony Japan has announced the NW-A820 and NW-A829 which are the latest addition to its A range of personal media players. The A820 comes with 8GB and the A829 comes with 16GB of onboard flash memory. Common features include a 2.4 inch 320 x 240 display, MP3, WMA, Atrac, WAV and MPEG-4 playback. The Video Walkman’s support Bluetooth 2.0 A2DP/AVRCP for transmission of audio and video content.

An exciting accessory is the VRC-NW10 dock which allows to view and store TV programs with support for EPG so the unit can be programmed to record your favorite programs. The units measure 50.2×93.6×9.3mm, weigh 59 grams, and will go on sale from March 20 in Japan with the NW-A820 selling for 28,000 Yen ($260) and NW-A829 selling for 38,000 Yen ($352).

Source: engadget

I prefer blue-ray, but…

Hitachi Maxell will release the first 2x HD DVD-R/RW media by the end of the month, while Mitsubishi Chemical Media made a step further with the announcement of the first HD DVD-R DLs.

Hitachi Maxell’s HD DVD-R and HD DVD-RW support the 2x burning speed and will be available in Japan end of February in both variations for data and video.

The company’s HD DVD-Rs (15GB) feature a track pitch of just 0.40μm as well as an organic dye. The new media also support the LTH (Low to High) recording mode.

Hitachi Maxell has also developed a new phase-change recording material for the new HD DVD-RW discs. Called “Bismuth Coupling Material” (BCM-HD), it allows for fast and accurate recording (low S/N ratio) while it maintains high erasability. The same technology had been also applied to the first 5x DVD-RAM media in 2004 as well as to the latest 12x DVD-RAMs.

In addition, Japanese optical media pioneer Mitsubishi Chemical media Ltd announced today its first HD DVD-R and HD DVD-R DL media, scheduled to retail in Japan later in February and March, respectively. They come in versions for video and data and feature printable surfaces compatible with inkjet printers.

The HD DVD-R (15GB) discs feature a highly sensitive recording layer that allows burning at 2x, by applying the power that was previously used for burning at 1x. Mitsubishi claims it has managed to offer a playability of 100 million times.

Source: maxell.co.jp mcmedia.jp (in Japanese only)

Walking for Wattage

The Biomechanical Energy Harvester, developed by Simon Fraser University (SFU) researchers, resembles a lightweight orthopedic knee brace. The device harvests energy from the end of a walker’s step, when the muscles are working to slow the movement of the leg, in much the same way that hybrid-electric cars recycle power from braking.

Wearing a device on each leg, an individual can generate up to 5 W of electricity with little additional physical effort. Walking more quickly generates as much as 13 W of electricity: At that rate, one minute of walking provides enough electricity to sustain 30 minutes of talk time on a mobile phone.

Source: SFU.CA

How to share music in your iPod

Have you ever hung out with someone discussing music, when you both realize that you each have songs the other want? If you’re not near a computer, then there’s really no good way to share your music. However, with the miShare you can just hook up your iPods and swap tracks to your heart’s content.

The miShare is a simple little device with two 30-pin dock connectors that will work with most iPods 3G and up (unfortunately not the iPod Touch or iPhone). Connect both iPods and press the button to transfer the last song (or video) played. Hold down the button and your entire ‘On-The-Go’ playlist gets copied.

Some might argue the legal implications of this device, however, I’m confident that anyone using this would only be swapping non-copyrighted material. The miShare will set you back by $99, which means you’d better be exchanging a lot of music, otherwise that’s 100 songs that you could legally download from iTunes. Just a little food for thought.

Source: technabob

LG KU990: From Korea

The LG KU990 Viewty is a true powerhouse packing a mass of high-tech goodies under its hood: the impressive 3″ touchscreen display with 240 x 400 pixels resolution, the HSDPA 3.6 Mbps capability, the stereo Bluetooth and the highly intriguing 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, which is also capable of capturing video at 120 fps. Feature-packed and exquisite, the LG KU990 looks set on the fast track to success and we were more than happy to get our hands on it.

Main Features:

• Tri-band GSM/GPRS plus HSDPA support
• 5 megapixel autofocus camera with image stabilization
• Camera strobe flash and focus assist beam
• Secondary video camera for video calls
• 3″ 262K color TFT touchscreen display with 240×400 pixels resolution
• VGA video recording at 30 fps
• QVGA video recording at 120 fps
• TV-out support
• Original stylus dongle
• DivX video playback
• Haptic feedback when the screen is pressed

Source:

LG 

XPERIA X1 by Sony Ericsson

Sony Ericsson last night announced a new smartphone range. Dubbed Xperia, the series’ flagship is the X1, featuring a Windows Mobile-based handset with a slide-out Qwerty keyboard and 3in, 800 x 480 display.

Sony Ericsson’s Xperia X1: arc slider

Sony Ericsson calls the X1 an “arc slider” handset - the keyboard curves forward as it slides down. The handset measures 110 x 53 x 16.7mm and weighs in at 145g. It comes with 400MB of internal memory with Micro SD card support. It has a 3.2-megapixel autofocus camera.

Connectivity comes via quad-band 3G HSDPA and HSUPA, quad-band GSM/GPRS/Edge, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth with A2DP stereo streaming. It also feature assisted GPS, providing navigational functionality.

Xperia Panels UI sits on top of Windows Mobile

The X1 is Sony Ericsson’s first Windows Mobile handset, but the company’s attempted to overcome the Microsoft OS’ interface limitations with a front end of its own - much as HTC now adds its Touch UI to its own Windows Mobile phones.

Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Panels UI display photo-style icons of key applications to guide users straight to the tasks they want to perform. Which apps are presented this way is entirely up to the user, Sony Erisson said.

The Xperia X1 will be available in the second half of the year. No pricing information was available however.

Sorce:

engadget

Intel Penryn Laptop: Just $650!!!

Japan’s Mouse Computer’s new laptop LuvBook PL300 series with Intel’s latest platform, Penryn. Designed and assembled in Japan (i.e. not Made-in-China crap). The cheapest configuration costs just $650.

In this blog, prices of Japan-based products are all sales-tax included.

The highest configuration:

Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 (2.1 Ghz)

Windows Vista® Home Premium or Windows XP Home Edition

15.4 inches WXGA glossy wide display（1280×800）

DDR2 SO-DIMM1024MB PC2-5300（512MB×2/2GB maximum）

80GB Serial-ATA hard drive

Intel Mobile GM965 Express chip set

Intel Graphics Media accelerator X3100

DVD±R dual layer DVD super drive

Multiple card reader

IEEE802.11 a/b/g/n draft Wireless LAN

Ethernet RJ-45 100BASE-TX

USB2.0×3

VGA output×1

Weight:2.50kg

Battery: 1.75 hours

Size: 357mm×266mm×18.5〜36.3mm

Price: $651~$893

Source:

engadget

Mouse Computer