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The Sims 3, Panasonic Z1 Plasmas With WirelessHD, IE8 Catching Up To Chrome, Gmail Adding Folders, Windows 7 Versions

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After being scheduled to release on February 20, The Sims 3 will now hit PCs on June 2. The non-PC versions will be getting The Sims 3 after June 2, but those dates were not mentioned.

Panasonic's Z1 plasmas with WirelessHD will be hitting the Japan market on April 20. The Z1 is just 1-inch thick, comes with YouTube and has a 40,000:1 contrast ratio. These displays were mentioned at CES. There is no US ship date or price yet, but there are the Japan price tags. The 3 models: a 54-inch, a 50-inch and a 46-inch will go for retail prices of $7,835 USD, $6,715 USD and $6,156 USD, repectively. That's quite expensive, but with WirelessHD, how could you go wrong?

So, the new Internet Explorer 8 RC 1 is, reportedly, catching up to Google Chrome's market share. They are both currently hovering around the 1% mark. "These results aren't necessarily surprising, considering that web developers [all over the world] are likely downloading IE8 to get their sites up to spec before users start switching from IE7 en masse." This actually surprises me because i thought that IE8's market share would be higher than Chrome's. With so many people using Internet Explorer, it shocks me that more people haven't made the switch, especially those still using IE6.

Starting today, Gmail users will finally get Folders. Gmail currently uses Labels to sort and organize your different e-mails. Labels is a really unique feature and may be quite confusing for new Gmail users to use. My bet is that they decided to add Folders because of the migration from other popular e-mail services, such as Hotmail. Those users wouldn't know how to sort their e-mails because they are so used to using Folders over Gmail's Labels. Some people dislike change and i used to fall into that category. But after a while, i got the hang of using Gmail's Labels. Adding Folders to Gmail would be an excellent addition and i can't wait to try it out because i've been wanting that option ever since i started using Gmail. Folders will give Gmail users even more organization, since they will be able to use Labels and Folders, simultaneously.

I've been hearing that Windows has confirmed five versions of Windows 7. But, i've also been hearing that Windows has confirmed six versions. The verdict will be that Windows has confirmed six versions, since this article on Gizmodo explains the functions of all 6 different versions. The 6 versions are: Windows 7 Starter, Windows 7 Home Basic, Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Enterprise and Windows 7 Ultimate.

Windows 7 Starter is the most lackluster version and you will only be able to run 3 windows at once. Starter will be the go-to version for emerging markets. It's the version that will be used the least for us; it sounds completely pointless to me.

Windows 7 Home Basic will also be targeting the emerging markets and lacks many important features.

Windows 7 Home Premium will be the standard OS and will have all of the "cool features." This includes: Aero Peek and Media Center, just to name a few. It will also have multi-touch capability. Like i said, it's the standard version of Windows 7.

Windows 7 Professional "has everything that Home Premium does, but with business and 'enthusiast' features like file encryption, location-aware printing and advanced backup."

Windows 7 Enterprise has "everything that Professional does, but with a few additions like BitLocker full-disk encryption and direct access capability, so you don't have [to] go through a VPN for remote access."

Windows 7 Ultimate. We all knew that there would be an Ultimate version of Windows 7. Windows 7 Ultimate will have every feature of Windows 7 Enterprise plus some more "advanced features." Unfortunately, Windows 7 Ultimate will have a limited availibility.

There you have it, all six Windows 7 versions explained for you. This was quite a long post, thanks to Windows 7 taking up most of the room. Time to finally start my homework because i have quite a bit to do.

The Sims 3 Release Date (and picture): http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3172595
Panasonic Z1 Plasmas With WirelessHD (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/03/panasonic-z1-plasmas-bring-wirelesshd-to-japan-first/
IE8 Catching Up To Chrome's Market Share (and picture): http://lifehacker.com/5145514/internet-explorer-8-already-showing-stiff-competition-for-chrome
Gmail Adding Folders: http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2009/02/gmail-adds-folders-by-improving-label.html
Windows 7 Versions Explanation: http://i.gizmodo.com/5145366/all-the-flavors-of-windows-7-explained
Windows 7 Versions List: http://www.pcworld.com/article/158870/Microsoft_Announces_Six_Windows_7_Editions.html?tk=rss_news



LG Neon, First Acer-Branded Smartphone, Google Mobile Seach-By-Voice to Android, Nokia's Multi-Touch Phones?

