Isn't it time you went hands-free with a Bluetooth headset? Here's what you need to look for when choosing the perfect companion for your mobile phone.
Picking the right Bluetooth headset might seem simple, but it actually comes with a challenge that's unique to all headphones, and, well, anything that needs to be placed in your ear: It's tough (and not completely sanitary) to try products out before plunking down the cash for them. But a major component of a headset's success depends on how it feels and fits—and that varies widely from person to person, and even from ear to ear. Other factors including sound quality, design and style, battery life, and extra features are important, too. We've come up with eight points you should consider when shopping for your next Bluetooth headset:
1. Call Quality
If call quality is the most important consideration for you, you'll want to check out the Plantronics Voyager 520, the Aliph New Jawbone, or the Motorola MotoPURE H15. (The latter two incorporate noise-cancellation technology; more on that later.) Call quality varies widely among products, but we're pleased to report that even the most recent, smaller, fashion-conscious models like the drop-dead-gorgeous Plantronics Discovery 925 finally sound as good as their larger counterparts, despite having tiny microphones and speakers.
2. Noise Cancellation
Aliph's original Jawbone introduced noise-cancellation technology to the masses. The popular model is still a solid benchmark in noise-canceling performance, although Aliph's New Jawbone steps it up with more advanced NoiseAssassin technology. Some headsets, like the BlueAnt Z9i, also do a fine job at blocking out noise and are more comfortable than the Jawbone models, which need to sit snugly against your cheek for the best performance.
3. Battery Life
As for endurance, a guiding principle: If you don't want to charge, go large. Some of the bulkier, less fashionable headsets like the Plantronics Voyager 520 can last almost 9 hours on a single charge. The original Aliph Jawbone makes it to about 6 hours. The New Jawbone drops that down to a shade below 4 hours owing to its smaller, slimmer design, which lacks the room necessary for a large battery. The same is true of the Motorola H15.
4. Comfort
Again, this is a tough one. Some models, like the original SoundID SM100 and the newer Plantronics Voyager 835, feature a rubber earbud that sits partially inside your ear. While some may find this uncomfortable, I think it creates a secure fit without being too tight. (I find both of these models very comfortable.) Others, like the Cardo S-800 and the Samsung WEP700, sit on the edge of your ear, while the Plantronics Voyager 510 and 520 rely more heavily on their requisite ear hooks for balance and comfort. It's all a matter of personal preference, really.
5. Style
A certain portion of the population thinks that all Bluetooth headsets look silly. A certain portion of the population thinks that all Bluetooth headsets look silly—a view that's reinforced whenever they see people walking down the street wearing one, even when not in use. If you want the best-looking device you can find, the sleek, hatpin-like Plantronics Discovery 925 and the tiny but cute Motorola H15 score points for their fetching designs. The slight but attractive Aliph New Jawbone is another head turner. Still, limiting headset use to your desk or the car will keep disapproving stares to a minimum.
6. Range
There's not much variation in range of operation, except for the Callpod Dragon, which achieved close to 50 feet on our tests. Most headsets are limited to a theoretical range of 33 feet, which is a limitation of Bluetooth technology. Typically, you can go a good 10 to 15 feet before static starts to creep in.
7. Mono vs. Stereo Sound
Most Bluetooth headsets provide mono sound and fit in a single ear. But if you want to listen to stereo music wirelessly—say, for your workout—a few of the latest dual-ear models, like the MotoROKR S9-HD and the Altec Lansing BackBeat, are worth considering. Die-hard audiophiles, on the other hand, should stick with wired earphones for the best sound quality. But when it comes to pure convenience, it's tough to beat a stereo Bluetooth set, especially since these models let you listen to your tunes and take calls from your Bluetooth-enabled phone.
8. Bonus Features
Depending on the device you choose, you can get one (or more) nifty extras. Some headsets, like the Plantronics Voyager 520, let you pair up to two devices simultaneously; that means you can switch between PC-based VoIP calls and cell-phone calls all day without pairing and re-pairing each time. The BlueAnt V1 lets you speak commands and gives you voice-based tutorials, and the Callpod Dragon has a two-way communication mode so that you and a friend can talk to each other while riding bicycles, for example. One of the more innovative headsets we've seen, the Iqua 603 SUN integrates a solar panel that keeps its battery charged with the sun's rays.
Sabtu, 21 Februari 2009
How to Buy a Bluetooth Headset
How to Buy a Netbook
Seems like everywhere you turn these days—newspapers, magazines, TV shows, even your friends—netbooks are a hot topic for discussion. What has pushed netbooks—very small laptops that run a full-blown Linux or Windows operating system—into the spotlight is the fact that they are capable yet inexpensive, with prices ranging from $300 to $600. Early on, they were considered second computers, best for e-mail and Web surfing—thus the netbook moniker. But as manufacturers compete vigorously for market share—slashing prices and tacking on extras—consumers are reconsidering the roles that netbooks could play. Inexpensive and portable netbooks appeal to a wide audience, from businesspeople who travel frequently, to kids and home users looking for a small laptop to carry from room to room, to book-laden students who spend long hours on campus.
If you're not thinking about buying a netbook, you should be—they're powerful, portable, and inexpensive. Here's what you need to know before you buy.
What Makes Netbooks Different?
It's easy enough to tell a netbook from other laptops, but the differences between one netbook and the next are getting fewer and fewer. They generally have 8-to-10-inch widescreens and lack built-in optical drives. None have full-size keyboards—they usually range from 89 percent to 93 percent of full size—so expect a more cramped typing experience than with a mainstream laptop. (If at all possible, try out the keyboard before you buy.) You will find an abundance of USB ports, a webcam, a card reader, and built-in Wi-Fi. Some even have bonus features like ExpressCard slots, Bluetooth, and options for cellular modems. Most every netbook has adopted the Intel Atom platform, made up of the Atom processor, integrated graphics, and 512MB to 1GB of RAM.
What Can (and Can't) Netbooks Do?
Don't underestimate the capabilities of these machines. They're not just limited to Web surfing, compiling spreadsheets, or word processing. You can offload your photos from a digital camera and edit them using a program like Adobe Photoshop Elements 7. With some patience, you can transcode video to another format using Windows Media Encoder 9 or edit video footage using Adobe Premiere Elements 7, or run your entire music library off of a program like Apple iTunes. A netbook can play video from sites like YouTube or a movie from an external USB drive, unmarred by distortions and lag. Businesses are considering these pint-size laptops because you can run various e-mail clients on them, put them on a network, install a VPN client, and secure them with antivirus and antispyware suites.
Configuring Your Netbook
To get a netbook that does all that you want it to do, you have to follow some basic configuration guidelines. Start with the operating system. Linux is cheap and very user-friendly, but average users tend to be more familiar and comfortable with Windows. What it comes down to is the support, functionality, and compatibility that Windows offers with an enormous range of hardware and software applications—whereas with Linux, users may not want to take the time to learn a new interface, install a program, or figure out how to get a device to work with a particular driver. And when Windows 7 rolls out, it will be even tougher for Linux to get a foothold in the netbook market. You'll find two types of hard drives: solid-state drives (SSDs) and spinning hard drives. While SSDs have faster transfer speeds, are more durable, and have longer life spans than their traditional counterparts, you pay a premium for these advantages. Most netbooks are available with spinning hard drives that can store up to 160GB worth of data. Shoot for a hard drive that has a capacity of at least 60GB and a rotational speed of 5,400 rpm.
The Intel Atom processor is the fastest and most energy-efficient netbook processor you can get. You may find an Intel Celeron M or a VIA processor in first-generation models like the ASUS EeePC 4G and the HP 2133 Mini-Note, but you're better off skipping these. Many netbooks will run fine on 1GB of memory, and most can be upgraded to 2GB, provided you can make this simple addition yourself. (Microsoft has limited manufacturers to including 1GB of memory on systems with Windows XP Home Edition, and a lot of today's netbooks run XP Home.)
