Isaiah's Tech

This is Asus at its "extravagant best." The king of laptops right here. The Asus G71Gx has a 17-inch screen with a 1,920 x 1,200 WUXGA resolution. It is sporting a "brand-new" graphics card which is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M with 1GB of VRAM. The laptop has room for 12GB of RAM, packs dual 500GB HDD's, has Blu-ray and even Altec Lansing speakers, just in case the specs weren't enough to blow you away. No word on the availability or the price, but i'm pretty sure it will empty out your wallet and drag your bank account along with it.

Looks like the leaks from CeBIT were correct. The specs listed here are indeed from the LG (GC900) Viewty II. This includes the 3-inch touchscreen, 8MP autofocus (Schneider-Kreuznach) camera with a xenon flash, S-class 3D UI, DivX support, aGPS, WiFi and up to 32GB of memory. The camera can also shoot at 30fps, so that's not bad for a camera phone. Price and availability are still unknown though, so that will be given on a later date.

This could be the first time i actually talk about something that the everyday person can actually afford (including me). If you're not too big on specs or stuff like that then this could be the phone for you. It's the Nokia Intrigue. This flip (clamshell) phone could very well be the best-looking clamshell phone out there (according to Boy Genius). I think the phone doesn't look too bad and i have yet to see a better looking flip phone also, so i guess i'll have to agree. The phone has a 2MP camera, a microSD slot, Bluetooth and has 2 models: one being a black to gray finish and the other has a black to pink finish. Again, there's no price or availability on this handset.

First, there were rumours of a 7-9 inch iPod Touch going to be released in Q3. The rumour has now evolved into Apple developing a new netbook for early Q3, this Summer. I could be wrong, but wouldn't this be considered a tablet instead of a netbook since this so-called device is supposedly going to be a touchscreen netbook. Either way, if this is released expect people to be flocking to the Apple stores to purchase it. This idea doesn't sound half-bad since i've been hearing lots of public criticism about Apple in desperate need to sell netbooks soon.

Asus G71Gx (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/08/asus-g71gx-boats-of-geforce-gtx-260m-graphics-other-extravaganc/
LG Viewty II (and picture): http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/03/09/lg-viewty-ii-gets-viewed/
Nokia Intrigue (and picture): http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/03/09/verizons-nokia-intrigue-dispels-the-notion-that-clamshell-ugly/
Apple Netbook (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/apple-netbook-in-q3/

The Apple netbook rumours have surfaced yet again and it's from good ol' DigiTimes. Apparently, Foxconn will be creating Apple's so-called netbook. I'm excited to see what it is because although I do dislike Macs, a netbook from Apple could be decent. It'll be interesting to see how big this is, because I'd need a netbook with around a 12-inch screen to get sucked in. It should also have around 8-hours of real-time battery life, hence why I haven't bought one yet. Hopefully, that Android netbook will have my desired battery life, although I doubt it. I'll probably have to wait until next year to find something decent.

[Crunch Gear]

So, this is actually not a rumour as some of you might suggest, this is all 100% confirmed. The next iPhone will be announced around mid-June, which is just like I've said many times (around the launch of the Palm Pre). It will, of course, be faster, possibly also including the faster HSDPA (7.2Mbps). We should also be expecting a new iPhone every year as a part of Apple's "tradition." There are a bunch of things that AT&T mentioned, but some of it can be interpreted in a bunch of different ways. Especially, that the "gap in capability should be filled with the new iPhone." This could mean a possible slide-out QWERTY keyboard, which would be amazing. The last part is the most interesting: "The $99 [USD] netbook will start selling this summer, and the first one won't be a Windows OS." I guess this confirms the so-called Apple netbook, but it's kind of confusing. If they were talking about Apple releasing a netbook, why would they have to confirm that it won't be running on a Windows OS? An Apple netbook would, of course, run on the Mac OS. So, that last point is a toss-up.

[Boy Genius, Electronista]

AVG 8.5 is now up for download, but i can't really tell you about it's new features because the site i get the information from is blocked on my school library's WiFi. I also have to study for Physics, so i can't waste time installing it and such (But, i do waste my time blogging instead of studying). The download link is here, via Download.com, for all of you AVG fans, like myself. Although, i now despise downloading stuff off of FileHippo because of my non-working AVG that i downloaded off of that site.

I present to you Asustek's (Asus for short) dual-panel touchscreen. This photo was taken live from CeBIT and the model that Asus was showing was not able to be touched, hence the "Don't Touch !!" sign on its holder. There were some models running Windows 7, but there is obviously no word on pricing or availability, since it's still a new product. One side of the panel will have an on-screen keyboard when it's in a sort-of netbook mode. Engadget points out that the "on-screen keyboard looked great from where we stood, but it's tough to say how hard it would be to get used to banging out dissertations on a flat panel." But, i think they should have just made a netbook instead of this thing.

