Sony Alpha 380 gets lukewarm reviews.

The leading model of Sony's "upper entry level" trifecta of Alpha-branded shooters, the 14.2 megapixel DSLR-A380, has been hitting test benches lately and we've rounded up the results for your perusal. The consensus appears to be that Sony has focused on bringing fans of compact cams up to the big time, with its uniquely responsive Live View and straightforward usability. Alas, ease of use is not the only thing brought up from the little leagues, with comparatively poor output at ISO 400 and above, lack of any video recording (as with the Canon EOS 500D and Nikon D5000, its nearest competitors) and unsatisfying viewfinder ergonomics. Conclusion?...

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PS3 Slim hardware still losing money

The Times Online had a sit-down with Sony Computer Entertainment boss, Kaz Hirai, after the big Gamescom show last week in Cologne. You remember, the event that saw the official launch of the PS3 Slim. The Q&A is an interesting read in whole, but the answer that stands out comes in response to a question about whether the lower-priced $299 PS3 Slim will be sold at a loss relative to its cost to manufacture. "Yes," was the quick answer from Kaz. That's a surprise for two reasons. First, the PS3 Slim benefits from more efficient 45-nm manufacturing processes used on its smaller, less power-hungry Cell processor. Also, just last month Sony's...

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RIM buys Iris browser developer, Torch Mobile

Blackberry-maker Research In Motion has purchased Torch Mobile, the developer of Iris browser, an Iris-based Web widget platform, an RSS reader, and enterprise-level software products. Torch Mobile's development team will merge with RIM, and their energy will be spent on enhancing the BlackBerry mobile browser experience. The companies have not disclosed financial details of sale. The buyout is good news for BlackBerry owners, as the handset's default browser is lackluster at best. That said, it will probably be a while before end users feel any effect from the acquisition. The mobile browser Iris is widely used on Windows Mobile devices, but...

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Microsoft extends Windows 7 Family Pack to Europe

Earlier this year, looking to placate anti-trust concerns in Europe, Microsoft proposed a browser-less version of Windows 7 for the region and then scratched that plan to favor the so-called browser ballot screen option. Its initial plan prevented European users from doing an in-place upgrade from Vista, though, so those who bought a copy of the operating system early were set to receive full licenses at upgrade prices. Microsoft of course plans to honor those purchases but has now confirmed that, starting September 1, upgrade editions of Windows 7 with Internet Explorer 8 included will be available in the region as well. This leaves a...

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Gran Turismo 5's damage modelling is unfinished

The game's new damage modelling was on show, though we must admit it looked a tad limited.There's reason for this. Yamauchi-san explains in an interview with GamesBlog that the GT5 code brought to GamesCom "marks only the first step of what we want to achieve for damage."It's also interesting to hear that Polyphony might be testing the damage out on gamers, since Yamauchi-san adds "we’re interested to know how far the players want to go."Moreover, as previously predicted, the damage will not affect all car models in the game (of which there'll be a massive 1000):"The damage already has repercussions on the steering but beware, it should not affect...

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LaCie Little Disk: Big On Storage

Carry your files in a portable hard disk the size of a lighter. This Little Disk offers huge capacity for its minuscule dimensions. Designed exclusively for LaCie by Sam Hecht, it features a high-gloss black finish and clean, simple lines.It comes with an extractable USB connector that’s integrated so it can never get lost and also a protective removable cap. USB 2.0 powered, it works without a cable or power supply for true mobility. LaCieSync software is included for keeping your important data secure. Access and modify files, emails (Microsoft Outlook) or personal settings and it will sync updated data back to your computer - protected by...

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MacBook Air Sleeves From Belkin

If you are looking for a MacBook Air sleeve after you get your shiny new toy, Belkin has several new designs that will be ready soon.There are 6 (coming soon) different sleeves for the Air, with prices going from $40 to $50. The design and color changes from sleeve to sleeve, while some are normal, others have a shoulder strap, or a band, or are made from different material, like Leather/Neopre...

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Nex-Sys V1 Corner Computer Desk

Do you want to be like everybody and have a boring, hum drum computer desk? If you are bored with your current desk then the Nex-Sys Corner V1 might interest you.Its Completely hand crafted has support for 2.1 speakers, height adjustable flat screen monitor and comes with a custom car seat and is available in a range of different specs.There’s not much room for papers or folders on this desk, but who uses paper anymore anywa...

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Cute Apple Shaped USB Laptop Speakers

Not the Apple you’ve been hearing about so much lately . These are apple shaped digital USB Laptop speakers. They are portable, come in red or green, and are oh so cu...

