Sennheiser pxc 450- High-End travel Headphone set

Sennheiser is the leading manufacturer of the quality audio receiving and reproducing devices.They manufacture headphones and microphone in excellent quality with new technology added to it.

The product of Sennheiser, PXC 450is a high -end travel headphone set with Noise guard technology and TalkThrough function.It eliminates the background noise up to 90% and sends the intended sound.This is specially made for pilots.



Noise guard works on the principle of physics sound and counter sound.It uses good quality microphones which removes the unwanted background noise.It can be operated passively without Noise guard and bat tries.With the Talk Through functionality one can talk to their neighbour without having to remove the headphones.When the mode is activated,the microphone picks up the neighbour's voice and removes unwanted noise.Then it produce the sound clearly to the listener using the headphone.

Internet Media Tablet-Archos

The technology now is evolving very rapidly.At first the mp3 players introduced for the listening music.Then video ipods are introduced one can watch their favourite videos at any time.Internet media tablet is the one that combines the features of media player,Internet browsing and Television.

Archos now introduced its new version of Archos7.It contains Media player that plays the songs and videos.Videos can be watched on the 7"inch screen.That gives good quality of audio and video.

Archos7 contains three main features play,Internet,TV.


Play :
Have media club,videos,music and photos.It organises various collection of photos.
Other than listening to music one can watch videos.

Internet:
This feature Full Web application and Browsing.In the screen all the contents of the page are displayed.No need to zoom in and out.

TV:
This features TV recording and Content play back and web surfing on TV.So one can all the TV shows without missing anyone.

Archos7 supports wide varieties of formats.It comes in 160GB and 320GB models.

Further reading:archos.com

Digital Media Server-Q110

Digital media server are the music servers that serves music to all parts of the home.This is like large mp3 player that stores all the songs.So when you what to play a song that you like most no need to search for the Cds.This media server is the main storage for the collection of all the songs.It comes with GB ans TB of storage.



QSonix a company based in California unveiled its new media server Q110.This comes with touch screen user interface and have large amount of storage.It comes in the range of 250GB ,1Tb of storage.This has good sound quality and one can transfer the play list stored in ipod to this device.It is unbelievable that you can store up to 18,000 cds in Q110.

Further Reading:hometheaterhifi.com

Motion Powered chargers for Mobile:

Today the technology has grown beyond the human expectation.One of the wonderful invention of man is the mobile phone.One can make a call from anywhere around the world.The mobile phone are basically operated by battery.The major problem people encounter is the low battery.They can't make call or receive any because of the dead battery.This cause frustration in many cellphone users.





The solution for that problems is answered by the M2E.This now released a new technology for charging the Mobile when the users is walking or running.This set consists of lithium ion battery ,coils and magnet when one walks electromagnetic field will produce charge for the mobile phone.Six hours of walking can add 30 to 60 minutes of charge for the mobile phone.Thanks to the new technology.


For more reading:m2epower.com

Avid's Turn Table -Acutus

Now today the world is becoming digitalized.Now the audios are digitized and played by computers.First we used phonograph for recording and playback of audios.Then cassette came ans replaced that.No one can forget the real quality of sound from the older phonograph.Avid the leading manufacturer of analog audio devices has been launching new products.It makes a research in the audio devices and release high quality turn tables.Avid's design and engineering are sought by premier companies within audio, automotive, medical and military industries.




Now Avid launched new Acutus turn table that offers excellent quality of sound.It is designed such that the vibration caused by the rotation of the platters is insulated from affecting the rotation of the disc.


For more reading and buying the products:
Purchase:musicdirect.com
Avid website:avidhifi.co.uk

Nokia's 5800 Xpress Music

Nokia the leading firm in the cellphone world launched many types of mobile ranging from simple 1100 to the N-series,E-series.Inspit of all success mobile model from Nokia,it was the expectation of the people for release of touch screen mobile.Nokia not wanting the fail the customers expectation introduced its first ever touch screen mobile Nokia 5800 Xpress Music.It is expected to be a challenge for the iPhone.It has many feautures then iPhone.It has good quality music music player optimized for downloading music with ease and share it with others.We can download music from Nokia Online for one year with free subscription.Nokia 5800 offers video recording option at up to 640 x 480 pixels and up to 30 fps (frames per second). It offers up to 4x digital video zoom.

Specification of 5800:

*   3.2-inch touchscreen display with 16 Million colors
*   3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus uses Carl Zeiss optics
*   Quad-band (850/900/1800/1900Mhz) GSM/EDGE radio
*   3G UMTS/HSDPA
*   Bluetooth 2.0
*   WiFi
*   GPS
*   3.5mm headphone jack
*   TV-out port
*   140MB on-board storage
*   111 x 52 x 14.5 mm
*   104g

More Reading:infotech.indiatimes.com

Sony Ericsson's MBW-200 Bluetooth watches

Sony Ericsson's new MBW-200 watches display caller ID and rumble on the wrist when a call comes in to your Bluetooth connected cellphone. You can then reject or mute the call directly from the watch. The Fossil designed, glare- and scratch-resistant time keepers come in three versions -- Sparkling Allure, Contemporary Elegance and Evening Classic.






The feautures of the three models are as follows:
.Reject or mute call
.Vibrates on new SMS/MMS - and an out of range warning – when 10 m away from your phone
.Discreet yet clear caller ID - OLED display
.Play, pause, stop or skip a track on your phone’s music player
.Quartz movements for exact time keeping – both digital and analogue
.Auto pairing™ - easier to connect the watch to your phone
.Water resistant up to 3 ATM
.Allergy safe stainless steel
.Mineral crystal scratch resistant face with antiglare coating

Google SMS Channel

Google SMS Channels is Google’s solution to SMS groups message broadcasting and subscription. This service enables you to get content from Google, Google partners, and all other websites and blogs with RSS support.

You can create your own channel and publish content that other users can subscribe to. You can also create groups over SMS to communicate with your friends, family, and co-workers, just like the SMS GupShup service.

This is a free service. You don’t pay anything to send or receive messages using Google SMS Channels website. When you post a message to your channel, all the members of your channel get the message forwarded for free. Any Indian mobile number will work with this service.

Google SMS Channel uses the normal number 9870807070, and not the premium short codes. So any SMS charge you incur is as low as you sending an SMS to your friend. There is no charge for receiving the updates.

SMS tariff charges may apply when you configure the service or publish to a channel using a mobile phone. Most of you don’t do this unless you want to start a new channel.

You can use the service on the web at Google SMS Channels or via your mobile phone.


Using SMS cahnnel from mobile:
The waye are:
CREATE CREATE channel name description
MODIFY MODIFY channel name PRI
MODIFY channel name PUB
SEARCH SEARCH keyword(s)
SUBSCRIBE ON channel name
UNSUBSCRIBE OFF channel name
all the messages have to be sent to 9870807070

Single Gmail account and Multiple Email address

Want to use the Google email account as multiple email address.It is quit simple.Hoe it can be done.Here is the way you can do that.Google don’t differentiate between your username with dots and without dots. All id’s will be treated as a single email address.
eg:emailid@gmail.com
email.id@gmail.com
are all same.
Try this out with your email address. Add any number of dots to your Gmail address and send a test mail with this id. See who gets the email.