Standard netbook batteries are typically three-cell (less than 30 Wh) units, although netbooks like the ASUS EeePC 1000HE, the Acer Aspire One (10-inch), and the Samsung NC10-14GB have upped their standard batteries to six-cell units. Our testing has shown that the smaller batteries will get you anywhere from 2 to 3 hours on a single charge, while the bigger ones range from 6 to 8 hours. If your activities include trips abroad or all-day classes, you'll want to look for a netbook with a six-cell option.
Specialty features aren't exclusive to larger laptops, either. Already, the HP Mini 1000 is bundling mobile broadband, a modem that makes use of cellular networks to acquire a broadband signal. One can accomplish (though not master) gaming—once thought of as an absurd activity on a netbook—on the ASUS N10Jc, thanks to an Nvidia graphics chipset. (The N10Jc also includes Intel GMA 950 integrated graphics, so you can switch between the two chipsets to enhance graphics power or to prolong battery live.) Several netbooks have already been spotted running Windows 7, Microsoft's successor to Windows Vista, and the Dell Inspiron Mini 12 is currently the only netbook shipping with a 12-inch screen. And some laptop makers have imbued their netbooks with sex appeal, even at the modest price points of these units. Both the HP Mini 2140 and the ASUS EeePC 1002HA have sleek-looking aluminum frames. As for the future, if manufacturers can keep netbook prices down, the sky's the limit
Jumat, 20 Februari 2009
Nanotech Drives Transistor, Storage Advances
CHICAGO, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Two U.S. teams have developed new materials that may pave the way for ever smaller, faster and more powerful electronics as current semiconductor technology begins to reach the limits of miniaturization.
One team has made tiny transistors—the building block of computer processors—a fraction of the size of those used on advanced silicon chips.
Another has made a film material capable of storing data from 250 DVDs onto a surface the size of a coin.
Both advances, published on Thursday in the journal Science, use nanotechnology—the design and manipulation of materials thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair. Nanotechnology has been hailed as a way to make strong, lightweight materials, better cosmetics and even tastier food.
"We have demonstrated that we can make important technologies that are significantly smaller than existing devices," Jeremy Levy of the University of Pittsburgh said in a statement.
Levy's team created its nanotech transistors using two ceramic crystal materials known as lanthanum aluminate and strontium titanate. When sandwiched together, these natural insulators conduct electricity as a positive charge is passed across them.
Using the tip of an atomic force microscope, Levy's team applied voltage to etch a tiny conducting wire between the two materials, which can later be erased by reversing the charge, much like a child's Etch A Sketch drawing toy.
"The transistor we made is arguably the smallest one that has ever been produced in a deterministic and reliable fashion. And we did it using an instrument that can be miniaturized down to the size of a wristwatch," Levy said in an e-mail.
He said the same materials can be used to make atom-sized transistors for computers, memory devices and sensors.
"In terms of simplicity, it's striking," Alexander Bratkovsky, a scientist for Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ.N) who is familiar with the work, said in a statement.
THIN FILM
Meanwhile, a team from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of California Berkeley said they had found a faster, more efficient way of making a thin semiconductor film that they think could dramatically improve data storage.
Many teams have tried to use polymers to create sheets of semiconductor films but the material often lost its structure when spread over large surfaces.
To overcome this, the team lead by Thomas Russell of the University of Massachusetts heated sapphire crystals to create a specific pattern of ridges on the surface. This served as a guide for the semiconductor film.
"We applied a simple concept to solve several problems at once, and it really worked out," Russell said in a statement.
He said the technology could make nearly perfect arrays of semiconductor material that are about 15 times denser than anything achieved previously.
Google, Yahoo, Microsoft All Show Search Gains
Whether they're searching for jobs or video clips of Britney Spears, Americans conducted 13.5 billion online searches at the core search engines in January, the majority of which were done via Google, according to Wednesday data from comScore.
About 63 percent of January searches were done through Google-owned sites, with 21 percent using Yahoo, and 8.5 percent using Microsoft sites.
hough Google's core search ranking dropped slightly from 63.5 to 63 percent, overall Google sites – including YouTube – attracted 11.7 billion searches, up 5 percent from December. Yahoo saw a 10 percent increase with 2.9 billion searches, and Microsoft inched up about 9 percent with 1.2 billion.
For searches only on the main search page, Google.com attracted 8.5 billion hits, Yahoo.com had 2.8 billion, and MSN.com had 1.14 billion.
Though holiday sales helped boost Amazon's earnings, its search engine did not fare as well, dropping 4 percent to 196 million searches.
Craigslist saw a 28 percent jump with 497 million searches, while eBay was up 8 percent with 541 million, and Facebook jumped 21 percent with 195 million.
Apple iMac (24-inch Penryn)
The Apple iMac (24-inch Penryn) ($1,799 direct) is the iconic all-in-one desktop that others try emulate. Its aluminum-and-glass face evokes the iPhone and iPod Touch, a look that works well. A successor to the aluminum 20-inch iMac, the last model I reviewed, it upgrades the screen to 1,920 by 1,200 pixels—big enough to view true HD video content. This newest iteration of iMac is powered by the new Intel Penryn (45nm) Core 2 Duo E8235 processor, which allows lower energy usage and offers greater computing power than the Merom chips in older iMacs. The extra power helps the iMac maintain its place in the vanguard of all-in-one PCs.
Styling and software on the iMac (24-inch Penryn) are much the same as on its immediate predecessors. The new iMac improves on them mainly by using new processors and other components, like the speedier DDR2 memory. All iMacs now ship standard with 2GB of memory, except for the base 20-inch model ($1,199), which still has 1GB. You won't need to upgrade if you already have a fourth-generation aluminum iMac, but the new iMac is an attractive purchase if your current Mac or PC is more than three years old. Certainly, now is the time to upgrade if you're still using a PowerPC (G3/G4/G5) Mac. The screen itself is so beautiful, it could push you to plunk down a cool $1,800 if you see it live at your local Apple Store.
Buzz up!on Yahoo!
Other components include a large, 320GB hard drive and an ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO graphics card, the same as in the previous aluminum iMacs. Apple describes the processor simply as the "2.8-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with a 6MB L2 cache." Windows identifies it as the Intel Core 2 Duo E8235, and that's confirmed by the freeware utility CPU-Z, so that's what we'll go with. As usual, there are build-to-order options available, like larger hard drives (up to 1TB for another $300), upgraded nVidia GeForce 8800 GS graphics ($150), 4GB of RAM (an additional $200), and an uprated 3.06-GHz Core 2 Duo (also $200). Apple isn't confirming, but other parties are calling the latter an overclocked chip. It's not a Core 2 Extreme part, even though one at that speed is expected shortly.
Our test unit came very well equipped, and it costs just under $1,800. About the only piece of hardware that can't be upgraded is the optical drive. In fact, all the iMacs—from the $1,199 20-inch to the $2,199 24-inch configuration with a 3.06-GHz Core 2 Duo processor—come with the same dual-layer DVD burner (aka SuperDrive). I'd have liked a Blu-ray option, now that the format war is over.
Compared with the 20-inch version, the 24-inch iMac is huge, but it still takes up less space than even a small-form-factor PC with an external 24-inch widescreen monitor. The black bezel around the screen minimizes the effect of the "Jay Leno chin"—the expanse of material below the screen that holds some of the iMac's machinery and the speaker—that was conspicuous on the 20-inch model. The slot-loading SuperDrive is on the right side of the iMac, and it looks and feels great when you use it. The new iMac is EPEAT Silver and Energy Star 4.0 certified. You can still run the iMac almost completely wirelessly using the optional Bluetooth keyboard ($30 extra) and mouse ($20 extra), and the standard 802.11 draft-n Wi-Fi. The only cable that's absolutely necessary is the standard power cable.
Like all Macs, the iMac is bloatware free. Just about the only sales pitch iMac owners are subjected to is the offer to sign up for a .Mac subscription (which provides online services such as photo sharing and 10GB of online storage, at rates starting at $99.95 per year) when you first set up the system. You don't need to worry about 30-day subscriptions to antivirus (not needed on a Mac so far, although you'll still need to watch out for spam, phishing, and ID theft). Software updates of OS X and the preloaded programs, including iLife '08, are free; and if you use your own XP or Vista setup disc, your Boot Camp partition will be free of bloatware, too. This leaves you more space for music, photos, and videos.