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Intel to Disclose Additional Details About Westmere Processors Next Month.

Intel Corp. said that it would disclose additional details about its next-generation microprocessors code-named Westmere next month at the Intel Developer Forum 2009. The world’s largest maker of chips is expected to reveal details about new security capabilities of the forthcoming chips.“Where Nehalem was new chip archeticture design, Westmere is the next design being used to build processors that feature two 32nm cores with 4MB of cache that sit next to a memory controller and integrated graphics built on a separate, neighboring 45nm chip, all in one package. Westmeres will be the basis of upcoming all new Core chips (Core i3, i5, and 7) over...

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G1 Android Phone May Be Unable to Receive Updates

Users of the first Android phone, the G1, may be unable to get significant future operating-system updates because the phone's internal flash is nearly full.A Google developer who works on Android said recently that he's unsure if the G1 will be able to handle further updates."As much as I'm hoping that it'll be possible to somehow continue updating the G1, I can't promise anything," Jean-Baptiste Queru, a software engineer at Google, wrote on Twitter. "We knew that internal flash space was going to be very tight on the G1 and we kept the system partition tight on purpose," he also wrote.G1 users got the so-called Cupcake update to the operating...

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Verizon Wireless Updates Specifications for 4G LTE 700 MHz Devices

Verizon Wireless today released updated specifications for wireless devices -- traditional and innovative -- that will run on the nationwide Long Term Evolution (LTE) 4G network it is building on the Upper 700 MHz C-Block spectrum. The network access requirements contain key updates, clarifications and additions to guide developers into the next phase of bringing their LTE devices to the Verizon Wireless network.Verizon Wireless expects to commercially launch its LTE 4G network in up to 30 markets in 2010, covering 100 million people. In subsequent years, an equally aggressive growth plan will result in full nationwide coverage in 2013. The...

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Sprint 4G powered by WiMAX is expanding across the country

Sprint made history by launching 4G in Baltimore in September 2008. Sprint launched 4G service in Portland, Atlanta and Las Vegas August 17. Sprint also plans to deploy Sprint 4G service in these additional markets in 2009: Chicago, IL; Dallas, Ft. Worth, Philadelphia, PA; Austin, Texas; Abilene, Texas; Amarillo, Texas; Boise, Idaho; Bellingham, Wash.; Charlotte, N.C.; Corpus Christi, Texas; Greensboro, N.C.; Honolulu, HI; Killeen-Temple, Texas; Lubbock, Texas; Maui, Hawaii; Midland-Odessa, Texas; Raleigh, N.C.; Salem, Ore.; San Antonio, Texas; Seattle, WA: Waco, Texas; and Wichita Falls, Texas.In 2010, Sprint expects to launch service in multiple...

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Asus uBoom Sound Bar സ്പീകെര്സ്.

That's not necessarily a compliment; you'll either love-or-hate the dated design of the uBoom and uBoom Q sound-bar speakers. On the upside: the Q connects directly to a notebook via USB—no need for audio-cables, drivers, or power supply.The uBoom (pictured below) is a beast at 3kg, and its 24 watt sound (total RMS) does need a power supply. The 400g uBoom Q (2.4 watts) is USB powered. Both have an auxillary audio input, and the uBoom adds a microphone jack.The speakers just went up on Asus' site for you to check out, but there's no pricing info y...

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Jason Graves Composing Section 8 Score

BAFTA award-winning composer Jason Graves has created an original music score for the intense first-person shooter Section 8 developed by TimeGate Studios.Renowned for his cinematic and prolific orchestral music on video games such as Dead Space and the Star Trek franchise, Graves delivers a powerful and anthemic score for Section 8 featuring vintage synth and guitar elements blended with orchestra to portray the futuristic, sci-fi setting of the game.“Section 8 was a great opportunity to combine my three musical passions: orchestra, electronics/synths and guitars,” said composer Jason Graves. “It was so much fun playing guitar and tweaking my...

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FIFA 10 Cover Athletes Revealed

Electronic Arts today unveiled the global cover athletes for FIFA 10.Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard joins Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney as the face of FIFA 10 worldwide on each available platform— the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PC, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, PSP and on mobiles.FIFA 10 marks the fifth year the 23-year-old Rooney has been featured on the global pack cover of the FIFA franchise while the 31-year-old Lampard is on the cover for the first time in the FIFA franchise history.“It is an honour to be part of the EA SPORTS FIFA franchise. Being on the cover of this fantastic football video game with such a rich history is...