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The ugly phone you see here is called the LG Neon. I don't know why LG chose the color scheme that they did, but i think they've lost their mind. Anyways, this phone comes with some decent features, including: a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, at least a 2MP camera, Bluetooth and FM radio. Engadget is hoping for 3G built-in. The LG Neon also has a 2.4 inch touchscreen and is said to be the LG KS360's upgrade device.

The first Acer-branded smartphone will be appearing at MWC 2009. But wait, it's not an entirely brand new phone. Engadget mentions that this is the Glofiish DX900 that was announced in mid-2008. The exact same phone, except for the writing under the screen that will say 'Acer' instead of 'Glofiish.' This Acer phone will have dual-SIM support, a 3MP camera and will run on WinMo 6.1. It kind of annoys me that smartphones are still being released using this OS. Hasn't anyone learned yet? This phone will also have a 2.8 inch touchscreen, just in case you still care. WinMo 6.5 better be improving on its responsiveness because WinMo 6.1's is just terrible.

I can sum this up in one quote, directly pulled from Lifehacker. "Google search-by-voice is coming to Android in the next update." Moving along.

"Talkative sources say that Nokia is increasing orders in March as it prepares to 'launch several 3G and 3.5G products with multi-touch and multimedia functions in 2009' -- Texas Instruments, Qualcomm [which is used in the Toshiba TG01], and Synaptics being the chief beneficiaries." This is just a rumour, but it may be true. It may be true because Nokia themselves have mentioned that the 5800 was just the first of "an onslaught" of touchscreen devices that are on the way. I can't wait for the Nokia N97 and i hope that it lives up to the hype.

LG Neon (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/03/is-atandt-prepping-to-launch-the-lg-neon/
First Acer-Branded Smartphone (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/03/first-acer-branded-smartphone-a-glofiish-dx900-rebadge/
Google Mobile Search-By-Voice to Android: http://lifehacker.com/5145630/google-mobile-search+by+voice-comes-to-android
Nokia's Multi-Touch Phones? (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/03/nokia-ramping-orders-in-preparation-for-several-multi-touch-ph/

LG KM900 Arena, Windows Mobile 7 in 2010, Apple News: Gmail Tasks on iPhone, Tablet, iPhone 4G Concept

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A new LG touchscreen has made its way to the good old Internet today. The upcoming LG KM900 Arena will have a unique UI. The UI is said to be 3D and it will be named "S-Class." The LG Arena will have a "5 megapixel camera with DVD quality video recording capabilities", DivX playback, Bluetooth, GPS and Wi-Fi. This will probably be announced formally at MWC which is weeks away. I will also point out that, like the Toshiba TG01, it also looks similar to the iPhone.

Motorola has mentioned that Windows Mobile 7 won't be out until 2010. Motorola mentioned this as they made their announcement that they were going to be utilizing Android to try to dig themselves out of the hole that they are in. Windows Mobile 7 is not confirmed to be released in 2010, but that's just what Sanjay Jha from Motorola thinks. It sounds about right though, since WinMo 6.5 should hit us in the summertime.

If you go to gmail.com/tasks on your mobile phone, you will be able to use Gmail Tasks on your iPhone or your Android phone. "The new mobile UI works for Android phones and iPhone, and gives you a quick way to view tasks, create new lists, add new tasks, mark tasks as completed, and that's about it."

Apple Tablet? This looks to me like the rumoured 7-9 inch iPod Touch that was mentioned a while ago (here). It doesn't look exactly like the iPod Touch, so i may be wrong. Atlthough, that was my first thought when i saw this picture. Apple's tablet display was said to be described in a recent patent. This picture shows what the tablet may look like, judging from Apple's patent. "The patent describes several forms of these displays-most of them already in use in current Apple laptops-, describing displays attached to portable computers." I'm sure that we'll hear more about this Apple tablet soon.

No, this is not the iPhone Pro, but instead we see an iPhone 4G Concept. The "fantasy specs" of this phone include: titanium and glass, an OLED screen, 3G, GPS, front camera for iChat, removable battery, 3.2MP camera, video and 32GB of internal memory. I don't really know why these "fantasy specs" include only having a 3.2MP camera. I think Apple should upgrade the camera to 5 megapixels. Both flashes (for the camera and Internet) weren't even asked for, so i guess i'll add those things on the list also. The OLED screen would be a fascinating idea, but that alone would put a hole in our wallets. Maybe one day Apple fanboy, maybe. I thought i'd also point out that Macy Gray will again be the face of the next iPhone... joking.