Nits (however minor): There are no media card slots for downloading your pictures to the iMac; there's no Blu-ray; and you have to deal with that Apple Mighty Mouse (wonky right mouse button, no navigate back key). Although you can download HD trailers from the QuickTime Web site, you can't buy or rent HD movies or TV shows on the iMac. You can rent HD movies from the iTunes store only if you use Apple TV. You'll need a third-party TV tuner if you want to watch broadcast HDTV on the iMac; with Apple, it's all about buying and renting programs from iTunes. This is unfortunate, considering that the 24-inch iMac's 1,920-by-1,200 screen is perfect for viewing "true HD" (1,920-by-1,080) videos.
The iMac's E8235 processor is one of the new 45-nm Penryn models, and as such it has a little more oomph than the Merom-based T7700 processor of the 20-inch iMac I'd last reviewed. Our Photoshop CS3 test results show this performance boost clearly. Although the 20-inch had scored a still-quick 42 seconds running Mac Os X, the latest iMac finished in a mere 34 seconds. In Windows, the 24-inch finished in a blazing 30 seconds, barely half the time it took the older iMac (58 seconds).
This means that even if you're a Photoshop wiz, you don't necessarily need an Apple Mac Pro. The new 24-inch iMac has the same screen resolution as an Apple Mac Pro with an Apple 23-inch Cinema HD screen, and it's fast enough to do real work. The Apple Mac Pro is thousands of dollars more expensive and is more of a serious professional workstation, with dual quad-core processors and higher-end graphics cards. The only reason to get the Mac Pro these days is if you absolutely need expansion cards for components like multiple monitors, higher-end workstation-class graphics cards, and more internal hard drives—or you must have the power of eight CPU cores working on your time-critical rendering project. Compared with the latest iMac, working on most photos, illustrations, page layout, and general office projects on a Mac Pro is overkill.
Running Windows, the iMac finished the Windows Media Encoder test in 1 minute, 3 seconds, a swift score for a dual-core system. Speedy dual-cores (like the Falcon NW FragBox 8500) have been hovering around times of 1 minute, while the fastest quad-core systems, like the Polywell Poly X3800, are closer to the 30-second range. Put simply, the iMac is one fast Windows PC.
Our review unit completed BAPCo's SYSmark 2007 Preview test with an overall score of 130 points. This is a very good score for a performance PC, matching powerhouses like the Dell XPS 630 (145) and coming in just short (relatively) of the Falcon NW FragBox 8500 (174). The iMac even bests quad-core-powered multimedia PCs like the Velocity Micro Edge M40 (128) and the Gateway FX7020 (104). The iMac's 3DMark06 scores were middling at 4,278. PCs I've seen with the power to play today's games, such as the FragBox, are scoring above 12,000 points on 3DMark06. Likewise, the iMac's Crysis (15 fps) and World in Conflict (23) scores are for the most part unplayable. Of course, the iMac won't be a 3D gaming champion with the ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO graphics card (it's more of a light- to medium-duty 3D graphics card); if 3D gaming is important to you, go for the GeForce 8800 GS upgrade.
Though silver and black, the iMac represents "green" with Apple's take-back program, which means that Apple will help you recycle your old PC or Mac when you buy a new iMac. (This also applies when you buy other Apple computers.) The new iMac has EPEAT silver and Energy Star certifications. I tested the iMac with our Kill A Watt meter and found that it's efficient both in sleep mode (5 watts) and when off (zero watts). When in idle mode, the iMac consumed 108W, a decent number considering that has a huge screen in addition to all the computer components. When running CineBench R10, the iMac consumed an average of 135W, again a nice score. Overall, this is a little higher than desktops marketed specifically as "green" but still really good. (I've tested green PCs recently that consume less than 80W under load and fewer than 50W while idle).
HP's Revenue Misses Forecast
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co cut its full-year outlook after quarterly revenue missed expectations on weak sales of printers, personal computers and servers, sending its shares down 6 percent.
The world's largest PC maker said on Wednesday it expects the last quarter's weak market conditions to persist, and exchange rates to continue to hurt revenue, forcing it to slash its fiscal 2009 sales outlook by around $14 billion.
"We just don't want to bank on the fact that the economy is going to get better," Chief Executive Mark Hurd said on a conference call, as he emphasized HP's plans to create a leaner cost structure. "I mean, we just don't see a catalyst to change it."
While HP's diversified business lines—which also include computer services and software—have kept it relatively resilient to the economic downturn, it is still vulnerable to sharp cutbacks in corporate spending on technology.
"The big disappointment, not surprisingly, is the shortfall in revenue," said Pacific Crest Securities analyst Brent Bracelin. "Their hardware businesses, both servers and storage, are under intense scrutiny. Budgets are being cut and that showed up in the shortfall today."
For fiscal 2009, HP on Wednesday forecast profit excluding items of $3.76 to $3.88 a share, on a revenue of roughly $112.5 billion to $116 billion. That compared with its previous forecast for earnings per share of $3.88 to $4.03 on revenue of $127.5 billion to $130 billion.
Wall Street analysts, on average, had expected earnings of $3.78 a share on revenue of $126.6 billion.
"They are vulnerable to weakening PC sales," said Shebly Seyrafi, analyst at Calyon Securities. "Shares are down on a combination of the actual results, the revenue mess and the lowering of the annual guidance. There are lots of reasons to be concerned about Hewlett-Packard."
FOCUS ON COSTS
The technology bellwether said net profit for its fiscal first quarter ended Jan. 31 fell to $1.85 billion, or 75 cents a share, from $2.13 billion, or 80 cents a share, in the year-ago period.
Excluding items, HP earned 93 cents a share, matching average analyst estimates, according to Reuters Estimates.
HP said it was committed to a lower cost structure, and Hurd said the company would be taking out more in costs in 2009 than it has in previous years. It plans to reduce base pay and some benefits in the current quarter.
HP said the integration of technology services provider EDS—which it bought last year for $13.2 billion—is running ahead of schedule, and it has so far reduced 9,000 of the 24,700 positions outlined in its restructuring plan.
The EDS deal made HP the second-largest tech services company behind International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N) and helped HP report a $1.1 billion operating profit in its services segment.
Some analysts pointed to tight cost controls as a reason for optimism.
"A laser focus on cost-control has benefited HP despite a dramatic falloff in revenues and I don't think the outlook is as bad as it could have been given currency headwinds and overall weak demand environment," said Bill Kreher, analyst at Edward Jones.
HP said fiscal first-quarter revenue rose 1 percent to $28.8 billion, below the $31.9 billion Wall Street estimate.
Revenue in HP's personal systems group dropped 19 percent to $8.8 billion, with unit shipments down 4 percent. Notebook revenue fell 13 percent and desktop sales declined 25 percent.
Services revenue more than doubled to $8.7 billion, mainly due to EDS, while imaging and printing group sales fell 19 percent to $6 billion. Revenue from enterprise storage and servers dropped 18 percent to $3.9 billion.
For the current quarter, HP expects a profit of 84 cents to 86 cents a share from continuing operations, on revenue of about $27.4 billion to $27.7 billion. That compares with the average Wall Street forecast for earnings of 90 cents a share on revenue of $31 billion.
The PC segment is suffering from a severe falloff in demand and is not expected to bounce back any time soon. IDC said global PC shipments fell slightly in the calendar fourth quarter, although HP eked out 3 percent growth.
Shares of HP, a Dow component, are down around 20 percent from a year ago. The stock fell to $32.05 in extended trading from its New York Stock Exchange close of $34.08.
Marvell Brings 802.11n to Handhelds
Marvell's single-antenna "1x1" 802.11n solution brings 802.11n Wi-Fi down to a size that could easily fit into smartphones.
