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Packard Bell Dot S and Dot M Netbooks Steal From Acer

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Not exactly, but close enough. The new 10.1-inch Dot S from Packard Bell takes most of its hardware from the Acer Aspire One D250 and the Dot M takes most of its hardware from the 11.6-inch Aspire One. I actually think that the Dot M looks decent with its silver lining on the touchpad, but it has an odd-looking wrist-rest design. Anyways, the Dot S will be available this week in Europe for just €299 ($393 USD) and the Dot M will be available by the end of this month for €399 ($525 USD).

[Engadget]



Original Founders Want to Buy Skype Back From eBay

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"As the New York Times reported, Skype's founders, Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, are in talks with several private equity firms and are amassing their own financial resources to make a bid for the internet phone business." Back in 2005, eBay bought Skype for $2.6 to $3.1 billion, but apparently, they now want to buy it back. I don't know what will come out of this, but I do know that eBay has yet to do anything with Skype so they might as well sell it. They should have sold it to Google, wait, whatever happened to those rumours?

Skype has been increasing in popularity the last couple of months, so it's no surprise that these two want to buy it back. Skype was even worthy enough to become a free app on the Apple's App Store and was downloaded 1 million times in the first 2 days.

[Tech Crunch]

Fisker Automotive To Rival the Tesla Model S; Mitsubishi iMiEV Plans the Same Thing

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Fisker Automotive is planning to release their own rival to the Chevrolet Volt and the Tesla Model S. There is currently no word on any juicy information except for it being a hybrid car and that it will be more expensive than the Chevrolet Volt ($40,000 USD) and the Tesla Model S ($50,000 USD), but less than the Karma ($87,900 USD). I'm pretty sure the Tesla Model S will beat it out though. Looks like a too little, too late situation here.

The other rival for the Volt and the Model S is Mitsubishi's iMiEV. Clearly, it doesn't look as good as the Model S - I'm pretty sure ashlee will agree with me there - but it should cost around $40,000 USD rivaling the cost of the Volt . The iMiEV may also be available before both the Volt and the Model S which should give it a significant head-start. The Tesla Model S still reigns supreme in my book.

[Engadget (Fisker), Crunch Gear (Mitsubishi)]

Will the Amazon Kindle Be Getting An Upgrade by Christmas?

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Apparently, that's what it looks like since the latest rumour mentions that there could be a Kindle with a larger screen by Christmas. I guess it would make a good Christmas present for those Kindle lovers out there. Up to now, I still don't know what the point of an Amazon Kindle is. Wouldn't it be better off to get a tablet PC or a netbook? You can always download books using torrents. Maybe that's just me and my devilish illegal ways. Yes, I downloaded the Starcraft, Warcraft, and Diablo book series, thanks to torrents. I read my first book when I was 17, it was the first Starcraft book. Sad, I know. I'm actually planning to read the 'Da Vinci Code' and 'Angels and Demons' this Summer along with the other books that that author made. We'll see how that works out.

[Gizmodo]

Hitachi Announces 11 New HDTVs in the Wooo Series

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Yes, they did. 11 Hitachi HDTV announcements in one day. First up is the Wooo UT800 Series. There are 4 variations in this LCD series including 32, 37, 42, and 47-inch models and they are all just 1.4-inches thick. They all have 120Hz technology, 500 nits of brightness, have an SDHC and iVDR slot, a 250GB HDD to record HD television, and also has Ethernet. These are expected to launch in Japan this October in the $2,499 to $4,300 USD price range.

The Wooo 03 Series was also announced today; they are made up of 4 plasma TVs and 3 LCD TVs. The smallest plasma will be 42-inches with just a 1,024 x 768 resolution and the largest one will be 50-inches with a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution. The plasmas have a 40,000:1 contrast ratio except for the 42-inch plasma which has a 30,000:1 instead - oh yes, they all save energy too. The three LCD TVs range from the 32-inch model that has a 1,366 x 768 resolution to the 42-inch model that has a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution. The 7 HDTVs in the Wooo 03 Series have an SDHC and iVDR slot, and also a 250GB HDD. These HDTVs will have a range in price from $2,000 to $3,200 USD - the LCDs will ship later this month and the plasmas are expected to be available this May.