I never blogged about it, but if you were keeping a close eye around the Internet, you may have came across the leaked pictures of the Mac Mini. There was even a video showing off the new Mac Mini. Today it has been confirmed that the Mac Mini leaks were true. There are 2 versions now available on the Apple store, starting at $599 USD. The $599 USD version has a 2.0GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, a 120GB HDD, the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics card and an "8X SuperDrive." There is also one more version and it is going for $799 USD. It will have the same graphics card, processor and "8X SuperDrive" as the aforementioned model, but will update its RAM to 2GB and its HDD to 320GB. Both models come with a wide variety of ports, including: Gigabit Ethernet, Firewire 800, Mini DVI, Mini DisplayPort and will have 5 USB 2.0 slots.

Looks like the early rumours of the new iMacs running on Intel's Core i7 processors have been smashed. The 4 new Apple iMacs have now hit the Apple Store. Let's start off with the most basic 20-inch iMac. It will be rocking the 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, a 320GB HDD and will have the GeForce 9400M graphics card. The 20-inch model is going for $1,199 USD. The most basic 24-inch iMac comes with the same GeForce 9400M graphics card and 2.66GHz processor but has 4GB of RAM and a 640GB HDD. This is going for $1,499 USD. The next best model is another 24-incher that has 4GB of RAM, packed with a 2.93GHz Core 2 Duo processor and the GeForce GT 120 256MB graphics card for $1,799 USD. The best 24-inch model also has 4GB of RAM, but instead has a 3.06GHz Core 2 Duo processor and the GeForce GT 130 512MB graphics card inside of it. It's going for a retail price of $2,199 USD. Apple has also changed their keyboard, taking out the numeric keypad.

The new Mac Pro will be available on March 9 which is under a week from today. It has the "new Xeon Processors [with a speed of] up to 2.93GHz." This means that the Mac Pro will have "a quad-core 64-bit processor with 8MB of fully shared Level 3 cache, with integrated memory controllers that plug into 1066 MHz DDR3 RAM memory with Error Correction Code, which according to Apple boosts access 2.4 times over the previous version." I don't really know what half of that stuff means, hence why i copied just about half of the article from Gizmodo. I do know that the base model is going for $2,499 USD. The base model's graphics card is a NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 with 512MB GDDR3 memory, but you can bump it up to the ATI Radeon HD 4870 with 512MB of GDDR5 memory if you have the money. Have fun, Apple fans.

AVG 8.5 download link: http://www.download.com/AVG-Anti-Virus-Free-Edition/3000-2239_4-10320142.html
Asus Dual Panel Touchscreen (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/03/hands-on-with-asus-dual-panel-touchscreen-pc-at-cebit/
Apple Mac Mini (and picture): http://i.gizmodo.com/5163353/new-mac-mini-looks-just-like-the-leaked-mac-mini
Apple iMacs (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/03/apple-debuts-new-imacs-including-cheaper-24-incher/
Apple Mac Pro (and picture): http://i.gizmodo.com/5163387/mac-pro-gets-nehalem-xeons-new-architecture-graphics

The Nokia Booket 3G that was announced yesterday was pretty sexy and unexpected. I mentioned that it had an Apple look to it and Nokia is not taking my comment lightly. According to the latest rumour, Nokia will be pegging an Apple price tag on their netbook; it's rumoured to launch for $799 USD off-contract. Paying $800 for a netbook is ridiculous, seeing as there are cheaper netbooks out there. Even for Apple, $800 for a 10-inch laptop is absurd - okay, maybe not.

The difference between an $800 10-inch Apple netbook - if it were real - and the $800 Nokia Booklet 3G is that the Apple one would sell - even if it had terrible specs.

[Liliputing]

According to a number of "sources" apparently LG is supplying OLED screens to Apple for their future devices. This would include the likes of a new iPhone, iPod Touch and their possible netbook. It is reportedly "confirmed" by a bunch of sources that LG is supplying the OLEDs after they reached a £300 million deal with Apple. LG is also reportedly trying to get rid of the attraction of fingerprints on the aforementioned OLED screens, so that it will keep Apple's "cool tech" image. This is still a good bunch of rumours, but apparently "Apple already has a working netbook prototype using the OLED technology." Now this is getting interesting! Could LG be the so-called Taiwanese company that Apple bought the OLEDs from about a week ago? This is really, really interesting and I'm excited to see someone who can confirm this for me. With Apple using OLED technology for their future devices, expect a bright and clear (clarity-wise) device. I hope that it also has sunlight readability, that would be icing on the cake for me. It may also push the OLED trend forward because Apple just does everything so well.
[Tech Radar]

Apple has just confirmed the Apple tablet and they're calling it the iPad. They decided to work on a tablet instead of a netbook because a netbook, basically, doesn't do anything better than a notebook. Steve Jobs actually demoed this iPad on stage and Engadget actually called it "odd" since they were just watching him browse the web. Jobs clicked on a page and there was actually a missing Flash plug-in, so let's hope they get some Flash support before this launches or else that'll be a real big let down. The UI is like a big iPhone and everything else works just like an iPhone does with some new UI changes.