High-speed Wi-Fi 802.11n is coming to smartphones soon, chipmaker Marvell Semiconductor said at Mobile World Congress on Thursday. The company, which is behind the processors in high-end BlackBerrys and many Windows Mobile phones, also showed a range of new application processors that use simple instruction sets at fast speeds.
Marvell's single-antenna "1x1" 802.11n solution finally brings 802.11n Wi-Fi down to a size that could be incorporated into smartphones, Sameer Bidichandani, senior director of technology strategy at Marvell Semiconductor said in an interview.
Until now, mobile phones have been stuck at slower 802.11g speeds because 802.11n required chips and antennas that are too large to fit into a mobile-phone form factor. The 1x1 single-stream 802.11n solution can take 802.11n down to a chip as small as 50 mm square, which could easily fit into a phone. That could boost cell-phone Wi-Fi speeds by several times. The 1x1 802.11n chips are available to manufacturers today, he said.
Marvell also showed off the company's brand-new PXA910/912/920 chipsets, which bring the performance of the PXA930 processor found in the BlackBerry Bold to much lower price points. These processors could enable sub-$100 handhelds with PXA930 power, Marvell's David Elfersi said. The PXA910/912/920 series have an 800-MHz core which uses the ARM9 instruction set rather than the ARM11 instruction set. This makes the chips more compatible with software written for older and midrange phones, so they're easy to develop for.
Along with the new low-cost chipsets, Marvell showed its most powerful chips, the PXA935 and PXA168 "Aspen." Both chips are faster than the existing PXA930, with clock speeds up to 1 GHz in the Aspen's case. But unlike gigahertz chips from competitors Qualcomm and TI, these chips also run that ARM9 instruction set, which could let manufacturers go to market quickly using software that was mostly written for older processors.
To show the wide compatibility of the company's processors, Marvell demonstrated a whole bunch of operating systems. The company had third-party Android devices running, as well as Windows Mobile 6.1, Windows Mobile 6.5 and the LiMo Linux platform. On Marvell's demonstration Android phones, Marvell was showing some custom software, including a multitouch-enabled photo gallery app with pinch-to-zoom, just like on the iPhone.
Rather than showing mind-boggling HD video like in the Nvidia booth, Marvell focused on affordable solutions that kicked power up a notch without requiring developers to rewrite their code. That might get Marvell's solutions into users' hands fast.
Acer Promises Free Smartphones (With Contract)
Plenty of manufacturers have been talking about flashy, new, powerful phones at Mobile World Congress. Some have been talking about basic phones for the developing world. But Acer's the only one who has promised inexpensive smartphones for the U.S.
Acer has already been selling the company's Aspire One netbook at Radio Shack with a two-year AT&T contract for $99, plus $60 a month, which is music to AT&T's ears. With operator subsidies on board and Acer's economies of scale, Acer's Smartphone Unit President Aymar de Lencquesaing said he'll be able to push Windows phone prices down to free with contract.
"We'll make it a very simple, easy interface ... and these will retail at zero dollars," he said.
It's notoriously difficult for new cell-phone makers to get the ear of U.S. carriers, who control almost all of the U.S. phone market. But Acer's Aymar de Lencquesaing said his firm has something that wireless carriers already want: netbooks.
"We can offer them a mobile data device of any form factor, of any size, to fill their needs," he said.
Acer's phones will probably appear on either AT&T or T-Mobile, de Lencquesaing said, as they will use the GSM radio standard. Acer's large size, firm financial backing, and highly desirable netbook and 3G notebook lineup have given the company an 'in' with U.S. mobile operators, he said.
"None of the operators we've had difficulties getting appointments with, and getting to the stage where we've had conversations about selecting devices from our lineup," he said.
We'll probably have to wait to see Acer's U.S. lineup, though. Acer's smartphone push comes from the company's purchase of E-Ten, an Asian manufacturer, and the first four Windows Mobile devices the company announced for the first half of 2009 smack of stuff that E-Ten already had in the pipeline. E-Ten devices never made it to U.S. retailers, and we doubt these devices will either.
But Acer's second-half lineup, which will consist of at least four more phones, includes Acer-developed Windows Mobile 6.5 phones for both the high and low ends. The comapany's $500 H2 model, for instance, uses Qualcomm's state-of-the-art 1-GHz Snapdragon chipset and has a 3.8-inch, 800-by-480 touch screen; on the other hand, Acer also has the free-with-contract smartphones. The L1 looks like a sliding feature-phone but runs Windows Mobile; think of something like the T-Mobile Shadow, but with a touch screen. The C1 is an all-touch-screen, slab-style budget Windows phone.
All of Acer's Windows phones have a cuddly, widget-based overlay on top of Windows Mobile which looks like a picture of a sort of virtual office. You click on items in the office to launch applications or perform tasks; clicking on a desk calendar, for instance, takes you to the calendar.
The company is also reported to be developing at least two Google Android-powered phones; although de Lencquesaing demurred on specifics of those.
U.S. consumers should expect to be able to buy Acer smartphones in the last quarter of this year or the first quarter of 2010, de Lencquesaing said.
Facebook Grows into a Top-Ten Web Property
Job and tax-related Web sites dominated consumers' online activity in January, according to Thursday data from comScore, but there was also a little time for social networking as Facebook cracked the list of top 10 Web properties for the first time.
"January has once again seen seasonal gains in the tax, career and travel categories, reflecting the typical American's tendency to plan for the New Year," Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore Media Metrix, said in a statement. Facebook's growth, however, reminds "us that 2009 will likely continue to see growth in the adoption and usage of social media."
Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft sites were the to three Web properties, followed by AOL, Fox Interactive Media (MySpace), the Ask Network, eBay, Amazon sites, Wikimedia sites, and Facebook. Not surprisingly, the three top spots also included search engines, who in turn logged the most search queries.
Google logged just over 151 million visitors, while Facebook attracted 57.2 million.
Web sites related to taxes saw the greatest gains last month, jumping from 8.9 million visitors in December to 24.7 million last month. Specifically, TaxACT.com reported a 972 percent spike in traffic, with 5.9 million visitors, while Hrblock.com saw a 277 percent increased with 6 million visitors, and IRS.gov grew 240 percent with almost 15 million hits.
Travel sites also jumped by about 46 percent to 13 million visitors, and job-related Web sites increased by 42 percent to 26.7 million.
"January has historically been a strong month for career sites as the beginning of the New Year causes many Americans to reconsider their current career trajectory and future goals," comScore said. "However, the surge in visitors this January also reflects the millions of lost jobs across the nation."
CareerBuilder.com saw the most traffic with 12.2 million visitors, followed by Monster.com with 9.5 million, and Yahoo Hot Jobs with 7.7 million.
Consumers also flocked to state and federal Web sites for information about unemployment benefits, taxes, the Obama administration, and the peanut butter salmonella outbreak. California, Texas, and New York were among the state sites that saw the greatest increase in visitors.
Some people apparently still have money to travel, as Americans looked for late-season winter travel deals or started planning spring getaways. Travel site traffic jumped 46 percent overall to 13 million visitors. Vacationstogo.com, Disney Travel, and Expedia all saw growth in the first month of the year.
Also posting gains was Oprah.com, which saw traffic spikes of 100 percent as the talk-show host kicked off the New Year with a series of webcasts. The Web site for tabloid US Magazine also increased its visitors by 62 percent, from 3 million to 5 million.
Romanian Hacker perforated Symantec Site
Bucharest - Romanian Hacker origin, seems not to want to stop challenging mempermalukan and security companies. After Kaspersky, BitDefender, and F-Secure, Symantec turn this time the victims of the hackers.
As dilansir Arabian Bussines, Friday (20/2/2009), a group of hackers often publish the victim in HackersBlog. Com has stated that exploit the rift that exists in the code emea.symantec.com site. Hacker is estimated using the same technique with the previous attack using SQL Injection techniques.
According to the hacker named, unu, the incident is really ironic because it involves the security of the site owned companies such as Symantec. However, hackers have not provided further details about the piercing site.