For more picture and information, be sure to click on the link below.

[Slash Gear]

Amazon's Xbox Live Store is Now Up and Running

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Amazon recently launched their own Xbox Live Store, but it's currently still in beta. This is the first place where you can buy Xbox Live games besides on the console or the official site. As of right now there are about 100 games available, but it'll be interesting to see what Amazon's Xbox Live Store will do to make it better than the original one.

[Slash Gear]

Vizio P50 50-Inch Plasma For Just $799

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Yes, it's brand new and not some used garbage. Vizio is selling their 50-inch P50 plasma TV for just $799 USD with free shipping starting now until April 15. The bad thing is that it only supports 720p/1080i and weighs 144 pounds - which is friggin' heavy, thanks plasma. Yes, it doesn't have 1080p, but what do you expect with a 50-inch plasma going for just $799 USD? Anyways, it also has a 1,366 x 768 resolution, 10,000:1 contrast ratio, 1,000 nits of brightness, an integrated HDTV tuner, and has a couple of ports, including: HDMI, Component, Composite, and S-Video. Go get yours now, before Vizio runs out of them. I'd get one for my room if I had the money and a stand that would support 144 pounds since I don't have Rogers HD in my room.

[Crunch Gear]

Starcraft 2 Will Be Available in 2009!!!

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Apparently, this poster is confirmation that we will see Starcraft 2 before the end of this year. The poster has no information about Diablo 3 so that means it's coming out next year - or the year after that. Anyways, don't count on this information to be 100% accurate since it is just speculation. But, at this point, any information about Starcraft 2 really interests me.

[Gamezilla]

iRiver P7 Scraps the iPod Touch on Paper

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Yes, it does scrap the iPod Touch on paper for most of the users out there. It has a larger 4.3-inch TFT full touchscreen display (I thought it was 7-inches when I first looked at the picture) with a "widget-like" UI. It also supports a wide range of formats, has FM radio / recording, 50 hours of audio / 7 hours of video playback, voice recording, and USB 2.0 connectivity. Another advantage it has over the iPod Touch is that it has its own converter built-in so that it converts your video automatically for you instead of you having to manually convert your videos with a 3rd-party program with an iPod. The last advantage it has over the iPod Touch is the price which is $179 USD for 8GB and also $209 USD for the 16GB model. 

The only downside to this PMP is that it doesn't have WiFi capabilities or an App Store. That is why it is not an iPod Touch killer - that and it's also not made by Apple.

[Crunch Gear]

Intel's 2-Second Boot Times Using Linux

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Yes, it is the OS that counts, right Apple fanboys? Well maybe a 2-second boot-up will convince you to leave Mac OS X or Windows for Linux. Since it's targeted for netbooks, it would be better if I mentioned to ditch Windows XP for Linux. Intel "promises" that they will get the boot-up time of their Moblin Linux OS for netbooks down to just 2 seconds. Now this would be amazing. This brings up another question. Would Intel be able to implement this into the Android OS for netbooks? Android is Linux-based, so could it be possible? It would definitely pull some attraction, at least that's what I think.

[Gizmodo]

ViewSonic VG2427 24-Inch LCD Monitor For Just $500

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Following the VT2230, we have a new and kind of cheap ViewSonic 24-inch VG2427. Like I said, it is a 24-inch monitor with a 1,920 x 1,080 Full HD resolution, a 20,000:1 dynamic ratio, 300 nits of brightness, and has an ECO mode to save on energy. The monitor: has an ugly stand that will allow you to adjust the height of the monitor, has hidden speakers and also has 2 USB ports. It's available now for just $499 USD.