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Justice Department approves Oracle purchase of Sun

Business software giant Oracle said Thursday that the US Justice Department has given the green light to its 7.4-billion-dollar purchase of Sun Microsystems."The US Department of Justice has approved Oracle's proposed acquisition of Sun Microsystems," Oracle said in a statement.Approval of the deal had been expected.It still needs the clearance of the European Commission.Sun, a one-time Silicon Valley star, is the developer of the popular Java programming language.Sun is also the fourth-largest maker of computer servers but has been steadily losing market share to IBM as well as Hewlett-Packard and Dell.IBM also made a bid to acquire Sun but...

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Nokia Announces Finalists in 2009 "Calling All Innovators" Global Developer Competition

Forum Nokia Developer Community (FNDC) today announced the finalists in its 2009 Calling All Innovators contest, a global mobile developer competition designed to generate applications and solutions that enhance the use of Nokia mobile devices in real-world scenarios.The total cash and prizes for the 2009 Calling All Innovators contest are worth more than $250,000. The top three submissions in each category will receive a cash award, and prizes that include premium placement featuring the winning application in Nokia's Ovi Store, and the opportunity to demo their winning apps at Nokia World.Over 1,700 submissions were received from developers...

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Samsung Targets Gaming PCs with Solid-State Drives.

Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest maker of flash memory, this week said that solid-state drives (SSD) provide just what the doctor ordered for PCs designed for video games: extreme performance. Even though SSDs provide additional performance that computer games need, capacities of flash-based drives are still well below those of advanced hard drives, therefore, it is impossible to install tens of games onto an SSD.Samsung’s 256GB multi-level cell (MLC) solid-state drive does provide blazing performance: its maximum sequential read speed is 220MB/s, whereas maximum sequential write speed is 200MB/s. Such performance is virtually unachievable...

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Samsung Targets Gaming PCs with Solid-State Drives.

Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest maker of flash memory, this week said that solid-state drives (SSD) provide just what the doctor ordered for PCs designed for video games: extreme performance. Even though SSDs provide additional performance that computer games need, capacities of flash-based drives are still well below those of advanced hard drives, therefore, it is impossible to install tens of games onto an SSD.Samsung’s 256GB multi-level cell (MLC) solid-state drive does provide blazing performance: its maximum sequential read speed is 220MB/s, whereas maximum sequential write speed is 200MB/s. Such performance is virtually unachievable...

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Windows 7: Want the Release Candidate? You're Too Late

Microsoft has, as planned, removed the download for the release candidate of Windows 7, the next major update to Microsoft Windows. The official download has been available from Microsoft's website since early May and offered for those who wanted it a free preview of what the new operating system will offer, before it hits stores in late October. For those of you already running the release candidate, Microsoft were keen to point out that the evaluation software will expire in March next year, at which point you'll have to upgrade to a retail version of the OS. Certain users, such as developers and early Windows 7 testers, got the final Windows...

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OCZ Technology: Solid-State Drives Really Going Mainstream.

OCZ Technology is primarily known for its high-performance dynamic random access memory (DRAM) modules aimed at performance-minded end-users. The company also makes power supply units, USB drives and even notebooks, but it looks like the company’s main growth driver for the future is solid-state drive lineup. According to chief exec of OCZ, SSDs are already entering the mainstream market and their popularity will continue to increase.“I guarantee that if I gave you numbers, which I cannot right now, your jaw would be left hanging open. […] SSD technology is moving past the early adoption stage and is really going mainstream. […] I did not believe...

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Retailers Run Out of PlayStation 3, PS3 Slim May Be Approaching.

A number of retailers from Japan and the UK notified an analyst from Wedbush Morgan Securities, a financial services and investment firm, that they were not able to refill their stocks of Sony PlayStation 3 game consoles since Sony Computer Entertainment ceased to supply current models. Potentially, this means that SCE is preparing to release a new model with lower cost.“The retail commentary I’ve seen has come out of the UK. I have not seen at the U.S. retail. We heard Japanese retail a few weeks ago, say they were not going to be getting any more PS3s after August 8, and now we are starting to hear the UK retail say they cannot re-order PS3s...

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Nvidia Readies Core-Logic for Intel Core i3, Core i5, Core i7 Microprocessors – Rumours.

Despite of the fact that Nvidia Corp. does not have a license to develop and sell core-logic sets compatible with Intel Corp.’s microprocessors featuring built-in memory controller, the company still wants to introduce a chipset supporting central processing units based on Nehalem and Westmere micro-architectures early next year, according to media reports.Nvidia plans to release three new single-chip core-logic sets in Q1 2010, according to reports from DigiTimes and HKEPC web-sites. Nvidia code-named MCP85 core-logic will be aimed at microprocessors from Advanced Micro Devices, code-named MCP89 is designed for Intel Core 2-series processors...