Moreover you can use ‘+’ sign to add variations to your email address. Anything after + will be ignored while sending email to destination address.

Eg: youremaild+any@gmail.com will delivered to youremaild@gmail.com

Interesting .Isn't it?

Two- pot power for Cars .

Fiat is investing heavily in smaller engines with its new valve-control system, Multiair. This uses hydraulics and electronics to optimise valve settings. When combined with a turbocharger (a supercharger driven by exhaust gases), Fiat engineers talk of producing a “downsized” two-cylinder engine that performs like a bigger four-cylinder one, but with fuel savings of some 20%. Fiat is expected to start using Multiair engines in its cars in a year or so.

Using a combination of variable valve-control, fuel injection and turbocharging, Daimler is developing an entirely new type of engine. It can switch between operating as a petrol engine, with agility and power, to operating as a diesel, with economy and torque. The DiesOtto engine, as Daimler has called it, starts as a petrol engine with spark plugs igniting the mixture of fuel and air in its cylinders, and remains as a petrol engine when high performance is needed. But at low and medium speeds the engine switches into diesel mode, in which the fuel is ignited by compression and heat alone. A 1.8-litre four-cylinder test version of DiesOtto fitted to a prototype Mercedes S-class saloon produced plenty of power, but also returned an average fuel consumption of 5.3 litres per 100km (equivalent in America to 44.4mpg)—extremely good for a such a big car. The vehicle’s emissions were also lower.

In a similar vein, Ricardo, another British automotive-engineering company, has been working with a group of partners on an engine that can switch from four-stroke to two-stroke running. Two-stroke engines can provide very high levels of torque. Ricardo reckons such an engine could not only improve fuel economy by 27% over a traditional engine but also greatly reduce its size and complexity. And because small engines take up less space in a car, that means there will be more room for occupants, inviting more innovative designs.

By putting all these technologies together, small cars capable of breaking the 100mpg barrier will become possible. Getting more than 80mpg from some small diesel-powered cars is already feasible—with a very light foot on the accelerator. Indeed, according to Edmunds.com, an automotive-information service, when you count the overall costs of owning a car, only one hybrid in America, the Honda Civic Hybrid, gets into the top ten of the least expensive vehicles to run, with fuel prices at $5 a gallon. It may be old hat, but the internal combustion engine still has a lot of mileage in it.

From :Economic Times.

Microsoft launches 3D wonder Photosynth for consumers

Photosynth, a technology demo from Microsoft Live Labs, has graduated from its "ooh, that's pretty" status to being a viable Web service for consumers.

The technology, which takes a grouping of photographs and stitches them into a faux 3D environment, can now be implemented with photos you've taken on your digital camera or mobile phone, and converted right on your computer. Previously, the process of stitching these photos together took weeks of processing on specially configured server arrays. With its latest version, Microsoft has managed to shrink that into around the time it takes to upload your photos.

Microsoft is giving users 20GB of online storage for their Photosynth collections. Photosynth product manager Joshua Edwards tells me this can easily fit 60 or more "synths" made up of around 150 to 200 photographs apiece--the higher end of what's recommended for what Edwards calls an optimum or "synthy" experience. Users who are making really neat collections will be granted additional space.

I spent the past few days building my own Photosynths and finally managed to get the knack for how to shoot correctly by the third one. While Microsoft has largely pushed it as a way to build jaw-dropping 3D-like environments, I'd argue to say it's a far simpler way to take super detailed shots of a wall or single room without breaking the bank on a high megapixel SLR. That said, Photosynth will take any resolution of photos you throw at it.

This synth I created uses close to 300 photos, although you can make ones with many less. Part of the creation process involves learning how to take photos for it to recognize how objects relate to one another.
(Credit: CNET Networks/Josh Lowensohn)

One of the most impressive parts of Photosynth is how damn fast it is. Over a decent broadband connection you'll immediately see large thumbnails that quickly begin to sharpen as data fills in the missing pixels. You can continue to zoom into these areas and they'll sharpen up even more on some of the super high-resolution shots.

The streaming and rendering technology behind Photosynth is Seadragon, another project from the Microsoft Live Labs universe. Users have always had to download a special Seadragon-based plug-in to view other people's synths. The new twist with the latest plug-in now comes with a desktop uploader that can be used to add your own collection to the Photosynth universe. This runs with complete autonomy from your browser, so you don't have to worry about it stopping if you close out your browser. It also works in both IE 7 and Firefox 3, making it cross-platform--at least for Microsoft. If you're a Mac user looking to get your hands on some Photosynth action you'll have to keep waiting. The focus on Photosynth will remain on the PC for the time being.

One thing that's missing from this version of Photosynth is a way to synth pre-existing photo collections, or sets of photos taken from community sites. This is the most useful for things like common landmarks, and is clearly something that can be done with the right photo database--something we saw in that really nifty video from Siggraph last week. In the case of Photosynth, once you've uploaded a batch of photos you can't simply upload more to it later. Gary Flake, who heads up Microsoft's Live Labs, says this is something that's coming later on down the road. For now, you'll just have to plan ahead.

Link:http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10020637-2.html

Apple 3G iPhone launched in India

iphone 3G which was expected very much by all was launched yesterday. It was introduced by the leading service provider Bharti Airtel and Vodaphone in Delhi.After a long waiting Swati a college student was the first one to get the iphone from Sanjay Kapoor president of Bharti Mobile Services. The phone is priced at Rs 31,000 for 8 GB memory and Rs 36,0000 for 16 GB of memory space.Vodafone was selling at 11 stores across Delhi, while Bharti was selling it only at the Shahara Mall.Recent survey says that there are 150,000 iphone users in India ,they got that from importing or from the grey market. Aitel has received order for 200,000 iphone by pre-booking since the process was started one moth back. The phone comes locked to the service provider which means the user can't switch his service provider.But there are number software available in market which hack the phone,they all go unnoticed.
It is expected to hit in India because India ranks third third unofficially after Russia and China.

Buzz Ball

The Buzzball delivers a thrill like no other interactive ride can, where the pilot has the power to create their own unique ride experience - from fun goer to thrill seeker. The Buzzball is a future product in development.



At the heart of the Buzzball is a dual motor configuration, enabling the pilot to control the motion and direction of travel via left and right control triggers, which provides power to the driving wheels.


The amount of power applied to each wheel will determine the direction the Buzzball moves. Powering one wheel will spin the pod and pilot on it's axis around the inside of the ball changing the direction of travel. If power is applied equally to both wheels the pod will rear up as the wheels climb up the face of the ball forcing the ball to rotate around the pod and powering the Buzzball forward.

Once the Buzzball is in motion the pod maintains an upright position until the pilot turns, causing the pod to rotate inside the ball against the direction of travel, which applies a braking force and the pod to lock with the ball. This causes the pod to rotate with the ball until the weight of the pilot and pod overcomes the inertia forces and causes the Buzzball to change direction.