Meanwhile, Symantec immediately respond to the action with the hacker, it will immediately improve the dihacked page. Symantec also to thank the hacker who has the slit is.
"We are mengapresiasi answers from the company and the vendor, this vendor was very helpful and the whole organization if the communication and open dialogue is important," write in reply to a hacker repon Symantec
Multimedia in the Windows 7 Beta
The word codec is a veritable Mason-Dixon meridian, a line of demarcation that defines membership in the tech savvy. Do you wince when you read it? Or are you a proud member of the geek elite who takes pride in knowing the acronyms that keep our computers afloat in YouTube videos and BitTorrented files? I'll walk you through the changes that Windows 7 will bring to the world of multimedia, with a focus on improvements to compatibility with those codecs at the OS level—planned improvements, anyway.
For those with a life outside of computers, the word codec comes from the term compression/decompression algorithm. It's simply software that provides your computer with the ability to read media files compressed using a particular format, and it's the heart of multimedia on PCs. This compression usually reduces the transfer time of large files through the relatively slow connections of the Internet, so they consume less hard drive space as well (though that's less important in this age of 2TB hard drives).
Popular common codecs include PCM (or pulse-code modulation) used by audio CDs, the MPEG-2 standard used by DVDs, and H.264 used for downloadable movies—along with AAC audio, which Apple uses in its online store. Just as there are many codecs, different containers exist to wrap around this plethora of video and audio codecs. These containers have names like AVI, Real Media, and QuickTime, as well as less common forms like DivX and Matroska (MKV).
In the past, codec issues were the bane of even an advanced Windows user's existence. To play a compressed movie on a laptop or an Xbox 360 connected to your television, you had to make sure that the video was in the right format for the device's playback capabilities. Frequently this meant installing codec packs that could affect playback of other media on the computer. Codec installations in Windows, frankly, are a mess. Try explaining a "codec not supported" error to a living-room audience waiting for the show to start.
Vista includes codecs for playback of MP3s, Windows Media files, and even DVDs, a vast improvement over Windows XP Media Center Edition, which required a third-party driver just to watch DVDs and HDTV. Windows 7 will go further, including built-in support for many more popular codecs. While Microsoft has not yet officially announced which will be included with the new operating system when it ships, this unknown is in good company with an unknown ship date along with an unknown price.
Test Configuration
To test the media playback capabilities in Windows 7, I used three machines. I took two old computers formerly running Windows XP and installed the publicly available 32-bit beta, "build 7000." The test hardware was a Compaq Presario V2000 laptop with a 1.5-GHz Pentium M and an Intel 915GM video chipset, and a Shuttle SN45G/V2 desktop with an AMD 3000+ CPU and an Nvidia GeForce 7600 GS.
To test the 64-bit version of Windows 7, I used a new 2.4-GHz Apple MacBook Pro (Aluminum) with the Nvidia 9400M video chipset and 2GB of RAM. Bootcamp lets you install Windows (even the 64-bit version) on the MacBook, but it won't allow you to run the installer correctly by default for full driver support. The trick is to run the Leopard 10.5.5 DVD by ignoring the system-type watchdog on the 64-bit installer.
1. Go to DOS by clicking the Windows "start logo" and type CMD. Then press Enter.
2. Change to the drive containing the Leopard DVD, in my case D: Press enter again.
3. Type cd "Boot Camp\Drivers\Apple"
4. Type msiexec /i BootCamp64.msi
This hardware ranges from a five-year-old Windows XP box to a three-year-old basic laptop (both with 1GB of RAM) to the latest Intel and Nvidia mobile technology in the MacBook. Because Windows 7 is optimized for netbooks as well as high-power machines, running this older hardware should not pose the same problems that inadequate configurations caused in Windows Vista.
OpenOffice.org: 7 Things You Didn't Know You Could Do
OpenOffice.org 3.0 costs absolutely nothing but comes closer than anything else to letting you delete your copy of Microsoft Office (which probably cost you a lot). Even though OpenOffice.org—which is, yes, an application suite, not just a Web site—can't do everything Office can, it can do a lot, and it has some of its own tricks that even Office can't manage. Here are a few that may not be obvious, as well as a few ways to make OpenOffice.org less annoying out of the box.
1. Edit two or more parts of a document at the same time. Microsoft Word has a nifty split-window feature that lets you divide the current window into two panes, so you can edit page 5 of your document in the top pane and page 505 in the bottom. To switch from one pane to the other, you don't have to waste time scrolling back and forth—you simply click in the other pane. OpenOffice.org doesn't let you split a window into two panes, but it offers an even better feature. Click the Window menu, then New Window, to open a new window that displays the same document you're working on. You can open as many windows as you want, each at a different place in your document; any change you make in one window immediately appears in all others. You can reduce screen clutter by turning off toolbars in one or more windows (use View | Toolbars), and you can tile or cascade the windows by right-clicking on the OpenOffice.org button on the Windows taskbar.
2. Use OpenOffice.org to open legacy documents. Years ago, older versions of Microsoft Office could open documents created by almost any of the myriad word processors and spreadsheet programs that were widely used before Microsoft monopolized the market. Recent versions of Office can't open many of those older formats—including old Microsoft Word versions such as Word 6.0. By contrast, OpenOffice.org continues to open Word documents dating back to Version 6.0. OpenOffice.org also opens WordPerfect documents, including files created in WordPerfect for the Macintosh 3.5 Enhanced, which not even WordPerfect for Windows tries to open.
By the way, there's something confusing about OpenOffice.org's claims. The product purports to support at least one format that never existed: The list of supported file types in its File | Open dialog includes "Microsoft WinWord 5.0," even though there never was such a version. Word for Windows skipped from 2.0 to 6.0 in its version numbers.
Space Invaders
3. Play a vintage Space Invaders game. Remember the days of software "Easter Eggs"? They were not-very-secret keystrokes or mouse clicks that brought up silly graphics in some programs and games in others. Even Microsoft Excel used to have a secret game built in before Redmond lost its sense of humor. OpenOffice.org's Calc spreadsheet program still includes a 1990s-era shoot-'em-up Space Invaders game. Open the Calc app, and in any cell enter:
=GAME("StarWars")
Make sure to copy the capitalization shown here. Calc will open a StarWars game in which you shoot down a fleet of evil alien ships. The explanatory text is in German (the original version of OpenOffice.org was written in Germany), but you don't need to know even English to play the game. Calc has a slightly Teutonic attitude toward fun-and-games, however: After you quit the game, you'll need to shut down Calc and start it up again before you can play a second time.
Help Agent
4. Turn off the blinking light bulb. By default, a light-bulb icon appears in a tiny window whenever OpenOffice.org does anything that isn't exactly what you typed—for example, when it replaces two hyphens with a dash. It doesn't exactly blink, but after the third or fourth time it opens, you may think of it as "that blinking light bulb" (you might use a word other than "blinking"). To turn it off permanently, go to Tools | Options, and then, in the left-hand pane, expand the menu tree by clicking the plus sign next to OpenOffice.org. In the General dialog, remove the check mark next to Help Agent.
5. Save files in Office formats by default. By default OpenOffice.org saves files in its own format, which most Microsoft Office users can't open. You can save individual files in Office format by using OpenOffice.org's File | Save as… menu and selecting a Word format from the Save as Type dropdown. But you can tell OpenOffice to save in Office formats by default by choosing Tools | Options, then find the Load/Save category, and the General subcategory. In the Document Type dropdown, choose Text Document, and in the Always Save As dropdown, choose Microsoft Word 97/2000/XP. Then, in the Document Type dropdown, choose Spreadsheet, and in the Always Save As dropdown, choose Microsoft Excel 97/2000/XP. These choices will create files that can be read by any modern word processor or spreadsheet.