The iPad itself features a 9.7-inch IPS capacitive multi-touchscreen LED-backlit display with a 1,024 x 768 resolution (132 ppi), it weighs 1.5 pounds, and it's just 0.5-inches thin which is already impressive. Inside it's packing an Apple A4 CPU which is clocked at 1GHz. It'll be available in 16GB / 32GB / 64GB models and they'll all, of course, be packing a 3.5mm headphone jack, 3G, WiFi 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR. It'll also have a speaker, a microphone, an accelerometer, and a digital compass in case you didn't know. The battery life is good enough for a month of standby time and 10 hours while watching a movie (possibly with WiFi turned off). Since Apple is one of the greenest companies out there it's an eco-friendly product.

The iPad doesn't have a front-facing webcam or a camera on the back - just in case you're wondering. Like I said earlier, the iPad also appears to be missing Flash support. There's no multi-tasking, no phone calls (Google Voice could work though, I believe), and no notifications. Apple showed off a regular dock, a keyboard dock, and a case that doubles as a stand as well. The prices - I believe - were not mentioned though.

With the iPad you'll be able to use "almost all" of the apps on the App Store. It'll connect to your Mac / PC the same way your iPhone / iPod does. Apple - more specifically Steve Jobs - mentioned that this is "our most advanced technology in a magical & revolutionary device at an unbelievable price." The iPad is running a customized iPhone OS.

The iPad will be available contract-free (pre-paid) on AT&T. For $14.99 monthly you'll get 250MB of data and for just $30 monthly you'll get unlimited data (which costs $60 for mobile phones). All models will be unlocked and use GSM microSIMs. The best part is that it will only cost you $499! Amazing, even I'm impressed. Of course, that's the 16GB model. The 32GB and 64GB model will cost $599 and $699, respectively. Unfortunately, those are the models without 3G. The iPad 3G models will add another $130 to the price tags, so $629, $729, and $829, respectively. You can order them now and the WiFi-only models will be shipping in 60 days. The iPad with 3G will be shipping in 90 days.

Just thought I'd mention one more thing: what a terrible name. I also think that this was overhyped - as usual.

[Engadget, Gizmodo]

iPhone and iPod Touch users can now say goodbye to the Infinite SMS app. Before today, iPhone / iPod Touch users were able to send free texts via a 3rd-party application using Google Talk, but Google has now shut it down because it is "unwilling to foot the bill." This means that they simply don't feel like paying the bill for you. The SMS service is still available in Labs, but "users of the popular Infinite SMS app will undoubtedly be disappointed."

Mitsubishi showed off their 3D touch panel prototype last week. The prototype that was shown consisted of a 5.7-inch touchscreen with a 640 x 480 resolution. "The panel is also capable of judging the speed of the finger's approach by calculating the time variation of capacity on the z-axis and so could trigger different actions based on velocity, not just position." Man, technology really has come a long way. You don't even have to touch the screen to perform an action. Now, this technology is not exactly the newest thing, but it's good to see that Mitsubishi has a working prototype that is aimed at mobile devices. "The screen's response speed is also affected depending on the state, jumping to 50ms in the proximity state ["when the finger is away from the screen"] but sitting at 10ms in the contact state." This is interesting and i'm excited to see what transpires from these 3D touch panel prototypes from Mitsubishi.

According to a new rumour, Apple has reportedly ordered 10-inch touchscreens from Taiwan. Looks like these Apple netbook rumours may be true and i actually can't wait to see Apple's attempts at a netbook / tablet.

Basically, new breakthrough research states that a new Lithium breakthrough could charge batteries in just 10 seconds. If you want to read the whole story click here, it really goes in depth about the research and how it is possible. Who knows how long it will take for the technology to be perfected and to be actually used in our everyday lives, but i guess it's mighty expensive right now. It will be incredible if this ever becomes a reality in our everyday lives in the next couple of months / years.

Goodbye Infinite SMS (and picture): http://i.gizmodo.com/5168080/google-shuts-down-infinite-sms-for-gmail-iphone
Mitsubishi 3D Touch Panel Prototype (and picture): http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/03/11/mitsubishi.3d.touch.panel/
Apple Orders 10-Inch Touchscreens: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/03/11/apple_orders_10_inch_touchscreens_for_mystery_product.html
Lithium Breakthrough Could Recharge Batteries In 10 Seconds: http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2009/03/lithium-breakthrough-could-charge-batteries-in-10-seconds.ars

Here's a nice fake HTC Touch Diamond phone. As you can see, i don't really have much to talk about today, that's why i'm resorting to talking about a fake phone. Anyways, instead of the traditional HTC Touch Diamond, you get a nice slider that runs a knockoff S60 interface as well. I LOL'd the first time i saw it.

Since Apple's new iMacs were recently released, i figured that i might as well talk about the Onkyo Sotec Media Center PC with a 21.5-inch screen that displays a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution. This all-in-one PC also has decent hardware, including: an Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 2.8GHz processor, up to 4GB or RAM, a 500GB HDD, a TV tuner, a 4x Blu-ray player, a wireless mouse and keyboard, a 1.3MP integrated webcam and even has an iPod dock. Just to top things off the PC comes with a remote, so you can do some media center'ing while laying back on your couch or bed or whatever. Unfortunately, it's actually more expensive than some of the new iMac's. The Onkyo Media Center PC has a base price of 179,000 Yen ($1,900 USD).