This is when the fun starts, as the speed will affect the degree of rotation of the pilot and pod from a partial barrel roll to complete and multiple rotations

Quanta Plus is a highly stable and feature rich web development environment. The vision with Quanta has always been to start with the best architectural foundations, design for efficient and natural use and enable maximal user extensibility. We recognize that we don't have the resources to do everything we would like to so our target is to make it easy for you to help make this the best community based desktop application anywhere. Pretty much everything in Quanta is designed so you can extend it. Even the way it handles XML DTDs is based on XML files you can edit. You can even import DTDs, write scripts to manage editor contents, visually create dialogs for your scripts and assign script actions to nearly any file operation in a project. You can even look at and communicate with a wide range of what happens inside Quanta using DCOP.


Quanta is based on KDE so this means it is network transparent from any dialog or project. It can use not only FTP but other KDE KIO slaves from file dialogs or in project settings. For instance if you want secure access try the fish KIO slave that uses SSH. Just enter fish://[user]@domain in any dialog or select fish in your project settings. Here on this site you will find information on using Kommander to visually build dialogs you can extend Quanta with. These applications talk to each other using an IPC (Inter Process Communication) called DCOP (Desktop Communication Protocol).

The main features of Quanta are:

* Project management, including support for local and remote (through the network) projects. Project files can be uploaded to many servers using various protocols. CVS support is integrated, Subversion support is possible through external plugins. Advanced project features, like actions assigned to various project events and assigning roles in a team are also available.
* Uses KDE KIO slaves for FTP, SSH (through FISH) and other protocol support.
* HTML and XML support: by default support for various (X)HTML versions and some XML based languages are available. This support can be extended either by the user (by importing an XML DTD) or via the "hotstuff" interface, by downloading XML support packages. XML support means autocompletion of tags and attributes, visual editing of tags, document structure viewing, validation/problem reporting, context help.
* script language support: by default PHP support is included, other languages can be supported by creating a language description package. PHP debugger interface is included for the Gubed and XDebug debuggers. Autocompletion for built in and user functions/variables is possible.
* CSS support: visual CSS editor, autocompletion for CSS.
* templates: full site, one document or snippet templates are possible. Templates can be shared via hotstuff.
* user toolbars and actions: toolbars can be freely created with stock or actions created by the user on it. This toolbars can be assigned to a language or to a project. The toolbars are also shareable via hotstuff.
* unlimited extensibility: any type of scripts/executables can be assigned to actions or project events. Users can exchange toolbars through the hotstuff system.
* plugins: general KPart plugin support. Any KDE KPart can be used inside Quanta, by default Konsole, KImageMapEditor, KLinkStatus, Cervisia (CVS) and KFileReplace is configured.
* integrated preview: documents can be previewed inside the application using the KHTML engine. Preprocessing the documents through a web server before previewing is possible.
* context help: context help for many languages can be downloaded via hotstuff. New help packages can be created by the user.
* lots of settings: the application is highly configurable, so everyone can adapt to its needs.
* Builtin rendering with KHTML.
* Display the source code, WYSIWYG Mode (called VPL (Visual Page Layout) in Quanta) or both.

Scribus - Open Source Desktop Publishing

Scribus is an open-source program that brings award-winning professional page layout to Linux/Unix, MacOS X, OS/2 and Windows desktops with a combination of "press-ready" output and new approaches to page layout. Underneath the modern and user friendly interface, Scribus supports professional publishing features, such as CMYK color, separations, ICC color management and versatile PDF creation.



Scribus is designed for flexible layout and typesetting, and the ability to prepare files for professional quality image setting equipment. It can also create animated and interactive PDF presentations and forms. Example uses include writing small newspapers, brochures, newsletters, posters and books.


Capabilities
Scribus supports most major graphic formats in addition to SVG. Professional type/image setting features include CMYK colors and ICC color management. Although written in C++, it has built-in scripting using Python. It is available in more than 24 languages.

Printing is achieved via its own internal level 3 PostScript driver, including support for font embedding and sub-setting with TrueType, Type 1 and OpenType fonts. The internal driver fully supports Level 2 PostScript constructs and a large subset of Level 3 constructs.

PDF support includes transparency, encryption and a large set of the PDF 1.4 spec as well as PDF/X3, including interactive PDFs form fields, annotations and bookmarks. However, although PDF export is very good, it is not currently able to import/edit PDF files, and PDFs exported from Scribus are not searchable in Acrobat Reader if the document contains proportional fonts.

The file format, called SLA, is based on XML and is fully documented. Text can be imported from OpenDocument text documents, as well as RTF, Microsoft Word .doc, and HTML formats (although limitations apply).

Scribus cannot read or write the native file formats of commercial programs like QuarkXPress, Microsoft Publisher, and InDesign; the developers feel that reverse engineering those file formats would be prohibitively complex and could risk legal action from the makers of those programs.

Although Scribus supports Unicode character encoding, it currently does not properly support complex script rendering and so cannot be used with Unicode text for languages written with Arabic, Indic and South East Asian writing systems.

Download: Download Scribus
Sources : http://www.scribus.net/
wikipedia

Ferguson Hill FH007 and FH008 Speakers

There are a few basic rules that all journalists understand and adhere to - most of the time. One is that whenever Microsoft releases a piece of software, several years are then spent fixing all the problems with it. Another is that when something's so stylish it wouldn't look out of place in a central London penthouse apartment, it's bound to be expensive - and rubbish to boot.




That was certainly my first impression upon pulling the delicately made Ferguson Hill FH007 mini-speakers out of their rather large boxes. Here's a product that just screams "style over substance": a stereo speaker consisting of two fruit-bowl clear acrylic horns, two football-shaped clear acrylic mid-bass speakers and a big, beefy sub-woofer in shiny iPod homage white livery.

The whole lot is powered by a cube-shaped amplifier with just two inputs - one 3.5mm input for your iPod (or other stylish pocket music player) - and another pair of phono sockets for a proper hi-fi component, like a DVD or CD deck. It looks fantastic resting on a table, desk or speaker stands, and costs an appropriately expensive £750 for the set. But before you lose all hope or roll your eyes in exasperation, stop and reverse your expectations; the FH007s turn out to be pretty good value for money too.






How can that be? After all, £750 is a huge amount of money to spend on a desktop speaker set that a) isn't portable, b) isn't surround and c) doesn't have enough inputs to serve as a speaker set for your main hi-fi or AV system? A clue to the answer lies in the speakers' origins. Ferguson Hill is no ordinary speaker manufacturer. Its main focus, in fact, lies in rather esoteric, high-end audio. This is a subject that's close to my heart, but one that inevitably leads to extremely high prices and a large amount of crippling debt. The FH007s are basically a miniaturised version of the only other speakers that Ferguson Hill makes - the FH001 and FH002 - and these man-sized speakers require an investment of considerably more than ten grand - £12,512 to be precise.

So let's put the FH007s in context for a moment: here, you're getting a slice of high-end, non mass-produced audio art for under a grand, and benefitting from the research and design experience of a company that normally plies its trade in the rarefied atmosphere of high-end audio. That's something that's not to be sniffed at.