Automate Easily
6. Automate actions easily. Many advanced Microsoft Office users take advantage of macros that run automatically when you open, print, or close a file, but Office's interface doesn't provide built-in clues for creating an AutoClose macro that will run whenever you close a document. OpenOffice.org goes Office one better by providing a menu-driven interface that lists all the actions that can automatically trigger macros—and these include a wider range of actions than the ones that can be automated easily in Office. For example, you can create a macro that is triggered every time the number of pages in a document increases and that inserts a header with a page number if the number goes above, say, two. Other actions that can automatically trigger macros include saving a document under a different name and running a mail merge. To use this feature, record the macros you want to use, then go to Tools | Customize | Events and assign your chosen macro to specific events.
Fix Those Single Quotes
7. Fix those single quotes. By default, OpenOffice.org Writer creates good-looking, curly "typographic" double-quotation marks as you type, but when you type a single quotation mark (or an apostrophe) it uses a vertical line, as if you were still using your grandfather's manual typewriter. Fix this by going to Tools | AutoCorrect…, then go to the Custom Quotes tab and, under Single Quotes, add a check mark next to Replace.
Hands On with the Dell Inspiron Mini 10
The Dell Inspiron Mini 10 is the third piece of its netbook puzzle—a more complex piece, in a way, with tons of potential. I spent some time with the Mini 10 earlier this year at CES 2009, and there is plenty to like. Dell explains it best: "The Mini 10 starts out simple and becomes more complex from there." In the next couple of months, those holding out for a netbook will see some serious bar-raising.
If Dell labeled its netbooks small, medium, and large, the Mini 10 would fit the "medium" moniker like a glove. In size, it falls smack in the middle between the Mini 9 and the Mini 12, in large part because of the 10-inch widescreen. Like the 2.9-pound frames of the Acer Aspire One (10-inch) and the Samsung NC10-14GB, the Mini 10's weight, too, is a shade under 3 pounds.
Color customizations are plenty, as with all of Dell's consumer notebooks. Black and white, as usual, are the standard colors. For an additional fee, the Mini 10 can be dressed in Promise Pink ($5 from each purchase in that color is donated to Susan G. Komen for the [breast cancer] Cure), Cherry Red, and Jade Green. Propping up costs for a nicer design isn't new in the netbook industry; both the HP Mini 2140 and the ASUS EeePC 1002HA charge a premium for their aluminum designs, and the Sony Lifestyle PC's elongated footprint commands the highest price tag of all the netbooks.
The typing experience can make or break a netbook, which is one of the reasons why the Dell Mini 9's 89 perecent keyboard didn't bode well for touch typists. The Mini 10's 92 percent keyboard sits among the elite, matching those of the Asus EeePC 1000HE, the MSI Wind, and the HP 2140. The Samsung NC10-14GB holds the biggest netbook keyboard at 93 percent.
The touchpad and mouse buttons are a key netbook differentiator, taking a page out of the current Apple MacBook 13-inch (Aluminum) and the MacBook Pro 15-inch (Dual Graphics). It's essentially a larger touchpad devoid of traditional mouse buttons. There are left- and right-click functions, but you're basically clicking the bottom half of the touchpad.
The touchpad and the mouse buttons were responsive during my 15 minutes of quality time with them. In keeping up with the Apple theme, the touchpad supports multi-touch: With two fingers, for instance, you pan, pinch and enlarge most file types. Placing four fingers on the touchpad takes you to the desktop environment.
Like the Acer Aspire One (10-inch), adding a 10-inch widescreen option is long overdue for Dell. The Mini 10 will start out with the resolution every other netbook maker is using on 10-inch screens: 1,024-by-768. The complex part comes several months later when Dell will add a 1,366-by-768 option, similar to what the HP is offering with the Mini 2140.
It doesn't end there, though. Dell is also offering options for mobile broadband (no word on the carriers yet) and an integrated ATSC TV tuner that can receive over-the-air HD channels - a first for a netbook.
If you're wondering about HD playback, Dell showed off pre-recorded HD content playing seamlessly on the high-resolution screen, which it claims is helped by the video playback enhancements of Intel's Menlow platform (I'll get into that later).
Even without the add-ons, the features that will ship when the Mini 10 is launched on February 26 are easily tops among its netbook peers. It's one of two netbooks (the other is the Asus N10Jc-1B) that ships with a built-in HDMI-Out port, ideal for streaming video content to a larger display. The Mini 10 features a built-in GPS module, presumably with Microsoft's Streets and Maps. Aside from these two big highlights, you get the usual array of netbook ports, including three USB ports, a multi-card memory reader, an Ethernet port, and headphone and microphone jacks. The Mini 10 will come standard with a 160GB spinning hard drive, and it will offer SSD options. It won't have an ExpressCard slot like the HP 2140 and the 231733, but I think the HDMI-port makes up for this feature in spades.
The direction Dell takes with the Intel Atom processor is different from the rest of the crowd. Rather than go with the commonly used 1.6GHz N270 processor, or even the newer N280 platform (found on the Asus 1000HE), the Mini 10 will run on an Intel Atom Z520 (1.33GHz) or the Z530 (1.6GHz) processors—commonly referred to as the "Menlow" platform.
Based on past experiences, I can tell you the Menlow platform isn't as speedy as the N270 and N280, but it's more energy efficient. Video playback, according to Dell, is better optimized on the Menlow platform, which works in line with the high-resolution screen and the ATSC tuner. Like most netbooks, Dell will ship with multiple battery choices. (At launch, Dell will offer a standard 3-cell battery or an optional 6-cell unit.) Other netbook tidbits include support for both Windows XP and Linux; Windows Vista will be offered at a later date.
At launch, the Dell Inspiron Mini 10 isn't the cheapest netbook on the block, as it will be priced at $549 — and this is the standard configuration. With future add-ons, tricking out this netbook might make the Asus eeePC 1000HE and the Acer Aspire One (10-inch) look like charity handouts. But this is Dell, company known for its infamous coupons and aggressive deals. The amount of technology that they could potentially pack into this netbook will make others take notice—and respond. Look for companies like ASUS and HP to intensify the netbook wars upon news of Dell's latest netbook darling.
Sabtu, 14 Februari 2009
Intel - Huawei WiMAX Build Lab
JAKARTA - Huawei Technologies and Intel Corporation has begun operating the lab WiMAX IOT (Interoperability Testing) in Beijing.
Designed and built by two companies, rampungnya this project marks another achievement through a collaborative effort to increase development speed and interoperability of WiMAX devices ready for commercial lines in the WiMAX industry.
Seeing the WiMAX infrastructure and terminal products that provide WiMAX and Intel, this resembles the lab test end to end real. This region WiMAX solutions ensures the creation of a comprehensive, can operate in a commercial, well-established and can be used for quick-service operator in the world.
In particular, Huawei to provide infrastructure equipment industry's most powerful, including WiMAX BS (Base Station) DBS3900 that have been awarded certification from the WiMAX Forum Wave2, ASN-GW (Access Service Node Gateway), and some equipment CSN. Intel also provides various types of terminals in the dibenamkan WiMAX chipset, including Intel WiMAX / Wi-Fi Link 5050 Series adapter, which is currently available in each NOTEBOOKS and netbooks with Intel processors, including the IOT and equipment for the lab test the performance of IOT.
"We initiated a strategy of cooperation for the development of WiMAX with Intel in 2005. Since that time Huawei and Intel to strengthen the strategic relationship and consistent with the series of activities related to WiMAX for three consecutive years," said Zhao Ming, President of Huawei CDMA & WiMAX Product Line, through the authorized information
Sensor will, Facebook Allegedly Limit Freedom
San Francisco - Social networking site Facebook that has the power to make a full sensor or group of members who have been in violation of the rules dibuatnya. However, this time the site has 150 million members, the sensor will begin to assess and restrict freedom of expression for someone.
As dilansir WebProNews, Friday (13/2/2009), an independent film producer the United States, Luis Moro and his wife Bobbi Miller-Moro's claim to have been issued BukuMuka it. Blocking of the account that keduannya laden with political elements. The Luis and Bobbi Miller was a United States citizen of Cuban descent make a group to stop the trade embargo the U.S. against Cuba.