OCZ is going to be releasing a netbook, the Neutrino netbook to be specific. The netbook will have a 10.1-inch screen that has a 1,024 x 600 resolution. The hardware includes an Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor, up to 2GB of RAM and a possible 250GB SSD. It also comes with two USB ports, WiFi, a 1.3MP integrated webcam and will ship with the consumer's choice of either Ubuntu or Windows XP. The netbook is expected to be released in the next 2 - 3 months and will be "priced competitively."

Although no specs are available on this Asus concept, i can tell you that it plans to ship in Q3. This fold / unfold laptop was originally a concept, but it looks like it will actually be released. Judging by the picture (and the video, via Engadget), the laptop looks really thin. Currently, there are no specifications listed about the laptop, so if i find them i will get back at you. Again, you can watch the video here. The folding concept seems pretty pointless, but it's cool to a certain extent.

Fake HTC Touch Diamond (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/06/keepin-it-real-fake-part-clxxxix-meet-the-htc-a296-and-its/
Onkyo Sotec Media PC (and picture): http://www.newlaunches.com/archives/onkyo_sotec_media_center_pc_comes_with_bluray.php
Onkyo Sotec Media PC: http://i.gizmodo.com/5165529/apple-please-steal-some-ideas-from-the-onkyo-sotec-media-pc
OCZ Neutrino Netbook (and picture): http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/ocz_shows_off_its_neutrino_netbook_cebit
Asus Fold / Unfold Laptop Concept (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/06/asus-plans-to-ship-fold-unfold-laptop-concept-this-year/

"Apple Insider has spotted a newly released patent filed by Apple back in late 2007 that shows volume controls that can be integrated into various Web browsers." I think this would be extremely useful, especially for MySpace sites or maybe some YouTube videos. The "new panel" will sit in the top right hand corner of the browser and will allow the user to change the volume of the site. "What makes this patent filing notable is that it's not just for Safari, and is listed as being applicable to multiple browsers, which means it could either be a part of an upcoming OS or as a standalone application. As the usual disclaimer goes though, patents are often filed for technologies that never make it to market." On a side note, Windows Vista reportedly has this feature too - somewhere.

This is probably what the tablet from Apple looks like. Okay, I'm clearly joking. Anyways, Apple's COO, Tim Cook, has denied that they have any plans for a netbook. Instead, he pointed towards more iPhone and iPod Touch devices, so this could mean that a tablet is in the making. It won't really matter to me which one they make because I'm fine with a tablet. You can always just get a stand and a Bluetooth keyboard if you don't like the on-screen keyboard. I hope that that Apple's next device has Bluetooth 3.0 because that's some blazing speed right there.

[CNet News, Apple Blog (tablet)]

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic looks like it will be making its way to North America soon. This is the first phone that uses Nokia's S60 5th Edition. It was released in pretty much everywhere except for North America. Looks like Nokia is deciding to finally release this phone in North America for $399 USD around a scheduled February 26 date. Nokia fans, rejoice!

Someone from the Android team has revealed a secret about their touchscreen capabilities. Apparently, Apple asked Google not to use multi-touch on their T-Mobile G1 phone. It looks like Google didn't want their bond with Apple to break-up, so they agreed. I think that they [Apple] might have even asked Palm not to use multi-touch, but they [Palm] disagreed. Could this be the real reason why Apple may sue Palm for their multi-touch?

Sony Ericsson continues it's boring Walkman-branded phones. They will be releasing the (silver) W395 Walkman in Q1 of this year. The W395 will not have 3G and will have a 1GB memory card, along with a 2MP camera. Amazing. This is why Sony Ericsson is in 5th place in the mobile world. They will also be releasing the (red) C903 Cybershot afterwards. The C903 will have a much more impressive 5MP camera with face detection and all that mumbo-jumbo. The C903 will also have 3G capabilities when it releases in Q2. These phones will only sell in Canada because they all come with cheap deals, thanks to Rogers. During class, i was touching my N81's phone's screen and someone thought my phone was touchscreen. I laughed on the inside because my N81 doesn't have touchscreen capabilities. It's easy to fool little kids.

The Acer Aspire One sporting the new Atom N280 chip is now official in the United States. If you do decide to get these 10-inches of beauty, Engadget wants to remind you to "just make sure you score the good battery." I can briefly go through some of the specs for you, just in case you are too lazy to go elsewhere. It will have a 1.6GHz Intel Atom (N280) CPU, 1GB of RAM (Good enough for Windows 7), optional 3G and 3 USB ports. I guess this can be categorized as a 'netbook'.

The 12.1-inch Dell Latitude XT2 tablet notebook with multi-touch capabilities was released earlier today. It's about 3.8 pounds and has a 6-cell 11-hour battery. Keep in mind that this is 11-hours under the best conditions possible so, in reality, it's about 9.5 hours. It's got DDR3 memory on-board, so you can upgrade it to 5GB whenever you feel like. You will also be able to choose between a 1.2 or 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo CPU and an 80/120GB HDD or even a 64GB SSD. The starting price is at $2,399 USD though, so it's quite expensive.

