Isaiah's Tech

Lenovo has just shown off their latest all-in-one nettop and it's the IdeaCentre C100. Right now, it's really uninteresting built with: a 20-inch display, an Intel Atom 1.6GHz N270 CPU, 1 / 2GB of RAM, a DVD burner, and an 80 - 160GB HDD. The webcam and WiFi are optional, which is why it is so cheap; the expected price tag for this system is just "around $400." When this is available it will be running Windows Vista -- initially.

When Windows 7 comes out, Lenovo will be kind enough to update this all-in-one nettop for us. They will include a touchscreen into this nettop, so that will make it just a little bit more interesting. Of course with the inclusion of a touchscreen and the Windows 7 OS, the price will jump up a little bit.

[Gizmodo]

We've already heard about Microsoft's "ballot screen" for European users in order to choose their browser in Windows 7. Well, Microsoft has just mentioned that Europeans will also get a chance to choose their browser in Windows XP and Vista as well. The browsers on the "ballot screen" will only include ten different browsers that have over 0.5% market share. I'll tell you more about it when it officially launches.

[Engadget]

It's been a while since Microsoft released one of those good ol' advertisements, but here's the latest one. There's not really much to say about this advertisement, but this family was on a budget. For $700 USD, they were looking for a laptop with a big screen, long battery life, and the ability to share pictures. Like the very first PC vs Mac ad, they chose the HP dv7, which I doubt will give them a heck of a lot of battery life. The glossiness is just not a good look either, in my opinion. But, they can always share pictures with Windows Photo Gallery because it's just that good y'know. Check out the ad below. The wife is kind of hot.



[Gizmodo]

According to this Best Buy memo, people who buy a PC after June 26 will be getting a free copy of Windows 7 when it gets released on October 22. Yes, it will be a free upgrade. Take a look at the memo (above) for yourself because there's nothing much I can talk about.

[Gizmodo]

Windows decided to switch it up and go with a 12-year old boy as the main spokesperson in this ad. He was originally looking for a laptop with speed, lots of HDD storage, and gaming capabilities. Basically, he ends up choosing a Sony Vaio over a Mac because it has a Blu-ray drive. I may not know much about the Sony Vaio that they chose, but last time I checked Sony Vaio's tend to be a bit on the expensive side and I know they aren't exactly for gaming. I think it was the wrong choice for the family, but they seemed happy anyway. Hey, Microsoft! Sign me up for your next ad, MDG just isn't cutting it... Yes, I am fully aware that you probably don't even know the brand MDG. It's a Canadian thing - just about the worst PC brand out there.



[Gizmodo]

Someone over at Dell has leaked the roadmap for the future of the Inspiron Mini. The next Dell Inspiron Mini netbook that gets released will have an 11-inch display (11.6-inch HD display option), up to 250GB of HDD, up to 2GB of RAM, will run Windows Vista, and is expected to be released by the end of Q3 for a base price of $499 USD. If you're still interested in the Inspiron Mini 10 it will go through a couple of upgrades starting on April 17. The Inspiron Mini 10 will come with new options, such as: Windows Vista, 3G and a 1.86GHz CPU. I think this is a great step for Dell, but I still wonder if they're working on that underwhelming smartphone of theirs.

[Engadget]

Apple fanboys are going crazy all around the world yet again. Microsoft's latest PC vs Mac ads have just surfaced. Giampaulo - possibly another actor - claims to be "technically-savvy" and is looking for a laptop with "portability, battery life, and power." He checks out an Apple Macbook and says that it's "so sexy" but with the high price point, it's like you're paying for the "aesthetics" / brand name instead of the hardware which is spot-on. He only had a $1,500 USD budget, so this is very understandable. He ends up choosing a Windows PC, the HP HDX 16, for just $1,099 USD. It contained a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo CPU, the Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT graphics card, 4GB of RAM and a 500GB HDD and as Engadget points out "would cost you $2,499 from Apple." Giampaulo ends the segment by saying, "I'm a PC... because I'm really picky." The HP HDX 16 has a battery that should last around 2 - 2.5 hours, so the Mac may have the upper-hand there (I don't know the battery life of a MacBook). The Mac OS may also be better than Vista, but it's no match for Windows 7. The bottom line is that MacBooks are just too expensive and there is no bang for your buck. The video is below, so enjoy!

This Microsoft ad is simply perfect, especially the timing. During this economic crisis, the one thing people should be focusing on is saving money and that's where Apple fails. I hope this is a slap in the face for some of those Apple fanboys out there and also to those people wanting to buy a Mac to jump on the bandwagon. Wake up people!