However, Facebook oppugn hard if blocking is caused because the political. Sites that Mark Zuckerberg was founded in 2004, the states tudingan are not groundless.
Luis during this, known as an indie film producers, such as Love and Suicide, Anne B Real and Lean Like a Cholo. Luis and his wife, who is also an actress, also known vocal support for new regulations that allow U.S. citizens to visit Cuba.
Bobbi said, Facebook removed the account on Monday (9/2/2009) ago shortly after her husband down any posts that support a rule that revoked the United States travel restrictions to Cuba for U.S. citizens.
"My husband is a post any posts titled 'The freedom to travel to Cuba Act,' and the account lost my husband, and I can not mempercayainya," said Bobbi.
Facebook spokesman, said Barry Schnitt, Luis has previously warned that if it exceeds the quota to add friends in a day, it will stop the Facebook account. Not just any posts, Luis also invite people to join with him to support Cuba.
"The system is designed to scare the spammers that send many messages, I am sure that if Luis received a warning that," Schnitt said.
At this time, facebook has to return back your property and Luis mengirmkan an e-mail containing the request sorry for the deletion of the account.
Sell Games Porno Japan, Amazon inprotest
San Francisco - the largest retail company in the virtual world, Amazon sued the California agency internet that sell violent games plus pornography.
A video game titled 'Rapelay' Wara-wiri was in the Amazon after finally revoked because they did not feasible. Video games sold in Amazon by a third party is enough to have seen pornography and violence. The 'Rapelay' that way to give rape a girl.
"We emphasize, Amazon is not ever intend to sell content such as this and we have been down the content a few days ago," said Amazon spokesperson Patty Smith, dilansir such as AFP, Saturday (14/2/2009). Decrease in content after the Amazon obtain a letter of protest from non-internet California, United States.
Not only the provocative theme, game also is not for sale outside Japan.
Developers' Rapelay 'confess, video games this special sale only in Japan, where Illusion Studio have. This statement was reinforced by the Amazon, said the distribution of this game is not coming from Illusion Studio directly, but from a third party, that is a company specializing in selling pornographic Japanese animation in the United States.
"We did not intend to sell the software in the game outside Japan because we know this game will bring controversy and pelarangann," said the parties have the Illusion Studio in Yokohama, Japan. Game itself, go Illusion Studio, launched in Japan since 2006.
Apparently, developer of origin Japan this game is special to make the controversial element of pornography. After 'Rapelay', Illusion Studio also claim to have created a game with another title 'Battle Raper' and 'Artificial Girl'.
Many Spam Being from Latin America
JAKARTA - In January, the spammers get ready for the victims menggaet with iming-iming Valentine's day.
"In addition to the induction of Obama and Valentine? Day, a report on spam this week shows some new things in them that spam is now shifting more came from Latin America," Symantec said in the description of the authorized, Saturday (14/2/2009).
According to the Symantec, spam is back to normal after declining the previous post-termination McColo server. However? Zombie? origin of spam has shifted to Latin America with the amount of spam originating from the United States Serika down 3 percent to 23 percent. Meanwhile, Brazil ranks second segment with 10 percent, followed by Argentina and Colombia are now into the range of 10.
Spam report in February 2009, Symantec added the category in the list of spam that is spam or Spam origin Nigeria 419. Digit disematkan as spam origin of the term for Nigeria because according to the Criminal Law Act clause Nigeria related fraud.
In addition, the growth of casino business in Macau, and possibly also increasing demand from a remote location, create a new spam trend in China, in the form of online gambling campaign.
"During the Chinese New Year Symantec also observed an increase in abuse cn ccTLD that is reserved for China in the spam messages," write the Symantec.
Twitter Dapat USD35 Million fund injection
WASHINGTON - micro-blogging service Twitter successfully get the biggest injection of funds as much USD35 million from two large companies.
Dilansir AFP via Twitter's official blog on Saturday (14/2/2009), Twitter founder Biz Stone is confirming news. According to Stone, the funds of the two has been posted by the company International Venture Partners and Benchmark. Moreover, Stone says, one of the parties named Benchmark Peter Fenton will be one of the positions in Twitter.
"After this, we intend not again seek additional funds for Twitter. However, we believe Twitter will continue to grow, so of course a lot of funds will be required to make Twitter more powerful and able to offer services of interest," said Stone.
According to Stone, this time to increase the number of Twitter is quite significant, reaching 900 per cent every year. Even up to now Totter member for more than six million.
Asia will Pimpin Mobile Payment Service
San Francisco - a mobile payment service becomes more widely used. Even at this time to reach 32.9 million users around the world.
Dilansir through internal Cisco Now magazine on Saturday (14/2/2009), Gartner predicts the number will continue to grow. Even until 2010, the number of users of Mobile Payment will reach 103.9 million.
From the number of users at this time, Gartner found, 85 percent of mobile payment users are from Asia Pacific, with the number of users reached 28 million. While Western Europe is only reached 0.5 million users, while North America has a projected 1 million users Mobile Payment.
"Asia will lead the world in the use of mobile payment and will continue like that in the future, 'said Gartner research director Sandy Shen.
According to Shen, there are three main reasons which caused the Asia Pacific market will rule the mobile payment. First is the launch of the service that begins in the Asia Pacific region, initiated by the Philippines and Japan.
Second, according to Gartner, there are countries with a highly developed market in Asia Pacific, namely China and India, supported by the number of mobile users and a very large banking and payment infrastructure that is not adequate.
Finally, Asia is the ability of the community who can either accept the new services in mobile ranah. In fact, Gartner believes, more Asian people have a willingness to try new services.
SONY ERICSSON XPERIA X1, Pengalaman Personal Bermultimedia
HOW VARIOUS, XPERIA X1 can be operated with a variety of ways. Start typing directly in the slider keypad berdesain bow, operates with stylush, or via the navigation keys rectangular shape X.
SONY ERICSSONXperia X1 is handsetyang very personal, where the maximum is located entirely in the hands of the owner. Please be distinguished, peminat Xperia X1 is not the same as those who like the features of Apple iPhone, Nokia 5800 XPRESSMUSIC, Samsung omnia or the LG Cookie.
See, when released, Sony Ericsson X1 immediately put to compete with the MWg Zinc II, i-mate Ultimate9502, sertaHTC Touch Pro. This is because the three products that are also called last KIBOR QWERTY and the operating system Microsoft Windows Mobile (WinMo). Use of this WinMo operating system is user segmentation have pengaruhbesaruntukmenyaring.
Compared UIQ Symbian, WinMo is superior because it has a lot of third party applications that can be installed as needed. In addition, the hardware that supports any berkemampuan very tinggi.Jadi better than in the pro-multitasking, with the handset operating system is generally able to run various applications smoothly.
Conversely, for the unusual, WinMo will not feel ribet and practical, both in the User Interface (UI) or as pengaturannya.Rasanya must berkomputasi PC with a very mini. Not to mention the price that is far more mahal.Nah, now depends on the needs and capabilities in the use of someone and maximize devicemiliknya.
Operates
Compared to rival-rivalnya, X1 worth millions Rp7 are more compact. Touch design also ergonomis and very premium. Can operate it with a number of ways. If you want to edit-ing documents or reply to email, I will move the slider QWERTY KIBOR busurnya to samping.Tutsnya small and drenched, but soft and comfortable.
Momently I can already type cepat.Sebaliknya, for browsing or ber-SMS, I use Handwriting stylush to squeeze KIBOR or digital. While the navigation keys rectangular shaped X useful to replace the screen. I also often perform smart filtering to quickly find information on contacts, SMS thread, e-mail, and even multimedia content such as songs and video.Praktis.
Panel
Power system tarikutamaX1adalah panel interface that combines application launcherdan widgets.Ada 9 panel for quick access from the homescreen to applications such as Facebook, Google, Windows Live, Dashwire, Picture, or Music. This is quite fun and easy for the user. Moreover, this panelpanel can dikostumisasi appropriate desire and mood. Personalize this X1 pitch-in around 18 thousand availability of third party applications available on the internet for free or pay.