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/09/nokia-5800-launching-in-north-american-flavor-this-month-for-39/
Did Apple Ask Google Not To Use Multi-Touch?: http://www.macrumors.com/2009/02/10/apple-asked-google-not-to-use-multi-touch-in-android/
Sony Ericsson W395 and C903 Walkman (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/10/sony-ericsson-bring-more-of-the-usual-w395-walkman-and-c903-cyb/
Acer Aspire One (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/10/10-inch-acer-aspire-one-now-official-in-the-us/
Acer Aspire One Specifications: http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/23/rumor-10-inch-acer-aspire-one-to-replace-8-9-incher/
Dell Latitude XT2 (and picture): http://i.gizmodo.com/5150288/12+inch-multitouch-tablet-convertible-dell-latitude-xt2-now-out

That long rumoured Apple tablet may hit stores by the end of the year, according to China Times. The three companies that will be working on the netbook / tablet are Foxconn, Wintek, and Dynapack. This netbook / tablet will have a touchscreen, similar to the Asus Eee PC T91 or T101H. But, the inclusion of a keyboard was not mentioned, so it could just be a straight-up 9.7-inch tablet. This rumoured Apple tablet / netbook is expected to hit the shelves this October with an $800 USD price tag.

[Gizmodo]

Apple could be working on a netbook and this could be some proof. Well, this is the picture and it's up to you to judge whether it is real or not. Apparently, this image is from a "trusted contributor." I don't know why the Apple has a slash through it and that could easily identify it as a fake. We'll see what happens. Nonetheless, this news is pretty juicy though.

Update: It's not real! Looks like it has been confirmed to be a project by a student named Kyle Buckner. He made this Apple laptop using wood, real-working hinges, and also hand-drew a bunch of other stuff. Check it out at Gizmodo.

[Mac Rumors, Gizmodo]

A new iPhone 4G concept picture was revealed to the world. It looks amazing. Very thin and sleek. The specs were not established, so you can just let your imagination come up with anything you want. Everyone looks like they're excited for the new video-conferencing that will be in the new iPhone. Until Apple releases what the next iPhone will look like, we can only create concepts of it. Hopefully, there will be a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, but i don't think Apple will implement that, since they love their touchscreens. I could be wrong though.

Remember Intel's 8-core Xeon processor? Looks like it was announced on Monday at ISSCC. The 8-core, 16-thread Xeon processor is 64-bit and is part of the Nehalem family. I actually don't know much about processors, so if you want to read it, it's right here for you, via Ars Tenchnica.

Looks like Panasonic is really going to push this 3D-business. The company is striving for the output of 3D FHD (3D Full HD) Blu-ray to the world. We saw the 3D displays at CES and it was only a matter of time until one of the companies would try to take full advantage of the technology. Panasonic looks like it will be that company. Panasonic announced the "opening of a new 3D authoring laboratory at its Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory in California." Look out for Blu-ray in 3D FHD at a theater near you. We may even see it on that 380-inch screen that was shown a couple of days ago.

This netbook reminds me of the Vaio P. It's small and, to a certain extent, 'pocketable'. The UMID M1 looks like it will weigh about 0.7 pounds, have a 4.8-inch touchscreen, and a 1.1GHz Atom processor. It will also have up to 1GB of RAM, up to 32GB of SSD, "WiBro[?] / HSDPA / WiMAX / WiFi / Bluetooth, a 1.3 megapixel camera, mini USB 2.0, and an SD/USIM card." It will come pre-installed with Linux, not Windows. Some users purchasing this, probably don't know this. They're going to be surprised and probably going to send it back and complain about it too. Pre-orders for this netbook start on February 13 and will cost around $500 USD. Oh wait, it's only available in Korea. Sorry to break your heart.

Along with the recent announcement of Street Fighter and Resident Evil stuff on Playstation Home, you will be able to dress as a ninja. This outfit will be available on February 12. In addition to the ninja outfits, on February 13 there will be an event called "I Love Ninjas" in the Gamer Lounge on Home. Winners in the event will receive SOCOM and Warhawk vouchers "to celebrate the upcoming spaces." Go Ninjas!

Google, for the 41st day in a row, has released a new service. Google PowerMeter. What will this do? You will be able to track the electricity usage in your home. Google will probably have access to this information, so you're forewarned. Google has mentioned that, by knowing this information, you will be able to cut your use of electricity, so that you save your money. There is a video about it below, enjoy. This video is from YouTube, so special thanks to them.