[Engadget]

It's happened before, but Texas has just banned Windows Vista from being used on government computers. Windows Vista is slow, unstable, and the UAC sucks. Need I say more? I guess Windows 7 will be better, right?

[Gizmodo]

According to my knowledge, the Conficker / Downadup worm has been around since last October and targeted all Windows users. It was made by exploiting one of the holes in Windows. Microsoft patched it up later, but some of the public decided not to install the update because they might have turned their automatic updates off or for some other absurd / unknown reason. To show that it was a real serious threat, Microsoft issued out a $250,000 USD reward for whoever turned in the Conficker worm creator. Apparently, it only affects 9 million PCs (same amount from the January estimate), but it's still extremely serious. The latest rumour has it that Conficker C will be activated at midnight tonight - conveniantly April Fools Day - and your computer could then be "prompted to buy fake software products, or it could start monitoring your keystrokes to lift sensitive information like banking passwords. Files could end up deleted, or it might transform your computer into a zombie PC while staying under the radar." I guess this is one advantage the Mac has over the PC. On a side note, if you want to read a full length article on everything you need to know / how to stop the Conficker worm, click on the link below.

[Maximum PC]

Facebook will be changing their Home page layout. When i logged on today, i actually got a message saying that they will be changing the Home page layout, so it's good to see that Facebook is keeping its users up-to-date. This could be Facebook's answer to Twitter. I have a Twitter account, but i still don't know exactly what i can use it for. Twitter is basically made up of Facebook statuses and Facebook inboxes. Nothing else. Maybe i'm using it wrong or something, but i don't really see the point as to why its population is growing. I also don't know why this would be Facebook's "shot" at Twitter because Twitter is way behind Facebook in almost every aspect. If anything, Twitter should be trying to take Facebook off of it's throne. All of that said, Facebook has decided to take off the 5,000 friend limit and they've changed the overall layout of the home page. There is also word that instead of updating your home page about every 10 minutes, it will do so at a much faster pace (live updates?). If you want to read more about Facebook's changes, go to the links below.

Go Canada! RIM has released the app store for their Blackberries. It is called... wait for it... BlackBerry App World. Who needs an App Store or an Android Market when you've got the world. +1 RIM.

Just in case you cared about Windows Vista [still], Microsoft has released the Vista SP2 RC to the public. Everyone just do yourself a favour and get your hands on the Windows 7 beta because Vista is officially dead.

Some of HTC's upcoming phones have been revealed. Partially, that is. Some new leaks have revealed some new specs for 5 devices / phones, including: Whitestone, Firestone (supposed HTC Touch HD successor), Thor (or Thoth or Athena 2), Twin and Maple. Keep in mind that [i think] these are just codenames. Anyways, let's start it off with the Whitestone. This phone will have a 3.6-inch touchscreen, a Qualcomm 7600 528MHz processor, a 5MP camera and will run on WinMo 6.1 Pro (sucks). This will be available in September through Verizon. Next up is the Firestone which will have a 3.6-inch touchscreen, a Qualcomm 8250 600MHz processor, an 8MP camera and will run on WinMo 6.5 which is a slight improvement. This phone is said to be the HTC Touch HD successor, but i still prefer the Touch HD's looks over this one. This phone will be available in September also, but the carrier is unknown. The next device is the Thor. I call it a device because i'm not sure if it is a phone, seeing how it supposedly has a 4.8-inch touchscreen (could be a typo from Boy Genius Reports). Anyways, it has a Qualcomm 8250 1GHz processor, a 5MP camera and will also run on WinMo 6.5. Again, it will also be released in September, but the carrier is unknown. The Twin looks like it is the most basic phone out of all of the aforementioned ones. The Twin will have a VGA display (size unknown), a Qualcomm 7501A 528MHz processor and a 3.2 MP camera. Availability is unknown. The last phone on the list is the Maple which i've already talked about before. It will have a 2.4-inch screen, a Qualcomm 7228 528MHz processor, 2MP camera and will run on WinMo 6.1. It is scheduled to be released in May. This phone could also have the QWERTY keypad and "Inner Circle" that was also mentioned in my other post.