Another reason these speakers are such good value lies in what you get for your money. Part of the reviewed package is not only those arty clear acrylic horn and mid-bass speakers, but also an extremely hefty and powerful 100W sub-woofer unit. You can choose not to buy the sub, but to be honest, the speakers on their own aren't very bassy, so it would be foolish not to.



On top of the sub you also get a beautifully-built amplifier which has been made specifically for the FH007s. This bi-amps the speakers, which means that, unlike a standard speaker and amp setup, each of the four passive drivers is powered by its own amplifier circuit; standard setups involve a single amp per stereo channel and rely on passive crossovers in the speakers themselves to split the signal between the high and low frequency drivers. To this end, the amplifier features five 3.5mm outputs: one pair for the horn speakers, one pair for the mid-bass speakers and a single output for the sub, with each speaker output supplying 16.4W of power.

The detailing is also very impressive. Each of the horn speakers might be 38cm high, but the blemish-free transparent horns will just disappear into the background of your living room (you get a pair of cotton gloves with which to keep them clean). They're supported by slender, brushed aluminium tubular stands which lead to three spiked feet, and a set of silicone feet have been supplied to further isolate the system from vibrations. The spherical bass speakers, similarly, rest on chunky aluminium cones and also have silicone feet supplied for them.



The final and decisive reason these speakers are so good, though, is the sound quality. The first time you fire them up they sound downright awful - but given two solid weeks of running in, playing away to themselves at medium volume levels and music is transformed from sounding as if it's being played through a trombone with no mouthpiece to a truly revolutionary, transparent and emotional experience.

The secret to this lies in the design of the speakers. Unlike most bookshelf or floor-standing designs, which use bass-mid drivers coupled with a tweeter for just the high end frequencies, the FH007 utilises what could be called a semi-full range approach. Whereas most tweeter-based speaker designs split the frequency at around the 2kHz mark (tweeters typically reproduces sound above this to 20KHz, while the bass/mid drivers focus on the range below it) the FH007's horn speakers reproduce sounds from 340Hz all the way up to 20kHz with the spherical bass units covering the frequencies from 75Hz to 350Hz. The sub is adjustable in the 50Hz to 150Hz range.

The difference might not sound like much, but when you consider that the ear is most sensitive to frequencies around the 2-3kHz mark, which is precisely where most speakers cross over from their mid/bass drivers to their tweeters, the advantages of a single driver to cover the whole range become obvious.

The horn, or horn-loaded to use the correct term, design also means that the speakers are highly efficient and able to reach loud volumes with very little movement of the driver cone. In theory this means lower levels of distortion - both at the amplifier and speaker ends of the equation - as the speakers are having to shift less air, and the amplifier circuitry is having to do less work.




So much for the theory: does it work in practice? Well, it very much depends on the sort of music you want to listen to and the volume you want to listen at, but in most instances I'd have to say the answer is, most certainly, yes. Firing up Diana Krall's When I look In Your Eyes reveals the true strengths of the FH007s. Her smoky vocals just leap from the speakers in a way that seems holographically real. You can hear plenty of detail, such as when she takes breaths in between phrases, but importantly, the rich, subtle singing never overwhelms these speakers and they remain silky smooth right up to the top end, with a remarkable lack of sibilance and distortion.

Moving on to a touch of Stacey Kent and the performance is repeated. Stereo imaging is remarkable - these speakers not only melt into the background physically, but they also do so in an audio sense. The FH007s create a soundstage that's convincing, and they do so in a completely effortless way that's a joy to the ears.

Listening to some classical Spanish guitar played by the inimitable John Williams also plays to these speakers' strengths. Each pluck of the nylon strings on his guitar hangs in space before the speakers, as if the great man were sitting in your living room giving a personal recital. The rasp of finger against nickel-wound strings sends a shiver up your spine.

On Ben Folds' jubilant piano-led pop on Songs For Silverman there's a sense of space realism to the music that ‘normal' speakers just can't reproduce. And even a bit of Metallica - at medium volume levels sound great, with the sub really helping to thump out the low notes and the bass spheres working well on the driving guitars.


There are a couple of caveats, though. These speakers don't deal with loud, dramatic music very well. Push the volume right up to neighbour-bothering levels while listening to something demanding, like Mozart's Requiem, and the FH007s will start to sound a little muddled. Likewise, a session of Soundgarden, Biffy Clyro and The Prodigy had me hankering after a more traditional, box speaker sound. The FH007's horn-loaded design also means they're not a great party speaker. They're highly directional, so for the best sound quality you have to point the speakers straight at your listening position. Move off axis and that detail and involving sound starts to disappear. These are small points in the overall scheme of things, but ones that are worth bearing in mind when you're thinking of buying a set.

Verdict

You'll have probably figured out by now that I think the FH007 speakers are very good. But I'm not going to pull the proverbial high-end audio wool over your eyes: they're not perfect for every scenario. If you mainly listen to dance or metal at ear-splitting volumes and like your rock to rattle the window frames they won't be for you. It's also a shame the amp doesn't have more inputs. If it did, I'd consider recommending it as the main amp and speaker setup in a basic separates system. And it's a pity the sub is such a behemoth, which detracts a little from the overall appearance.

But in every other respect, the FH007s are simply stunning. Despite the seemingly high price tag, these speakers are actually great value for money for an amp, sub and speaker set up. They look wonderful, resplendent with their transparent spheres and horns, and the amp is well-designed too. But all that takes a back seat when you start to listen. They produce a sound that's detailed, natural and emotionally involving in a way that you just don't get from traditional speaker designs, and that's worth paying good money for.

Source:www.trustedreviews.com

Studio-Quality Triode-Tube iPod Speakers

Using superior analog technology all but lost in today's common digital electronics, this is the first tube-based iPod speaker system, producing a luxurious warmth and clarity prized by audiophiles and previously difficult to reproduce outside of custom-built amplifiers of a handful of live musicians.

Developed and built by German audio technicians, the system consists of an aluminum-encased amplifier housing four powerful Class-A tubes which glow gently as they generate warm, low-octave sound that is virtually distortion-free, considered by audiophiles to be the most pleasing to the human ear.

The tube amplifier smoothes over distortions found in modern digital recordings while helping to compensate and minimize the quality loss inherent in compressed audio such as MP3s, and in addition to the iPod line-in jack, a second audio-in port allows you to connect a CD player, satellite radio, or other audio component. The matching double-cone, full-range speakersdesigned solely for use with this systemfaithfully generate warm, realistic tones using a single, highly synchronized chassis per speaker (reducing ill-timed and out of phase audio). An RCA cable and two highly-insulated 13' triple-core speaker cables with gold-plated connectors are included. System: 111/2" H x 61/2" W x 26" L. (42 lbs.)


price:. $3,999.95

MojoPac

MojoPac is a technology that transforms your iPod or USB Hard Drive or Flash drive into a portable and private PC. Just install MojoPac on any USB 2.0 compliant storage device, upload your applications and files, modify your user settings and environment preferences, and take it with you everywhere.


Every time you plug your MojoPac-enabled device into any Windows XP PC , MojoPac automatically launches your environment on the host PC. Your communications, music, games, applications, and files are all local and accessible. And when you unplug the MojoPac device, no trace is left behind – your information is not cached on the host PC.