[Engadget]

UMID M1 Import Costs $750

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Yes, it is quite expensive for the UMID M1, but if you take out Windows XP then it could immediately cut the cost by $110 USD. But, for most users that's not an option since some of us don't like to use Linux. Anyways, the M1 has a 1.33GHz Intel Atom CPU, 512MB of RAM and has a 16GB SSD inside of it. Remember that this $750 USD device doesn't have 3G so that's a huge negative. Looks like it's better to wait for the M2 MID from UMID - that is, if they sell enough of this one.

[Slash Gear]

The Zune HD Is Here!!

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Okay, I might be lying, but it could be. This could be your very first look at the next Zune from Microsoft, the Zune HD. Personally, the screen looks nice to me, but I don't like the bottom of the Zune. We'll see if these are real shots or not, soon.

[Engadget]

Apple Orders 100 Million 8GB Chips

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DigiTimes is just about the best place to look for the latest Apple rumours. Apparently, Apple has just placed an order for 100 million 8GB flash storage chips and most of them are coming from Samsung. This purchase would be twice the size of last year's order, so they could be gearing up for a 32GB iPod Touch or a future 32GB iPhone. We'll just have to see when Apple announces something - whenever that will be.

Picture Credit: 24/7 Wall St.

[Gizmodo]

Lime-Green PSP-3000

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I don't know why anyone would want to get this, but there are people out there that would. Anyways, this is a shot of a lime green PSP-3000, but it is unsure whether it's just a prototype or if it will be available to the public. It would be interesting if this PSP colour would hit the North American market, so that I can laugh at people walking around with this junk.

[Joystiq PlayStation]

Palm Pre Launching On May 17 (Or June 29)?

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This is the latest rumour. Palm's saviour will be dropping sometime in May. Apparently, Sprint has already issued a vacation blackout for all of their employees in May - meaning that no employees can take a vacation day. This would be similar to AT&T when the iPhone launched. Anyways, the rumour also says that Sunday, May 17 would be the first release date for the Palm Pre. But, if Palm underestimated the demand for their new Palm Pre then they would push the release date back all the way to June 29. Let's hope Palm estimates correctly or else we're all screwed.

[Slash Gear, Engadget]

Phobos Gaming PC Comes With 2 BFG GeForce Gfx Cards

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The Phobos Gaming / Home Theater PC now comes with 2 BFG GeForce GT 275 OC graphics cards running on Nvidia's SLI technology as a standard. It comes with a few more upgrades like Intel's SSDs and a liquid-cooled Core i7-920 2.66GGHz CPU. The system also has one-touch overclocking and free installation. It is now available for a starting price of $3,000 USD.

This looks like a great gaming PC that I could go after if I had the money. I don't like the fact that hardcore gaming PCs go for such an expensive price, but I don't blame them. I do think that they should have used the same liquid-cooling system that Dell used for their XPS 625 and 630 because it didn't really cost that much - only $120 USD more.

[Slash Gear]

LG GM210, GM310, GM205 Music Phones Get Shown Off

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The LG GM210, GM310, and GM205 is pictured above from left to right, respectively. They all have Dolby Mobile and LG's Sound Engine since they are all music phones. First, I'll talk about the GM210 and the GM205 which both have a 2MP camera. The GM210 has a microSD card slot that supports up to 4GB and also has USB connectivity. The GM205, on the other hand, has a microSD card slot that supports up to only 2GB but it has 2.1-channel speakers.

The LG GM310 is definitely the best of the 3 music phones. It has touch-sensitive buttons, a 2.2-inch QVGA display, tri-band GSM / dual-band HSDPA, a 3.15MP camera with autofocus, Bluetooth 2.1, 512MB / 1GB of onboard storage with a microSD slot that supports up to 32GB, and also has a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The phone will be released in emerging markets in Asia, Latin America, Mexico, Brazil, and will eventually make its way to 30 countries in total. There has been no word on the pricing or the availability date, but it shouldn't be too expensive.