Facebook Redesigning Home Page (and picture): http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/04/facebooks-response-to-twitter/
Facbook Changes The Home Page: http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/03/04/facebook-relaunching-home-page-news-feed-going-live-next-wednesday/
RIM's App Store (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/04/rim-names-its-app-store-blackberry-app-world/
Windows Vista SP2 RC: http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=2224
HTC's Lineup Partially Revealed (and picture): http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/03/04/htcs-2009-line-up-gets-specd/
HTC Firestone picture): http://i.gizmodo.com/5164375/htcs-2009-lineup-leaked-includes-touch-hd-successor

The phone that blows. Actually, the phone you blow. Apparently, by blowing into the phone by Pantech you will be able to play their 'girl games' that include blowing a flower and watching the pretty petals float away. Lame-o. This so-called "Wind Recognition" will allow you to navigate through your phone's photos and videos by blowing into the device. "During a call, you can blow into the mic to send your companion an emoticon." I think that's kind of disturbing since i hate when people blow into the phone, so if i'm on the other end of that call, it better be one badass (first ever swear word in this whole blog!) emoticon. What a joke.

A new rumour has leaked that if you purchase Windows Vista, Ultimate, Business or Home Premium (or a PC with it pre-installed) anywhere from July 1, 2009 - December 31, 2010. You will get a copy of Windows 7 for free, as an upgrade. This wide date range could change, so don't be too surprised if that end-date of December 31, 2010 changes. If this is confirmed by Microsoft, i'll blog about it, so don't worry. Just hold off on gettng your Vista copy. Microsoft, of course, has denied that they've announced something like this. But, i don't doubt it happening.

These are the two new Acer models; the DX650 and the X960, left and right, respectively. Both these phones have "GPS, HSDPA, WiFi, Bluetooth, miniUSB, and [a] microSD card slot." They also have the same 533MHz Samsung CPU stored inside of them. Let's talk about the differences between the two now. You may notice that the DX650 (left) has two images, that's because it has 2 sides to the phone. One side has the 2.8-inch touchscreen display and the other side has a 1.27-inch OLED display. The DX650 also has a 2MP camera. This phone is pretty thick when you take a look at its side view. You can always check out more pictures at the extra links below. The X960 has the same 2.8-inch touchscreen display that the DX650 has, but it has a higher resolution which is at 640 x 480. The X960 has a 3.2MP camera, so it's an improvement over the DX650. Both phones are thick and running WinMo 6.1. These are both quite disappointing phones, in my opinion.

I recently talked about the Garmin-Asus alliance and how they are producing the Nuviphone G60. It looks like their alliance seems to be working well because there has been word on their next phone, the Nuviphone M20. The M20 has a 2.8-inch touchscreen, a 3MP camera, Bluetooth, GPS and WiFi. This phone will come with your choice of 4GB or 8GB on-board storage. This phone will come in 4 colours: yellow [gold?], red, blue or black. Unfortunately, you won't have your choice of changing the OS, which is WinMo 6.1.

2 new N97-based touchscreen smartphones have recently been leaked. They both have a similar design to the N97 and it's actually quite easy to get them confused. I actually had to watch the video 3 times to finally see the phones because i thought it was the N97 at first. In the video below, you will see what may be the Ivalo and the Madeleine (codenames). "Ivalo [left picture] is supposed to pack a 3.5" wide touchscreen, 32GB ROM [storage], AGPS, FM transmitter and receiver, 5MP camera, WiFi, TV-out and Bluetooth." No slide-out QWERTY keyboard will be available with the Ivalo. The Madeleine [right picture], on the other hand, will have a design exactly like the N97 except that the D-pad is moved to the right side; the N97's D-pad is on the left side. Beware, the N97's specs are actually superior to the Madeleine's. Madeleine will have the same slide-out QWERTY, WiFi, GPS, etc. But, the Madeleine comes with only a 3.2MP camera; the N97 has a 5MP camera. I actually like the design of these 3 (N97 , Ivalo, Madeleine) phones because i love the way the Nokia N97 originally looks. I think it's also good that Nokia is capitalizing from this amazing design. There will be more word at MWC this weekend. Enjoy the video below, via YouTube.