MojoPac requires the host PC be logged in with administrative privileges or have MojoPac Usher installed. MojoPac Usher is an application that can be installed on host computers to enable MojoPac to run with a limited mode host login.


Benefits

Devices for MojoPac

ZAC Browser

ZAC - Zone for Autistic Children

is the first web browser developed specifically for children with autism, and autism spectrum disorders such as Asperger syndrome, pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), and PDD-NOS. We have made this browser for the children - for their enjoyment, enrichment, and freedom. Children touch it, use it, play it, interact with it, and experience independence through ZAC.

is the zone that will permit your child to interact directly with games (a LOT of games) and activities (focused on MANY interests) that cater specifically to kids who display the characteristics of autism spectrum disorders, like impairments in social interaction, impairments in communication, restricted interests and repetitive behavior. ZAC has been an effective tool for kids with low, medium and high functioning autism.

focuses on the children and their interaction - But we also provide an excellent forum for parents, caretakers, teachers, and others to share their experiences, tools and resources and to unite as a caring, compassionate, and extremely knowledgeable community. It is said that "it takes a village to raise a child", and that is exponentially true for raising a child with autistic spectrum disorders. The power of your experience yesterday is going to be instrumental in helping someone successfully tackle the circumstances of today.


Download at:http://www.zacbrowser.com/

Waterproof MP3 Player

Speedo™ Aquabeat Waterproof MP3 Player










* 1GB (up to 250 MP3 and 500 WMA files)
* Playtime up to 9 hours.
* Available in 3 colors.
* Weight 35g.
* Waterproof compact design (can be used safely down to 3 meters).
* Waterproof earplugs.
* Floats for easy retrieval.
* Ergonomic buttons allow ease of use while swimming.
* Comes with Playlist Editing Software enables quick and easy adding and sorting of music files.
* Easily recharges through PC or laptop through USB port.
* Short ear phone cord for easy w

iPhone 3G










It's been a long, leak-filled wait, but Apple finally took the wraps off its 3GiPhone. Thinner edges, full plastic back, flush headphone jack, and the iPhone 2.0 firmware -- Apple's taking a lot of the criticisms to heart from the first time around. Obviously 3G is at the forefront, but they're also making sure it's available all over internationally, works with enterprises, runs 3rd party apps... and does it all for cheaper. Apple claims its 3G speeds trounce the competition, with pageloads 36% faster than the N95 and Treo 750 -- and of course it completely trounces the old EDGE data speeds.

Battery life isn't getting put out to pasture though, with 300 hours of standby, 8-10 hours of 2G talk, 5 hours of 3G talk, 7 hours of video and 24 hours of audio. GPS is also a go. Apple is using A-GPS, which supplements regular satellite GPS data with info from cellular towers for faster location. (WiFi data is also worked into the mix, which should give users a pretty solid lock on where the heck they are on this planet.) Unfortunately, as expected there's no front-facing cam, and while its edges are thinner than before it's still about a millimeter thicker at the center (12.3mm over 11.6mm before). Apple hopes to launch in 70 countries, with the black 8GB going for $199 and 16GB for $299 in black or white. (Both price points require a contract, of course.) Apple will be hitting the 22 biggest markets

ASUS P320 GPS PDA Phone

ASUS has released th P320 GPS PDA Phone, a feature-packed device targetted at the style conscious. The phone which is powered by Microsoft Window Mobile 6.1 Professional operating system, also has an enhanced user interface called Asus Today that has customised icons to display the time, calender, incoming message, weather and media player. The P320 hac plenty of features such as WiFi, Bluetooth and built in GPS that uses SiRFStar III intergrated chipset that is supposed to quickly and accurately pinpoint a users location. It’s among the first low end smartphones to come with built-in GPS sensor. Also, the P320 has a 2-megapixel camera with autofocus and a microSD card slot. The new P320 is now available in pink, black and white colors with a price of around US$390.



Asus Phone Gallery

Java Servlet

The Java Servlet API allows a software developer to add dynamic content to a Web server using the Java platform. The generated content is commonly HTML, but may be other data such as XML. Servlets are the Java counterpart to non-Java dynamic Web content technologies such as PHP, CGI and ASP.NET. Servlets can maintain state across many server transactions by using HTTP cookies, session variables or URL rewriting.

The Servlet API, contained in the Java package hierarchy javax.servlet, defines the expected interactions of a Web container and a servlet. A Web container is essentially the component of a Web server that interacts with the servlets. The Web container is responsible for managing the lifecycle of servlets, mapping a URL to a particular servlet and ensuring that the URL requester has the correct access rights.




A Servlet is an object that receives a request and generates a response based on that request. The basic servlet package defines Java objects to represent servlet requests and responses, as well as objects to reflect the servlet's configuration parameters and execution environment. The package javax.servlet.http defines HTTP-specific subclasses of the generic servlet elements, including session management objects that track multiple requests and responses between the Web server and a client. Servlets may be packaged in a WAR file as a Web application.

Servlets can be generated automatically by JavaServer Pages (JSP), or alternately by template engines such as WebMacro. Often servlets are used in conjunction with JSPs in a pattern called "Model 2", which is a flavor of the model-view-controller pattern.

AMD Jumps to 12-core Chip

Advanced Micro Devices plans to release processors with 12 cores, which changes its product road map and kills earlier plans to release 8-core chips.

The 12-core processor, code-named Magny-Cours, will be targeted at servers and is due for release in the first half of 2010, according to the company's updated road map announced Wednesday.

The chip will include 12M bytes of L3 cache and support DDR3 RAM, according to the road map.

AMD is jumping from a 6-core chip code-named Istanbul, due for release in the second half of 2009, straight to a 12-core chip the following year, an AMD spokesman said.

Until last month, AMD officials repeated plans to ship the 8-core server chip, code-named Barcelona, in 2009. Montreal has now been replaced by Istanbul, followed by a 12-core product in 2010, the spokesman said

Twelve-core chips will handle larger workloads better than 8-core chips and are easier to manufacture, said Randy Allen, vice president and general manager at AMD, during a conference call.

AMD is also planning to release a 6-core chip code-named Sao Paulo in 2010. The chip will include 6M bytes of L3 cache and support for DDR3 RAM. Sao Paulo chips could meet the need of systems that don't require 12 cores, Allen said.

The new chips will be more power efficient as they will be manufactured using the 45-nanometer process, an upgrade from the 65-nm process currently used to manufacture Barcelona.

AMD, which is struggling financially, is making financial and technical considerations in jumping from 6-core to 12-core chips. said Dean McCarron, an analyst with Mercury Research. That should allow the company to dump more cores on chips while delivering better product margins and lowering manufacturing costs.

AMD's 12-core chip will include two 6-core processors on separate chips in a single processor package, McCarron said. That is a more realistic goal than including 12 cores on a single chip, which can be expensive to manufacture, McCarron said.

The shift also allows AMD to avoid competition with Intel in 8-core chips, McCarron said. Intel is shipping a 6-core Xeon server processor, Dunnington, in the second half this year, after which it plans to jump to 8-core processors.