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ATI Demonstrates “The Future” DirectX 11 Graphics Cards at Quakecon.

ATI, graphics business unit of Advanced Micro Devices, may be demonstrating its next-generation DirectX 11 graphics processing units at Quakecon, a video game convention held yearly in Dallas, Texas. The company claims that it has exclusive Area64 room at the show and that it shows next-gen technologies there.“Area64 will be exclusive access only, meaning, you can try to find it, but its hidden and being kept secret. AMD will be showcasing what we lovingly refer to as ‘The Future’,” said Ian McNaughton, a senior manager of advanced marketing at AMD.Even though AMD now has a rather broad portfolio of products, it is doubtful that the company demos...

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Microsoft asks court to hold off on Word ban

Microsoft Corp. is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to allow it to keep selling Word software as it fights an unfavorable patent ruling.The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas found Microsoft infringed on a patent held by a Canadian company, i4i LLP. Last week, the judge ordered Microsoft to pay $290 million and to stop selling copies of its word processing program that use the patented technology within 60 days.The patent relates to the way Word 2003 and 2007 let users customize document encoding.Microsoft says it and the public will both suffer if Word goes off the market while the company devises a...

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Google WiFi network celebrates third anniversary

The Google wireless broadband network built with Tropos routers, in Mountain View, California marks its third anniversary in August of this year and continues to experience unprecedented usage. The steady growth trend was outpaced in a recent 30-day period as the number of users jumped from 16,000 to 19,000, according to Google’s statistics. On a daily basis, the network now transports close to 600 gigabytes of user data -- double the volume from just two years ago. “We continue to experience extremely high demand – both in terms of users and bandwidth,” said Karl Garcia at Google, who leads the Google WiFi project. "We’ve seen the iPhone and...

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Oracle Looks to Planning Apps for Next Billions

Oracle is devoting two full days and 70 sessions at the upcoming OpenWorld conference to its Primavera PPM (project portfolio management) software, which is used to track and manage the torrent of people, assets, timelines and expenses associated with projects and services engagements.It's no accident that Oracle has decided to give such a high-profile showcase to Primavera, which it acquired last year. While PPM software may not be sexy, demand for it is growing explosively. Forrester Research expects what it defines as the "project based solutions" market to reach US$6.5 billion by 2010, up from $4.25 billion in 2007.That growth is being fueled...

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Volvo ReCharge

Volvo Recharge Built for The FutureType: Plug-in series hybridClass: HatchbackManufacturer: Volvo Car Corporation Specifications:Propulsion system: Four in-wheel electric motors, 4-cylinder 1.6 litre. Flex-fuel engineTop Speed: 100 mphZero-to-62: 9 seconds MPG: 124 mpg (1.9 l/100km)Vehicle range: Battery 62 milesFuel(s): Electricity, gasoline, E85Battery pack: lithium-polymer (full recharge: 3 hours)Tailpipe emissions: YesThe Volvo ReCharge is a concept car built into a specially designed Volvo C30 and it had its premiere in the fall of 2007 at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The Volvo Recharge is a series hybrid, meaning there is no actual connection...

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TH!NK city

TH!NK city is a modern urban car. With zero local emissions and an energy efficiency three times that of a traditional combustion engine car, it is a car for the environment. And it is a fun car for you. A choice of sodium or lithium batteries allows you to accommodate your car to your driving style, travelling up to 180 kilometres* in one charge, with a top speed of 100km/h. Driving a silent car will give you a totally new experience. Specification · Top speed 100km/h · Acceleration 0-50km/h 6.5 seconds · Acceleration 0-80km/h 16.0 seconds · Typical charge time – standard electric socket:...

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Tango T600

Tango T600Type: 100% all-electric vehicleClass: Tandem 2-seaterManufacturer: Commuter Cars CorporationTango T600 Specifications:Propulsion system: 2 Advanced DC FB1-4001 9" motorsTop Speed: 150 mphZero-to-60: 4 secondsVehicle range: 80 miles with standard (lead-acid) battery packFuel(s): Electricity Battery pack: Lead-acid (80% charge: 10 minutes; full charge: under 3 hours)Pack options: 19 Hawker Odyssey's 25 Exide Orbital XCD's 25 Optima Yellow Tops. Tailpipe emissions: NoFaster than a speeding bullet The Tango's ability to maneuver through traffic is second to none. Like a motorcycle, it can change lanes to gain advantage in traffic better...

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