Pantech IM-S410 (and picture): http://i.gizmodo.com/5152164/pantech-im+s410-the-first-phone-operated-by-stank-breath
Free Windows 7 Upgrade: http://lifehacker.com/5152151/buying-vista-this-summer-could-mean-a-free-windows-7-upgrade
Acer DX650 and X960 (and pictures): http://www.gsmarena.com/live_shots_of_upcoming_acer_dx650_and_acer_x960_show_up-news-791.php
Garmin-Asus Nuviphone M20 (and picture): http://www.gsmarena.com/garminasus_announce_a_new_gps_phone__the_nuvifone_m20-news-789.php
2 New Nokia N97-Based Touchscreens (and picture / video): http://www.gsmarena.com/two_touchscreen_nokia_phones_leaked_by_nokia_look_promising_-news-790.php
2 New Nokia Touchscreen Leaked (video link): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzuKGaqkO8c

A new Dell tablet looks like it will be on-the-way in the near future. The Dell XT2 is rumoured to be launching this Wednesday, Ferbruary 11. It has decent specs, such as: "a 12.1-inch multitouch display, up to 5GB of DDR3 memory", your choice of 80GB or 64GB of SSD. You also get the choice of having a 1.2GHz or a 1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo packed inside this baby. It weighs about 3.62 pounds, just in case you wanted to know.

Google is going to take over the world Internet soon, but first, it's going to dominate e-mail services. If Gmail's growth continues, we may see it pass Hotmail by the end of this year. As Gmail's usage continues to increase day-by-day, Hotmail's usage is going in the opposite direction. Gmail grew 43% from December 2007 to December 2008, while Hotmail went down 5% during the same time period. Hah. Take that Hotmail users. Gmail catching up to Yahoo is a different story. Gmail will have to continue this pace to catch up to Yahoo's usage by 2011. I don't even know anyone who uses Yahoo anymore and i find it incredible that Yahoo is so far ahead of all of its competitors. It's okay, Gmail will pull through.

Microsoft Skybox? It looks the name has been changed to Microsoft MyPhone. Maybe the Windows Mobile name change to Windows Phone is true, after all. Windows Phone + Microsoft MyPhone, get it? The Windows Mobile name change has yet to be confirmed. Anyways, rumour has it that at MWC Microsoft will be releasing "invite-only" betas for MyPhone. MyPhone will have the same features (and possibly even new additions) as the Skybox, since they are the same service.

Windows has had many successful operating systems over the years, Vista is going to be excluded from the list. Windows XP was Microsoft's most successful OS ever and why they decided to move on to a horrible OS, such as Vista, is beyond me. "In 10 weeks, Microsoft Corp. will begin to retire Windows XP by shifting the seven-year-old OS into a more limited support plan." This isn't going to stop me from using XP after the Windows 7 Beta shuts down. Microsoft has been wanting their users to switch OS's, but i am actually going to thank Microsoft because they've delayed this "limited support plan" for a while now. Windows XP might be the best OS currently, but Windows 7 looks like it will be better than XP, the same way Vista should have been. Windows 7's benchmark tests are surpassing Vista's and are around the same as XP's. Microsoft should be closing the XP and 7 gap, in terms of speed, soon. But, with the evolving technology coming out for computers / laptops, i'm sure the hardware should be able to run Windows 7 faster than XP. I am actually going to thank Microsoft for making XP such a good OS. Kudos.

Through the Fire and Flames. The hardest song in Guitar Hero 3. A 14 year old named Danny Johnson has broken the old record by almost 100,000 points at a Best Buy store with the "Guinness officiaries in attendance." The record was last held by Chris Chike, who was 17 years old. The previous record was 899,703 and the new record is now 973,954. Apparently, as Danny was attempting to break the world record, he went through / broke / demolished about 80 guitars. Does this 14 year old need to go through some anger management? To be honest, i'd do the same thing if my parents afforded to buy me 80 guitars. I'm really waiting for the day where someone shatters this record with a 100%, will it happen?

If you have a T-Mobile G1 and are interested in the Android hack to enable multitouch capabilities. Just go to this link, via Gizmodo.

Dell XT2 (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/07/dell-xt2-specs-and-availability-leaked-launching-on-weds/
Gmail Usage Increasing: http://blogs.zdnet.com/Google/?p=1258
Microsoft MyPhone (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/07/microsoft-confirms-myphone-invite-only-beta-coming-to-mwc/
Windows XP's Time is Almost Up: http://www.pcworld.com/article/159151/windows_xp_retires.html?tk=rss_news
Windows XP picture: http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/category/pc-gadgets/software/page/5/
New Guitar Hero 3 Record: http://www.joystiq.com/2009/02/07/14-year-old-breaks-ghiii-fire-and-flames-record-guitars/
T-Mobile G1 Android Hack For Multi-Touch: http://i.gizmodo.com/5146797/how-to-hack-android-for-multitouch-web-browsing-on-the-t+mobile-g1