Apple iPhone 4G Concept (and picture): http://i.gizmodo.com/5150375/new-iphone-4g-concept-is-son-of-macbook-air-and-ipod-touch
Intel's Nehalem 8-Core Xeon Processor: http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2009/02/intel-details-eight-core-xeon-cache-and-core-recovery.ars
Panasonic Says "3D Full HD" By 2010 (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/09/panasonic-sets-out-to-bring-3d-full-hd-to-blu-ray-by-2010/
UMID M1 (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/09/umid-m1-photos-definitely-surface-the-rest-were-not-so/
Playstation Home Ninjas (and picture): http://ps3.qj.net/PlayStation-Home-loves-ninjas-getting-new-ninja-outfits/pg/49/aid/128778
Google PowerMeter (and video): http://mashable.com/2009/02/10/google-powermeter/

Let's get right down to it. 6 topics to do.

We'll start it off with some Gmail news. Gmail is, currently, the 4th most popular e-mail service being used (even though it should be higher). Anyways, Gmail grew 43% in 2008, compared to Yahoo Mail, which grew 11% and also compared to Hotmail, which actually declined 5%. Techcrunch says that Gmail must be growing at such a fast rate compared to other e-mail services because "Gmail is evolving at a faster rate." If you look above, you will see a chart, showing the growth of Gmail (in blue), AOL Email (in red) and Windows Live Hotmail (in green). It seems that everything that Google puts out is trying to come from behind, to take the first spot. It must be because Google is going to, one day, take over the world! Okay, just the Internet.

First, i will talk about Dell and then after, i will talk about Samsung. So, Dell is releasing 2 new widescreen flat-panel LED monitors. The 2 models: 22 inches (G2210) and 24 inches (G2410), are expected to be released in late February. Some specs of these 2 monitors are: 1000:1 contrast ratio, 5ms response time, uses 18 - 20 watts and uses "more than 25 percent post-consumer recycled materials." The G2210 will go for $279 and the G2410 will go for $359. Next up is the Samsung P2370L. This arises the question as to why all these model numbers are so weird. Anyways, staying on topic now, this Samsung monitor / HDTV (pictured above) also uses LED technology, is 16.55 mm thin and has a 1080p resolution. This sexy monitor will go for around $400 USD, which is a bit more than the Dell monitors. Judging from the model number (P2370L), Gizmodo mentions that it may be a 23-inch model. Oh yes, it's also Eco-friendly.

For the first rumour of the day, i'll head over to the Google camp. In order to take over the Internet, Google will have to start somewhere. PC World states that the same Android OS that is running in some mobile phones, like the G1, may be heading to netbooks. If you remember my blog post about the Possible Google OS, it tells us that some of Google's employees were using an unknown OS on their systems. PC World suspects that "if Google were developing an operating system based on Android, netbooks would be the logical target. They require a lightweight operating system, which an Android-based operating system would be." PC World goes on, mentioning that netbooks are "the fastest growing segment of the PC market, so it could immediately boost a new OS's market share." The famous Android OS, was actually able to run on the Asus netbook after only 4 hours of programming. I hope that PC World is headed in the right direction with this rumour because i hope that in a couple years, i'll be running a Google OS (that will be better than the current Windows OS of the time, right Nikki?).

There is a rumour that Grand Theft Auto 5 will be out this year, around November. That is all.

The last rumour is the iPhone Nano. I found this article on The Apple Blog and the title said, "iPhone Nano Spoiling Pre's Party?" There are rumours swirling that Apple will release their iPhone Nano (if true) around June. The Palm Pre, on the other hand, will be released sometime in the first half of this year, 2009. I think that this will impact Palm Pre's sales. The Apple Blog states 2 reason why the iPhone Nano will hurt the Palm Pre. It will be in the hype and the price department. This is where my opinion will now come in. These are actually the same reasons that i was going to write down today in my blog. Obviously, Apple has the hype going towards all of their products and it's kind of annoying. The other reason is because the iPhone Nano will be significantly cheaper than the, recently announced, Palm Pre. So, those are clearly 2 advantages leaning towards the iPhone Nano's favour. Let's talk about the Palm Pre's now, shall we? The Palm Pre is a new device and has an innovative and new OS. The phone looks decent, but if you can get passed that you will realize that it has more to offer because of the phone's Web OS. It has amazing multi-tasking capability and has the Synergy thing going for them. Looking at the picture above, i had an epiphany. What if Apple decided to put a QWERTY keyboard in the iPhone Nano? Now, this is very unlikely, but it just came to me. The iPhone Nano would look like the Palm Pre, plus it has the Applications too. Although, you may be missing out on the awesome OS, you still get the QWERTY keyboard. The QWERTY keyboard will, most likely, be a necessity because the iPhone Nano's on-screen keyboard would be too small for some fingers to type on. Anyways, i really hope the Palm Pre does well because it's good to see more [decent] competition and because Palm was one of the early pioneers of the PDA, so it would be good to see them make a comeback. That's all i had to say, i don't want to rant anymore.

I hope you enjoyed that.