LG KM900 Arena (and picture): http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_km900_arena_leaks_touchscreen_fans_leap_with_joy-news-769.php
Windows Mobile 7 in 2010: http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/02/03/moto.says.win.mo.7.in.2010/
Gmail Tasks On Your Android or iPhone: http://mashable.com/2009/02/02/gmail-tasks-on-iphone/
Apple Tablet (and picture): http://i.gizmodo.com/5145104/apple-tablet-likely-described-in-patent
iPhone 4G Concept (and picture): http://i.gizmodo.com/5145151/iphone-4g-concept-is-a-macbook-in-a-phone

Skype 4.0, More Winter, 2TB Hard Drive Fight, Toshiba TG01, Street Fighter and Resident Evil on Playstation Home

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So, Skype 4.0 was released today (download link here). If you've been using the Skype 4.0 beta already, you may not notice any new features off the bat. If you're migrating from Skype 3.8, you will notice the new UI and a slight improvement on the video calling. I'm going to try it out when i get home, to see if the video calling quality has increased. I'm always on Skype with my girlfriend, since she's on residence for University. That's how we stay in contact.

The famous American groundhog saw his shadow this morning, so it looks like there will be 6 more weeks of Winter. I don't doubt this groundhog's psychic ability at all, since up here in Canada, it's snowing today. It's been snowing for about 4 hours now and i don't think it's going to stop for at least another hour. I dislike the Winter and i dislike the snow. That is an example of a parallel sentence, i learned it in English class today.

I talked a bit about the 2TB hard drive last week, from Western Digital (here). Seagate is going to step up to the plate with their own 2TB hard drive, which is expected to hit consumers by this September. Seagate's rendition of the 2TB hard drive will run at 7200RPM. Western Digital's is running at an undisclosed "eco-friendly" speed. Western Digital's 2TB hard drive is going for $300 USD now and Seagate's will be out later this year. Hopefully, Seagate won't have the same problems with this HDD that they had with the Barracuda.

The Toshiba TG01. We haven't really heard much about Toshiba's smartphones, but this one sets itself apart from the rest. The phone itself has a very similar style to the iPhone. I mean very similar. I'd advise to go to this link to see more photos of this impressive looking device. Something tells me that this phone will be generating a ton of buzz. "The Toshiba TG01 is the first device in the world to run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon platform, which is powered by a 1GHz mobile CPU and hosts GSM, HSDPA, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS connectivity all on one chipset. The CPU has dynamic speed control and Toshiba and Qualcomm claim it'll go for a whole day without recharging." The iPhone better look out for this baby. It packs a 4.1 inch touchscreen (larger than the iPhone, HTC Touch HD and the Nokia N97's screen), which will have a 800 x 480 resolution. GSM Arena mentions that "it's certainly the biggest one we've seen on a GSM mobile phone." The phone itself is also extremely thin, approximately 9.9mm to be exact. The phone has a mere 512MB of internal memory, but it's okay because you can upgrade the storage to 32GB using its microSDHC slot. The TG01 will only have a 3.2MP and it looks like there will be no flash. It will will have flash in another department, since this phone's Internet Explorer mobile 6 will support Flash, unlike the iPhone. The only downside to this phone is that it is going to run the utterly slow Windows Mobile 6.1 OS. It doesn't really make sense why this amazing phone will run on WinMo 6.1 at all because it will be released in the summer in Europe. WinMo 6.5 is already on the way and why they are deciding to use WinMo 6.1 is beyond my best guesses. They could have at least chose Android or something. Maybe, just maybe it won't run as slow as the Samsung Omnia does.

Capcom is supporting Playstation Home in a big way. There will be Street Fighter IV and Resident Evil costumes making their way to Playstation Home. Capcom also mentioned that people will be able to meet on Playstation Home and then jump straight into a Street Fighter match. There will also be a place on Home representing a Resident Evil-like setting.

Skype 4.0 Download Link (and picture): http://www.skype.com/download/skype/windows/
More Winter: http://www.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKN0244987120090202?rpc=64
2TB Hard Drive Fight Continues: http://i.gizmodo.com/5145221/seagate-fires-back-with-2tb-constellation-drive
Toshiba TG01 (and picture): http://www.gsmarena.com/toshiba_unleashes_the_tg01__the_ubersmartphone_to_rule_them_all-news-768.php
Street Fighter and Resident Evil Making Its Way To Playstation Home (and picture): http://www.joystiq.com/2009/02/03/street-fighter-and-resident-evil-invade-playstation-home/