Even with AMD's altered road map, Intel will remain formidable. Intel shipped 78.5 percent of chips in the first quarter of 2008, while AMD held a 20.6 percent market share, a slight gain from the 18.7 percent market share it held in the first quarter of 2007.

The new product road map is a way for AMD to bounce back from recent chip and supply issues, said Gordon Haff, principal IT advisor at Illuminata.

AMD's most recent server chips, the quad-core Opteron processors code-named Barcelona, started shipping late last month after multiple delays and bugs.

"Obviously, AMD had some missteps over the past year, but they have a staple of OEMs and routes to markets with their processors. What you're seeing is much more public focus on what's going to happen in the next 18 to 24 months rather than longer term," Haff said.

AMD has had a string of recent problems. The company last month reported its sixth consecutive quarterly loss and plans to lay off 1,650 jobs by the third quarter.

Sony Bravia LCD TVs

BRAVIA is a Sony brand used to market its high-definition LCD televisions as well as front and rear projection TVs. The name is an acronym of "Best Resolution Audio Visual Integrated Architecture". All new Sony high-definition flat-panel LCD televisions in North America now carry the BRAVIA logo. The name BRAVIA replaces the "LCD WEGA" brand name which Sony LCD TVs used up until Summer 2005 (early promotional photos exist of the first BRAVIA TVs still bearing the WEGA name).

The BRAVIA brand is also used on mobile phones in the Japanese market[1][2].

Sony India is eyeing big for its recently introduced Bravia LCD televisions series to drive sales in the coming festive season.

The company has also decided to spend around Rs 30 crore in advertising and other promotional activities for the range.

Masaru Tamagawa, Managing Director, Sony India, said, “We are focusing a lot on LCD televisions right now, to drive our sales for the upcoming festive season. In fact, even going by the industry statistics, Plasma and colour television sales have been dipping, whereas the LCD market is soaring.”

The company has already reserved a total promotion budget of $35 million, out of which $10 million will be used up on marketing plans during Diwali.

“Our target audience for the Bravia range of LCD televisions is the Rs 10-lakh plus annual income group,” said Mr. Tamagawa.

Actually, the company that unveiled 15 Bravia range models, which priced between Rs 27,990 and Rs 399,900, have cut prices on these latest models by about 10-15 per cent in order to comport with the Indian market conditions.

The company is also aiming to captivate 25 per cent of the total domestic market by March next year (2008).

Sony India is also in talks with various broadcasters for making High Definition (HD) television to lengthen its control in the sector.

Presently, the company claims to capture 80 per cent of the worldwide HD Tv market, and is planning to set up a sturdy base in India after the Government allows for HD broadcasting.

Mr. Tamagawa added, “We expect high definition broadcasting in India to start by 2009, and are currently talking to several broadcasters in the country for content creation.”

India
http://www.sony.co.in/microsite/bravia/default.html

Europe
http://campaign.odw.sony-europe.com

Overview

The overall objective of the XtreemOS project is the design, implementation, evaluation and distribution of an open source Grid operating system (named XtreemOS) with native support for virtual organizations (VO) and capable of running on a wide range of underlying platforms, from clusters to mobiles.

The approach we propose in this project is to investigate the construction of a new Grid OS, XtreemOS, based on the existing general purpose OS Linux. A set of system services, extending those found in the traditional Linux, will provide users with all the Grid capabilities associated with current Grid middleware, but fully integrated into the OS. The underlying Linux will be extended as needed to support VOs spanning across many machines and to provide appropriate interfaces to the Grid OS services.

Installed on each participating machine, the XtreemOS system will provide for the Grid what an operating system offers for a single computer: abstraction from the hardware, and secure resource sharing between different users. It would thus considerably ease the work of users belonging to VOs by giving them (as far as possible) the illusion of using a traditional computer, and releasing them from dealing with the complex resource management issues of a Grid environment. By integrating Grid capabilities into the kernel, XtreemOS will also provide a more robust, secure and easier to manage infrastructure for system administrators.

The XtreemOS consortium composition is a balance between academic and industrial partners interested in designing and implementing the XtreemOS components (Linux extensions to support VOs and Grid OS services), packaging and distributing the XtreemOS system on different hardware platforms, promoting and providing user support for the XtreemOS system, and experimenting with Grid applications using the XtreemOS system. Different end-users are involved in XtreemOS project, providing various test cases in scientific and business computing domains.

XtreemOS!

The emergence of Grids Gridsenables the sharing of a wide range of resources to solve large-scale computational and data intensive problems in science, engineering and commerce.
While much has been done to build Grid middleware on top of existing operating systems, little has been done to extend the underlying operating systems to enablee and facilitate Grid computing, for example by embedding important functionalities directly into the operating system kernel.



The XtreemOS project aims at investigating and proposing new services that should be added to current operating systems to build Grid infrastructure in a simple way. XtreemOS targets the Linux well-accepted open source operating system extending it to Grid with native support for virtual organizations. One of the most important challenges in XtreemOS is the identification of the basic functionalities which are to be embedded in the Linux kernel.

A set of operating system services, extending those found in the standard Linux distribution, will provide Linux users with all the Grid capabilities associated with current Grid middleware, but fully integrated into the OS. The underlying Linux OS will be extended as needed to support virtual organizations spanning across many machines and to supply appropriate interfaces to Grid OS services.

Installed on each participating machine (personal computer, cluster of workstations, mobile devices), the XtreemOS system will provide for the Grid what a traditional Operating System offers for a single computer: abstraction from the hardware and secure resource sharing between different users. It will thus considerably ease the work of users belonging to virtual organizations giving them the illusion of using a traditional computer, and releasing them from dealing with the complex resource management issues of a typical Grid environment. By integrating Grid capabilities into the Linux kernel, XtreemOS will also provide a more robust, secure and easier-to-manage infrastructure for system administrators. This will be experimentally demonstrated with a set of real applications, provided by well-known industrial partners, that cover a large spectrum of application fields.

Damn Small Linux

Damn Small Linux or DSL is a free Linux distribution for the X86 family of personal computers. It was designed to run graphical applications on older PC hardware -- for example, machines with 486/early Pentium processors and very little memory. DSL is a Live CD with a size of 50 MB. What originally started as an experiment to see how much software could fit in 50 MB eventually became a full-fledged Linux distribution. It can be installed on storage media with small capacities, like bootable business cards, USB flash drives, various memory cards, and Zip drives.


Website www.damnsmalllinux.org
Company/
developer John Andrews, et al
OS family Linux
Source model Open source
Latest stable release 4.4.2 / June 21, 2008 (2008-06-21); 21 days ago

IBM Provides Free Online Training in Hot Technologies

WALTHAM, MA - 16 Jun 2008: IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced it is helping to prepare the next generation of business and IT experts at no charge with online resources designed to educate students about hot technologies. Six offerings are now available, providing students access to tutorials, forums, games and other resources, and helping them develop marketable skills in hot job areas such as enterprise computing, Web 2.0 programming and database management.