Gmail Grows 43% (and picture): http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/14/gmail-grew-43-percent-last-year-aol-mail-and-hotmail-need-to-start-worrying/
Dell Monitors: http://blogs.zdnet.com/green/?p=1656
Samsung Monitor (and picture): http://i.gizmodo.com/5130967/samsung-p2370l-23+inch-lcd-display-led-backlight-great-design-a-steal-for-400
Google OS: http://www.pcworld.com/article/157094/google_os_netbooks.html?tk=rss_news
Grand Theft Auto 5 Rumour: http://kotaku.com/5131392/rumor-next-grand-theft-auto-could-hit-by-the-holidays
iPhone Nano Rumour (and picture): http://theappleblog.com/2009/01/14/iphone-nano-spoiling-pres-party/

Apple has denied many times that they are not working on a netbook, but it looks like Psystar could fulfill some dreams out there. Psystar has just "confirmed" that they are working on a netbook running Mac OS X. Hopefully it will be cheap enough for someone to buy, not like most Apple products. The spec sheet shouldn't be entirely bad, but they haven't been mentioned at all yet. We'll see what happens in the future. The price and the release date has not been mentioned yet, so I'm sorry about that.

[Slash Gear]

So, Macworld was earlier today and it's already finished. I didn't get to watch it, since it was live while i was at school, but i read some information about it. It seems to me that this was the most interesting news that was said during the keynote. As the title of the blog post says, this notebook will have a screen measuring 17 inches. This MacBook Pro will be available at the end of this month. It will be under an inch thick and will weigh about 6.6 pounds. Apple claims that this is the "thinnest and lightest 17' notebook on the market." The battery life has incredibly improved since it's last model, although it is non-removable. This battery will last you "7 hours with discrete graphics, 8 hours with integrated graphics." and will last around 1000 recharges. Apparently, this is 3 times more than the average notebook. The screen will have a resolution of 1920x1200 and will have "an impressive 700:1 contrast ratio and 60% greater color gamut than the last 17-inch display. There is an optional anti-glare coating that you can add on for another $50 USD. As you may have noticed, i haven't mentioned the base price of the system yet. But, i think now would be a good time. Actually, no, not after some more specifications. This notebook will have a 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 GB 1066 MHz DDR3 memory, a 320 GB hard drive and your choice of either the Nvidia GeForce 9400M or the Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT. Finally, the price? A whopping, $2,799 USD. The specs were pretty good for an Apple notebook, but the price is very Apple-like. Time to save up money for this, no?

Toshiba is currently working on the Matsushita Display, which will be capable of projecting 3D, without the need of those awkward glasses. This will be shown at this year's CES. These displays will be capable of showing 2D and 3D on the same screen and in high resolution. They are "adapting a 3D film for use with 3- and 9-inch displays." These displays will run a new technology called OCB (Optically Compensated Bend) in their LCD's. Interesting Stuff. I'd like to see Killzone 2 / Starcraft 2 in 3D, it would be sweet.

NEC is going to be hitting the market by storm with this 42.8 inch slightly curved screen. The display will weigh around 45 pounds, but will have an amazing 2880 x 900 resolution with under a 0.02 ms response time, which is an excellent thing. It's also more than double the price of the new 17 inch MacBook Pro, that i just finished talking about. You thought $2,799 was a lot? This monitor, dubbed the name NEC CRVD, will cost you $6,499 when it ships in April.

Remember that Sony Vaio netbook that i've talked about before? Well, here's a picture of what it looks like. Engadget mentions that this picture was taken off of the display monitors at CES. Apparently, it has a tiny keyboard and a tiny pointing nub. We'll have to wait until CES this weekend to know more information on this netbook.

17 inch MacBook Pro: http://i.gizmodo.com/5124514/17+inch-macbook-pro-is-unibody-2799
17 inch MacBook Pro picture: http://www.macnn.com/articles/09/01/06/17.inch.unibody.mbp/
Toshiba Matsushita Display, 3D: http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/06/toshiba-matsushita-display-teases-handheld-high-res-no-glasses/
NEC CRVD Display (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/06/video-nec-crvd-display-hands-on/
Sony Vaio P (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/06/sonys-vaio-p-ultraportable-revealed/

Sony has actually unintentionally confirmed the new Vaio netbook. It is going to be 8 inches and will sport a wide 1600x768 resolution. It packs a 1.33 GHz Intel processor and has a 60GB hard drive. It's pretty cool but on the other hand, i think it's too small for someone like me to use. Looking at this picture kind of tells me that it will be good to have on-the-fly and that female's can put it in their purses, or whatever. So yeah, this new netbook will be pretty small, it can probably fit in a big pocket, i guess. Hmm, seeing how it is Sony it will probably be overpriced, but eh, that's just what i think.

So, Lenovo will release a new phone, the Lenovo OPhone. The OPhone is just 1 mm thicker than the iPhone 3G and packs many more features. The OPhone, to me, looks uglier than the iPhone but it does have a 5MP camera with a flash. It may be a good competitor, but i think many people will agree with me and say that, currently, the iPhone can't be brought down. The iPhone's specifications may be lacking, but it makes up for it with it's awesome OS and fluidity. Don't even get me started on all of the applications that the iPhone has. It is pretty much a gaming console and i don't think Lenovo will scare Apple one bit. The iPhone is just too packed with applications and games. The Lenovo OPhone is pictured on the left side and it is located in the middle of the 2 iPhones.