[GSM Arena]

Samsung S5200 Surfaces

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The Samsung S5200 is a new mid-level handset competing with the likes of Sony Ericsson and LG. The S5200 was shown off a couple of days ago in the Netherlands beside the M2710 and the M2310. It has a 2.1-inch TFT display, a 3MP camera, Bluetooth, USB connectivity, and probably has a microSD slot since it has a built-in mp3 player. Clearly the whole spec sheet has not been revealed along with the price and availability.

[GSM Arena]

Assassin's Creed Main Character Photo; and Square Enix Character Teaser Shot

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To me, this guy looks badass. This is the main character of Assassin's Creed 2 and this image first surfaced on the official Ubisoft forums. Well, since then it has been taken down, but I just thought I'd give you a high-resolution look at him.

This is a shot of another character, this time from an upcoming Square Enix game. It could be from anywhere and the game could be released on just about any console, even the PC - hopefully not on the Wii though. The character has greyish-white hair and a sword mildly resembling the Buster Sword which is Cloud's, from FFVII, weapon-of-choice. It's probably not a game based around Sephiroth, but that would sound great now that I think about it. More about this screenshot at a later date.

[JoyStiq (Assassin's Creed), PS3,QJ (Square Enix)]

Acer Tempo Series All Available By May

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Remember the 4 smartphones we saw from Acer at MWC? They are a part of Acer's Tempo Series and all have touchscreen capabilities, but will run on Windows Mobile 6.1 so that's definitely a negative, since Windows Mobile 6.5 is coming soon. Anyways, the 4 smartphones will be available starting later this month and the last phone is expected to launch by the end of May. Acer hasn't outlined a timeline plan for the 4 phones, but look out for them in the next couple of days / weeks. Personally, I think the F900 and the M900 are the two best smartphones here because of the 3.8-inch touchscreen display. I favour the M900 over the F900 because of the slide-out QWERTY keyboard though.

[Slash Gear]

Casio Exilim is Good For Girls in the Shower

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If you take a look at the video below, it is an ad for Casio's latest Exilim handset. It has a 5.1MP camera and will be available through Verizon at a later date. It involves a girl in the shower talking on the phone then taking pictures of herself, yeah... Yes, it is water resistant and is also a good way to get caught "sexting."



[Gizmodo]

Liquid Cooling Options For the Dell XPS 625/630

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The Dell 625 and 630 are low-costing gaming desktop PCs with a nice bang for your buck. But just in case you're interested, they now have options for you to add liquid cooling to the PC. You'll have to fork over an extra $120 USD, but I think it'd be worth it. I'd get it, if I was interested in getting a PC right now. Maybe I'll be getting one when Starcraft II gets released - whenever that is.

[Engadget]

Nokia Aeon Gets the Lead Role in a Movie

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Yes, the phone you see above is the center of attraction in the movie 'Echelon Conspiracy.' Apparently, this movie was scheduled to be released on February 27, so if I can find it online I'm going to watch it. Anyways, the phone is just a concept and is the main character in this movie. Judging from the trailer, the phone has many capabilities being full-touch sensitive and on steroids. Take a look at the trailer below for more shots of the phone in action. Oh yeah, don't turn the phone on though because it could kill you, judging from the end of the trailer. Check it out!



[Boy Genius]

BYD Mars Is a Phone and an MID Running Windows XP

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Yes, Intel showed off their new Atom models at IDF Beijing, but they weren't stopping there. One gadget in particular definitely caught my eye. It's the BYD MID, codenamed Mars, that is a phone-and-MID in one and uses Intel's Atom CPU. If you watch the video below, the man on stage talked briefly about the MID. No spec sheet was revealed, but we'll just have to wait. The device is a phone, but when you open its clamshell design you get an MID that runs on Windows XP and has its own physical QWERTY keyboard. I don't know how useful the phone aspect of the device is because it'd be similar to holding a brick to your ear, but the MID aspect of it is magnificent. Look out for it at a later date.