Additionally, through the Student Portal on the IBM Academic Initiative web site, students can access a three-step tutorial on Service Science Management and Engineering (SSME), a new academic discipline that brings together ongoing work in the fields of science, engineering, and business management, combined with the study of social and legal sciences. The SSME resources prepare students to take advantage of a growing field of "hybrid" technology jobs that require multi-disciplinary backgrounds, such as environmental engineering, information analysis and urban architect planning.

Companies today are increasingly going global and looking for employees that offer deep technical knowledge and a broad understanding of business dynamics to help them expand into new markets. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that more than 4.6 million jobs will be created in the services sector between 2004 and 2014, and IT will continue to be one of the fastest growing sectors. In addition, new global employment opportunities are expected to emerge based on the demand for integrated business and technology skills.

Universities such as Brandeis in Waltham, Massachusetts have focused their efforts to help students use open standards technologies to address real world challenges such as resource planning and carbon output. One tool used at Brandeis is Innov8, an educational video game developed by IBM that teaches students to apply technologies and business strategies to make companies more efficient and increase customer satisfaction. More than 100 colleges and universities have already incorporated the game into their curricula and thousands more can download the game from the IBM Academic Initiative website at no charge.

"Our relationship with IBM is critical to bridging the gap between IT and business skills," said Preeta Banerjee, Assistant Professor of Strategy at Brandeis International Business School. "Through the IBM Academic Initiative, we are able to harness valuable resources in the classroom, such as Innov8, a video game that is representative of what a career at IBM might entail."

"Colleges and universities worldwide are being challenged to develop a curriculum that offers students a practical combination of business and technical skills to meet industry demands," said Kevin Faughnan, Director of IBM's Academic Initiative. "This is why we're making available the largest collection of learning resources specifically on the key skill areas our customers are looking for. We anticipate that thousands of students this year alone will take the opportunity to become technically proficient on leading-edge technologies and increase their skills portfolio."

IBM customer MIB is moving toward a Services-Oriented Architecture extended with Web 2.0 to better serve its 500 member life and health insurance companies. Therefore, it is looking to attract emerging talent in Massachusetts who can continue development of Web 2.0 capabilities and Rich Internet Applications to assure secure data exchanges.

"IBM is demonstrating leadership by providing supplemental Web 2.0 learning resources where students play -- the Internet. At the same time, by working closely with universities to deliver those relevant skills, we're confident we'll have the talent pool we need to succeed," said Alexander Klevitsky, Director of Architecture and Enterprise Software for MIB. The following no-charge resources are now available:

SSME

To prepare students with skills in the services sector, universities will need a multi-disciplinary curriculum that covers the study of people, business and technology in service systems. The SSME tutorial includes resources for discussion and interaction through the use of case studies. Contrasts between the manufacturing and service sector issues are raised to understand differences in supply chain, information systems and operations practices.

Database Technology

Designed for students interested in open standards-based Relational Database Management Systems, the DB2 Express-C student offering includes an introduction to the technology, free download of the software, access to a support forum, games and hands-on tutorials for enhanced learning, as well as publications and prep materials for certification exams.

Situational Applications and Web 2.0

WebSphere sMash is an agile development environment optimized for producing rich REST-style services, integration, mashups and user-friendly Web interfaces through scripting runtimes such as Groovy and PHP. This student offering includes an introduction to the technology and free software download, hands-on tutorials and other resources for learning, and access to the development community (located at ProjectZero.org) which delivers frequent builds, latest features, and developer's forums.

Web Server Technology

WebSphere Application Server Community Edition (WAS CE) is a lightweight Java EE 5 application server based on the open source technology delivered in Apache Geronimo. It harnesses the latest developments from the open source community and provides a readily accessible and flexible foundation for Java application development. Students can now "kick-start" their Java applications with this leading-edge technology with an offering that includes an introduction to WAS CE, free download of the software, quick-start and user guides, access to Eclipse updates to WAS CE, and rich articles and tutorials demonstrating hands-on use of the technology.

Team-Based Development

Jazz is IBM's new platform for collaborative software delivery that is transforming how people work together to deliver software and embedded systems. Students can use the Jazz platform via free download of the Rational Team Concert software, access to the Jazz community and a wealth of learning resources.

Enterprise Systems

The Enterprise Systems student offering will provide students with an introduction to the mainframe and large systems-related careers focused around the New Enterprise Data Center, IBM's best practices model for virtualization, green IT, service management and cloud computing. Access to mainframe-focused games in Second Life, instructions on how to gain remote access to a live mainframe hub, and experience labs and exercises based on components of IBM's "Master the Mainframe" contest from prior years are also available on the site.

Skills Certification and Job Opportunity Database

Professors who are IBM Academic Initiative members can request 50% discounts on certification exams from IBM for their students. Nearly 50 tests are available on many of IBM's software and hardware brands. Students who pass the certification exam can post their resumes to the Student Opportunity System database, which is searchable by IBM customers and business partners around the world -- a multi-billion dollar job ecosystem.

Mike Blakie, who recently completed a major in Business Administration and a minor in IT at the University of Massachusetts, is looking toward a part-time MBA program as well as opportunities to better understand where he can apply his existing mainframe and large enterprise skills knowledge, and enhance his skills to tackle global business challenges that data centers are facing today.

"As a recent graduate I want to know what kind of skills businesses are looking for. With the new resources now available through IBM, I can better understand where to focus my attention -- as well as supplement my MBA program with additional online learning opportunities. This will be a huge advantage in helping me charter my career path."

All of these student offerings will be available through the IBM Academic Initiative's Student Software Catalog is accessible via IBM Student Portal at
http://www.ibm.us.com/university/students/

More information on IBM's Student Opportunity System:
http://www.ibm.com/jct09002c/university/scholars/ur/SOS/index.html

Information on IBM's Certification program:
http://www.ibm.com/jct09002c/us/en/university/scholars/certification/

About IBM's Academic Initiative IBM's latest efforts expand on its university programs around hardware, software and services -- emphasizing both IT and business skills to meet the needs of a competitive, global workforce at over 2,400 universities worldwide for more than two million students. The IBM Academic Initiative offers faculty at accredited institutions a wealth of education benefits, all at no charge through the IBM Academic Initiative web site at:
http://www.ibm.com/university/academicinitiative/

Facebook community for DB2 on Campus:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=3000790461

Facebook community for the Mainframe:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=26433265296

Facebook community for Project Zero -- the development community for WebSphere sMash:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5856368953

Microsoft Extends XP Deadline Till 2010

Microsoft Corp. said Thursday it will keep selling a version of Windows XP for use on a new breed of low-cost computers for at least two years longer than the system will be available for mainstream PCs.

The software maker said Windows XP Home will be available at least through June 2010 for computers like Intel Corp.'s Classmate PC and ASUSTek Computer Inc.'s Eee PC. But Microsoft also vowed to keep XP on the market for those machines for a year after the next version of Windows is released, which could mean 2011 or later.

The low-cost machines have smaller hard drives, less memory and slower processors than most Windows computers sold today, and most would have a hard time running the bulkier Windows Vista.