Office
As a major user needs X1, office facilities are mumpuni.Saya write a script in Word, edit Excel files, view the magazine in the form of a PDF, open the back page of the web-save, even make a small presentation in Powerpoint. The wide screen and make me comfortable KIBOR like to explore on the files in the office long enough.
Entertainment
3-inch diagonal screen berkedalaman thousand color TFT 65 is one of the key features entertainment X1.Meski not to use too often see the video, I feel comfortable with me browsing the zoom level at least. Letter and the picture looks jelas.Selanjut, FM radio and MP3 player is quite often used. For this, I use my own stereo head set to the dicolokkan hole 3.5-mm audio for better sound quality.
Cameras
Self standar.Beresolusi 3:15 MP (2048x1536), is a little dark when dijajal in indoor.Namun, more than enough to simply meet the needs of day-to-day photography.
Internet
This feature is most often use to check my e-mail, open, Facebook, blogging, surfing the site or in the casual forum that I follow. At certain sites, I click the standard view in order to get the full HTML-viewing site in a mobile phone that looks exactly like the komputer.Jika are mengopi in cafes, my soon-active features a Wi-Fi it.
Processors
X1 energy source comes from Qualcomm MSM7200 processor 528MHz.Kecepatannya prima sizeable meloadinterfacepanel time, opening applications, multitasking, or using applications such as berkomputasi office. Although, some time lag or hang also can not be avoided.
Design Premium, Technology Events
Initiated in 2009, PT Samsung Electronics Indonesia (sein) home appliance products rejuvenate his form of three washing machines and a refrigerator.
With the features offered and the price premium, the series of household products is provided with the latest technology. Set aside to meet the needs of modern households, washing machines Samsung WF8804, WD8122C, following WF8702 refrigerator side-by-side features the RSH1KLBG different, more sophisticated and easy, according to the premium class dibidiknya.
Technology "Air Refresh" in the washing machine, for example, claimed to be naughty able to eliminate the smell of cigarette smoke and food, make clothing more heavily segar.Tak only wash piawai textiles, also mumpuni to clean materials such as fine sweter, scarf, pillow, to the wool .
This feature is caused by "Air Wash" or wash with hot air and eliminate the bacteria to cloth fibers. There are more features of "Diamond Drum" a powerful and clean the dirt noda.Lubang vessel washing clothes 75% smaller than conventional drum.
When washing, do not worry about clothing will get caught or damaged. "Home Appliance Products Samsung is already present in Indonesia since the end of 2008.Namun, now introduced to the public," said Wahyuningrum Mustika, Assistant Manager of Corporate Marketing special washing machine PT sein in Samsung Plaza, SCBD Jakarta, Wednesday (4 / 2).
To save water, specifically designed products Samsung washing machine features a ceramic penghangat can survive three more kuat.Sementara for a period of use, durability sein guarantee up to 10 years. A unique, is the voice antibising features Vibration Reduction Technology (VRT). In fact, there is no sense in the slightest vibration mesin.Sampai-up Mustika menganalogikan cat can fall asleep on the machines that are up.
For the operation, there are five stages of washing-level, ie, pre wash, washing, flushing, extortion, and violence. Last Stop is a technology and Aid.Teknologi this allows users to add even though washing machine is running.
In the refrigerator, sein Kulkas serve side-by-side with RSH1KLBG Twin Cooling technology SystemdanCoolSelectZone. TwinCooling System will separately set the space between the refrigerator right dankiri. Refrigerator set aside the right of vegetables, while the left for food or raw meat.
Meanwhile, Cool Select Zone can set the temperature according to the needs of storage. The Quick Cool can be used to chill beverages not until 1 hour, while Thaw can melt flesh hard time in maximum four hours.
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Improve the Quality of Computing Netbook
The experimental version, This is the display operating system Microsoft Windows 7 beta (experimental). Windows 7 Beta at this time can be downloaded free from Microsoft Corp. site. Final version of Windows 7 (final) is estimated to be available in the market at the end of January 2010.
WINDOWS7 improve the performance of netbook at the same time to save energy consumption. The complete function when combined with Windows Live Essentials. The world's largest manufacturer of software Microsoft Corp. are building a new operating system called Windows 7.
Microsoft promises Windows 7 will not only improve the quality of computing on the PC (personal computer) desktop and notebook, also on netbookatau notebookmini. Corporate Vice President of Windows Consumer Product Marketing Brad Brooks Microsoft Corp. revealed, netbook is the definition given to the world's largest processor manufacturer Intel Corp. to run the notebook using Intel Atom processor.
"Netbook is a tiny portable PC. We are committed to provide the same experience in Windows, both between the PC netbook, notebook and desktop, "said Brooks. Microsoft to invest a large-scale to build the operating system running on the perfect netbook for netbook PC market segment is growing the most rapidly in the past year.
Research firm International Data Corp. (IDC) said, netbookglobal sales in 2008 reached 11.4 million units in 2012 and that volume will increase to 42.2 million units.
"We see their own netbook demand increased rapidly in the last ten months. We estimate, netbook demand will continue menguat in 2009, "Brooks demolished. To serve the netbook market, the current Microsoft operating systems still rely on older Microsoft Windows operating XP.Sistem later, that is Windows Vista, not running at optimal netbookkarena Vista's hardware demands are too high specification.
In the netbook market, fight with the Windows XP operating system Linux. Brooks said, Windows XP currently dominates the global netbook market because more familiar Windows XP, has a higher compatibility, and easier to use than Linux. Brooks explains, since February 2008 until February 2009, the Windows XP netbookmelonjak in the market of only 10% to more than 80%.
"This trend makes us very optimistic for the coming years," say Brooks. Brooks in the discussion, most netbook users in the world at this time select the Windows XP because they want the best computing experience. Brooks admitted, attendance at the beginning of the netbook, most mini-notebooks that are using Linux.
However, Brooks said, netbookbersistem Linux operating disappointing that its users. Because, they can not access the functions that they previously enjoyed on the desktop PC or notebook.
According to Brooks, Windows is able to provide application-level compatibility and peranti that Linux can not be presented. "For example, Windows is able to run a number of everyday applications such as Microsoft Office, Apple iTunes, Microsoft Zune, and a number of games like 'World of Warcraft'.
Also, Windows supports most printers, digital cameras, and electronic equipment that other, "say Brooks. Brooks adds, the netbook manufacturers such as Micro-Star International (MSI) Co. Ltd, and even claim to receive Linux netbook four times higher than netbookWindows XP.Sebab, Linux netbook users upset the performance of the products they buy.
Brooks rate, netbook performance increase in one year terakhir.Pada at this time, consumers can buy more high-performing netbook with the same price, even a lower price than the first generation netbook, the lower performing computing. However, Brooks admitted, netbook has a number of shortfalls than notebook and desktop.
Among others, netbook does not have optical drives. In addition, netbookmemiliki screen and keyboard make it smaller so that when users type, make presentations, or editing photos and video.
"It is important to remember that the netbook is not designed to replace the notebook or desktop is full. Therefore, consumers must first recognize the need to purchase the product. There is no one solution that can meet all needs, "said Brooks.
However, Brooks stressed, the quality of the user's computing experience netbook still increased when using Windows 7 as sparingly Windows7dirancanguntuklebih storage space, can be booting and shut down faster, more energy efficient so that extend the battery life, more stable and reliable, and have stronger security.
Brooks added, netbook functionality in Windows 7 operating bersistem increasing when users take advantage of the online services Microsoft Windows Live Essentials. "The application helps the user communicate. In addition, users can also access the Windows Live SkyDrive, which provides media storage (storage) online for free with a 25 GB, "say Brooks.
With online media storage such as Windows Live SkyDrive, users netbook, which has limited storage space, can save space storagehanya to save aplikasi.Sebab, data stored onlinedi internet.
When the data is in the internet, the user can access data from anywhere, as far as internet connection is available. Online media such as Windows Live SkyDrive vital for netbook users because most of the netbook has indeed limited hard drive capacity.