[Engadget]

HTC Touch Diamond 2 To Hit Taiwan This Month

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Yes, Verizon is launching the HTC Touch Diamond today, but if you wait a little bit then you could get your hands on the Touch Diamond 2. The Touch Diamond 2 is said to be hitting Taiwan later this month - could be the rumoured April 17th date. In Taiwan, the Diamond 2 will be priced at around NT$21,900 ($650 USD) and will come with an 8GB microSD card. As of right now, there is still no NAM version, so we're going to have to wait a little bit longer. No release date or pricing is available for the HTC Touch Diamond 2 for the Americas, hopefully the FCC will get their hands on it soon.

[Boy Genius]

Gmail Labs; Inserting Images in Your E-mails

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If you have a Gmail account you can now add pictures to the body of your e-mail now. Instead of just attaching images, this is the newest and easiest way to add images to your e-mail. If go to Labs and enable the feature called "Inserting Images" you will be able to add pictures to your e-mail message. Make sure you're on rich formatting mode though or else the feature won't work.

[Gmail Blog]

LG Viewty II To Hit Orange in June

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The LG Viewty II (GC900) is rumoured to be released to the UK shore - thanks to Orange - this June. The Viewty II is said to have a 3-inch touchscreen WVGA display, an 8MP camera, the new S-class 3D UI, aGPS, DivX support, WiFi, 3G, and 32GB of storage. This is a phone I'd get, if it had a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. I find it difficult to type on a virtual QWERTY keyboard. I could get used to it, but I'm going to choose not to - for now at least. This looks like a great touchscreen phone though.

[Boy Genius]

Samsung U490 Trance To Hit Verizon On April 24

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The Samsung U490 Trance is in my low-level handset category. It has a 2.1-inch display with a 220 x 176 resolution, a 1.3MP camera, 1GB of internal memory, a microSD card slot, Bluetooth, a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, and it will have Bang & Olufsen ICEpower sound technology. The Trance will be available through Verizon Wireless on April 24 for $49.99 (after $50 mail-in rebate) on a 2-year contract, $119.99 (after $50 mail-in rebate) on a 1-year contract, and $219.99 USD for no-contract.

[Boy Genius]

Bluetooth 3.0 and T-Mobile Announcement on April 21

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It has been confirmed that Bluetooth SIG will be talking a bit about the upcoming Bluetooth 3.0 which will be faster than 802.11 wireless. "Speed is definitely the focus of Bluetooth 3.0" and this is great news. On a side note, I wonder what's happening to USB 3.0.

T-Mobile is reminding everyone via e-mail that they are going to announce something on April 21 in NYC. Everyone's excited, but no one knows exactly what it will be. It could be something about the Sidekick 2009, HTC Magic (T-Mobile G2), Huawei handset (T-Mobile G3) or it could have something to do with Android's Cupcake. We'll all have to wait and see, so mark April 21 on your calendars. Bluetooth 3.0 and T-Mobile excitement!

[Slash Gear (Bluetooth), Mobile Crunch (T-Mobile)]

Office 14 Renamed To Microsoft Office 2010

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No surprise here. Office 14 will be renamed to Microsoft Office 2010 when it is officially launched. I'm hoping that a free version of Microsoft Office gets released because I really want to try it out. I love OpenOffice, but sometimes it's good to have Microsoft Office - sometimes.

[ZDNet Blogs]

Macs Are Slow; OCZ Slows Their SSDs Down Just For Macs

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OCZ recently released their Vertex SSDs and the Mac-certified SSDs are 10MB/s slower than the PC-certified ones in both reading and writing data. This is because of some Mac OS X limitations. So those of you who choose Macs over Windows, you're right. It is all about the OS. You can read the full article below, if you're interested.

[Bright Side of News]