The Classmate PC is currently marketed with Windows XP Professional, and the newest editions sell for between $300 and $500. The Eee PC, which costs around $400, comes with a Linux operating system.

A full version of XP Home will be able to run on most computers in this category, but Microsoft said hardware still varies widely. The $188 XO laptop from the One Laptop per Child organization, for example, is too weak to run a standard version of XP. Microsoft is customizing a version of XP for that machine.

Microsoft had planned to stop selling most versions of XP at the end of June 2008, with exceptions for small computer-building shops and PCs sold in developing countries.

But surprising demand in developed countries for what it calls ultra-low-cost personal computers prompted Redmond-based Microsoft to extend that deadline.

"There is incredibly strong demand for Windows on these devices, which is obviously great to hear," said Michael Dix, a general manager for Microsoft's Windows group. "The reason why they want Windows is, they think of Windows as being a real PC."

Dix said Microsoft is grappling with how to serve a broader range of PC configurations than Vista does as it designs the next operating system, currently referred to as Windows 7 and set for launch in 2010. He would not say how engineers are addressing this problem.

NVIDIA , AMD Launch New Video Cards

NVIDIA today officially launched its high-end GeForce 9800 GTX. The 9800 GTX was previously expected to launch last week, but an 11th-hour embargo change shifted the launch to this week. The 9800 GTX replaces NVIDIA’s 8800 GTX as the new single-GPU high end card.

The 9800 GTX is based on NVIDIA’s G92 graphics core. The card features 128 shaders, a 675MHz core, a 1.69GHz shader clock, and a 2.2GHz (effective) memory clock. The card also comes with 512 MB of memory on a 256-bit bus.

One of the main features of the 9800 GTX is its support for 3-way SLI. For this reason, the cards feature two SLI connectors on top. Unfortunately, NVIDIA limits this capability to only NVIDIA chipsets.

Microsoft Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000

Introduction
With the release of Windows Vista, Microsoft has made some features that were previously only available separately through OEMS for the mainstream consumer (and business) markets. The top-end editions of Vista come with Media Centre built-in, and all versions support Vista Gadgets, small programs that live on the desktop showing updated information at any time.

To make the most of the new features, Microsoft developed some new hardware, namely new keyboard and desktop sets. These include the Wireless Laser Desktop 6000 Set (which I'm using day-to-day now) and the Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000 which I was able to check out for a brief period of time.


The keyboards, 6000 (top) and 7000 (bottom). Note the smaller size of the 7000

Configuration
The Wireless Laser Desktop 6000 is a set with a thin keyboard measuring 48.7 cm and only 57 mm when legs extended, plus a mid-sized mouse measuring 12.6 cm in length and 7.42cm in width. The mouse weighs 152g with the two AA batteries.

Both devices in this set connect to the PC via a cordless link through a USB dongle, operating at 27kHz frequency. The mouse speed is 1,000 points per inch (39.4 points per millimetre) and tracking speed is up to 20 inches (508 millimetres) per second.


The charging stand (left), Wireless Mouse 7000 (centre), Wireless Mouse 6000 (right) and Bluetooth adapter (top)

The Wireless Laser Entertainment Desktop 7000 has an even thinner keyboard measuring only 45.1cm and only 1.97mm thick. The rechargeable mouse requires only one AA battery.

A 2.4 GHz wireless Bluetooth link is used to connect the Wireless Laser Entertainment Desktop 7000 to your computer. The set comes with a Bluetooth adapter if one is not already installed on your computer, and the main advantage is the compatibility with other devices, including mobile phones and PDAs.





Installation
Setting up the gear is in both cases pretty simple: just plug the receiver into a free USB port, insert the AA batteries into the keyboard and mouse, and pair the devices by pressing the reset buttons.

The software for both sets should be installed before connecting the devices, but the Intellipoint and Intellitype software are the same for both models. I recommend you download the software from the Microsoft website just in case an updated version is available.

The Bluetooth keyboard and mouse come factory-paired so you don't need to go through the usual Bluetooth routine of creating a pairing code and entering it - this is a nice convenience feature.

In use
Both sets are very nice to use for long periods of time. I use the Wireless Laser Desktop 6000 now for my daily work, and find both the keyboard and mouse very comfortable. In particular, I like the detachable soft wrist rest on the Desktop 6000 keyboard and the keys on it are distributed in a curved design with good travel and feedback when you type.

The Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000 on the other hand requires some getting used to. The keys have a much shorter travel so you don't have to press as hard as keyboards. Also, as the Entertainment 7000 keyboard is designed to be used as a media centre remote control, you use it in your lap or on the coffee table in your living room. It's comfortable enough, but not what one would use for extended typing sessions. This is not the main purpose of the keyboard.

Features
These are some feature rich keyboards and mice! The Wireless Laser Desktop 6000 comes with some special keys for browsing (Back, Forward), keys for quick access to content (My Documents, Browser, My Pictures, Email, Media Player and Instant Messaging/Internet Calling). It also comes with a Zoom key that enlarges or reduces the icons on your desktop, as well as Zoom In and Zoom Out in some applications (mainly Microsoft Office). And a Vista Gadget button that will start the Gadgets application, or bring it to the foreground.


Wireless Laser Desktop 6000

There's also a shortcut key to invoke the Windows Calculator application, as well as a dedicated Log Off key.

Windows Media Player can be controlled from the keyboards, and there are five different programmable keys to use with applications and macros of your choice.

On the Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000 you will find on the right side a tracking pad with an OK button. You can use this trackpad as a mouse replacement, and it works really well. It is particularly good for when using the keyboard as a remote for your Media Centre.


Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000


Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000


Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000

The Windows button is replaced on the Desktop 7000 with a Windows Vista Orb, but it's in the middle of the keyboard, below the space bar. It also comes with some special keys but has no separate numeric keyboard.

Both mice glide on a good mousepad, and provide features such as scrolling wheel and a tilt scroll button. Also both have buttons on the side that can be used for Back and Forward, or configured for a series of other actions.

Conclusions
I enjoy using the Wireless Laser Desktop 6000 - a lot. It's a very good keyboard with good response. The Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000 seemed about right in terms of size for an entertainment unit you are supposed to use from the sofa.

Both keyboard and mouse (in both sets) report their battery levels through software, and you have a dedicated low battery indicator on the Wireless Laser Desktop 6000.

The Bluetooth works well, without interference, but the radio receiver (non-Bluetooth) used on the Wireless Laser Desktop 6000 sometimes works erratically when I plug my USB printer. I think it may be the low quality USB cable I use with my old printer, but this is the only time I've noticed problems with connections.

In both cases I tried playing some PC games and had no problem at all. The testing involved mainly games such as Age of Empires, Counter-Strike and Titan Quest. The mice generated good response from the games and I did not have problems using the sets for this purpose.

Both sets are excellent choices in terms of quality, integrating new functionality that Vista provides. Which one should you go for then? Well, take some time to think about your what you need in terms of features and what you'll use the keyboards for.

The Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000 is more appropriate if you spend more time for pure Media Centre usage, while the Wireless Laser Desktop 6000 should be your choice if you need to type more and do traditional computer tasks. Either way, both sets are great input devices.