So, after getting home after driving over black ice last night, i ended up going to bed at about 4:30 a.m. I woke up this morning at 11:42 and i've been trying to install Greasemonkey on Google Chrome. Up to now, i still don't know how to install the scripts, but hopefully i'll be able to get it soon after i write this blog. Anyways, me and my mom haven't talked much today, i haven't even told her 'Merry Christmas,' but i guess i already did last night. Does that count? Anyways, she walked into my room and handed me this small box thing. I opened it and it revealed that she gave me a wallet with $50 CAD inside. Yay. I was so excited... not. Why would i need a wallet, seriously? I'm already fine with my fake Lacoste wallet, but she gets me another one anyway. I am probably not going to ask her for a ride to my girlfriend's house later because i don't really want to talk to her. But, ehh, i'll just bus, it's okay. I know tonight will be fun and i can't wait to get to my girlfriend's place later today. It really doesn't feel like Christmas, but i don't know. I hope that my 2 best friend's are having a good Christmas and i wish you ALL a Merry Christmas! Greasemonkey struggling, here i come [again!].

Sony Vaio Netbook (and picture): http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/12/25/sony.vaio.p.leak/
Lenovo OPhone (and picture): http://gizmodo.com/5118040/lenovo-ophone-sizes-up-against-iphone-iphone-3g

It was just a couple of days ago when Nokia confirmed that they are definitely "looking" to enter the netbook market and it's been months since we've heard rumours about a Nokia netbook. Today, it's official! Nokia has unveiled the Booklet 3G, it has: a 10.1-inch display, an Intel Atom CPU, integrated 3G, a SIM card slot, aGPS support, HDMI output, Bluetooth / WiFi support, and a battery long enough to reportedly last 12 hours. The design definitely looks pretty nice. It weighs 2.75 pounds, it's just 2cm thick, and I'm loving the chiclet keyboard layout - don't forget it's aluminum body. It's like Apple helped them design this thing. This is sexy.

It looks like it will be available this year because it is running Windows 7 in the video below - hopefully there'll be an Intel Moblin OS option. This netbook will be officially unveiled on September 2nd by Nokia themselves - y'know Nokia World.



[Engadget, Liliputing, Crunch Gear, Unwired View, Beta News]

Apple move aside because at CeBIT this year, Asus looks like they're pulling out the stops. Who needs to pay over $2,000 USD for an iMac when you can get the Asus Eee Top all-in-one PC for just $600 USD. You can now pre-order these online. If you're still interested, the Asus Eee Top will have a 15.6-inch screen, a 1.6GHz Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB HDD, an integrated webcam and will run on Windows XP. Amazon says that they will be available on March 9, but like i said, you can pre-order them right now. Gizmodo points out that "if 15.6 inches is a bit too small for you, rumor has it that your patience could be rewarded with a 22-inch version coming out later."

Asus will continue their pressure on Apple by releasing the Asus Eee PC 1008HA. If you want to see how thin the netbook is from the side then just click on this link. It is clearly a MacBook Air competitor. The netbook manages to stay about 1-inch thick, weighs only 2.4 pounds and has a 92 percent-sized keyboard.

Meet the Nintendo Wii Asus Eee Sticks. Clearly a Wii rival, but obviously won't be as popular. The Asus Eee Sticks were available for viewing at CeBIT this year. They are motion sensing sticks, similar to the Wii's sticks. Judging from the picture, it looks like they were showing off some tennis.

I briefly talked about this Asus Eee keyboard PC over a month ago and it looks like there are some more details regarding this peripheral. The Eee keyboard PC will be on sale this May or June. They will be going for $400 USD and $600 USD for the wired model and the wireless model, respectively. Finally, the specs have been revealed. With the Eee keyboard PC you get a 5-inch touchscreen display, a 1.6 GHz Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, a 16 or 32GB SSD, WiFi, Bluetooth, wireless HDMI, 2 USB slots, VGA, HDMI and audio in/out. These are pretty good specs for a keyboard PC, did i mention that it won't be a pain to carry around?

We'll take a break from Asus for the last paragraph. Here is a look of Amazon's Kindle app for the iPhone. If you want to read up on the "First Look" just go to this link to read up on it. It's a fairly long post, so i just though i'd warn you first.

Asus Eee Top (and picture): http://i.gizmodo.com/5163468/asus-eee-top-all+in+one-now-available-for-preorder
Asus Eee PC 1008HA (and picture): http://blogs.zdnet.com/gadgetreviews/?p=1847
Asus Eee PC 1008HA Specs: http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/03/asus-debuts-the-eee-pc-1008ha-shell-10-inch-ultraportable/
Asus Eee Sticks (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/03/asus-shows-off-eee-stick-at-cebit/
Asus Eee Keyboard PC (and picture): http://i.gizmodo.com/5163636/asus-eee-keyboard-pc-should-arrive-in-may-or-june-for-400+600
Amazon's Kindle App (and picture): http://theappleblog.com/2009/03/04/first-look-amazon-kindle-for-iphone/