FocuSoft Tech Blog |
- Appiphilia: Comic-Con on your iPhone, a reason to be animated
- Razer Orochi Bluetooth gaming mouse announced
- Thanks to the iPhone, ‘app fever’ is spreading
- iBuyPower Harmony Sound Reduction System announced
- Sony offers three new Blu-ray players
- Microsoft posts 29% drop in profit, cites lagging PC and server sales
- MAINGEAR reveals eX-L 18 gaming notebook
- Sony touchscreen VAIOs planned for Windows 7; PlayStation Network integration
- Toshiba Portégé R600 Review
- Walmart $298 Compaq laptop: who needs a netbook?
| Appiphilia: Comic-Con on your iPhone, a reason to be animated Posted: 24 Jul 2009 05:30 AM PDT
If you’re in this fantasy mecca, then you might want to put your iPhone to work. Hey, there’s free Wi-Fi there, right? There are apps to keep you informed about the goings-on, keep you engaged and keep you entertained. What it is: A digital guide to this year’s Comic-Con, including news, programs, exhibitors and maps. Bottom line: On the home screen of the app, a clock keeps count of how much longer the exhibit hall will be open. Under info, you get a lot of the content you’d find down the left rail on the main website – fast facts, guest details, registration information. The app lets you go through the list of programs and exhibitors by date and type, respectively, and mark them as favorites with pushpin icons. As you scroll through, you can ID them pretty quickly. A better option might have been to collect them in a favorites tab to more easily scroll through and create a schedule. Since the maps are horizontal to begin with, they should really be viewable in landscape mode. It also might have been nice to have the pushpins drop in on the map to help you figure out a preferred route since the convention center is rather large. But they zoom and remain sharply detailed.
What it is: I know the name might be misleading, but it is an unofficial digital events schedule. Bottom line: While the home screen isn’t anything special, the app does let you create your own day-by-day schedule and easily see if your plans to hit the Black Panel, Dune, Women in Manga and the SteamPunk Meet-Up are likely to pan out. The schedule has a breakdown by event, room and time as well as a search. What it is: A photo-sharing app for Comic-Con Bottom line: You see some crazy stuff in San Diego, but you can’t be everywhere at once. This way you won’t miss one rabid rabbit costume, random bit of humor (such as bananas at the snack bar labeled “curved yellow fruit”) or moment like a seated Darth Vader with his helmet on the floor by his big black boot. As someone wrote, “I guess it’s hard work being evil.” As with most photo-sharing apps, you can snap it in the app or tap it from your roll and add a caption. You can also geo-tag it so it’ll show up in the photo map. Photos are also sortable by discussion, arrival and rating. For fans, there’s also a Syfy panel schedule and news from Sci Fi Wire. What it is: Comics reader that enables you to make in-app purchases Bottom line: At Comic-Con on Thursday, developer Iconology announced the launch of this app, which they describe as a digital comics store, library and reader. Upon its launch, the app offered more than 100 titles from 20 well-known publishers. Comics creator Robert Kirkman also has an exclusive agreement to deliver his titles “Walking Dead,” “Astounding Wolf-Man” and “Invincible” through Comics. The “guided view” feature is quite an ingenious way to present an intact comics page and keep the viewing experience seamless. With the “animate transitions” feature active, it’s almost like watching an animated video. You can adjust the transition speed as well. The app responds to shifting from portrait to landscape, and you can set the app to rotate automatically based on how the comic was drawn. Since you are downloading the comics to your iPhone or iPod and they eat up your storage (depending on how ravenous you are about downloading), you can set how much storage you want to allocate for this data and what to delete first when you run out of space. There’s also a link that takes you to Amazon.com to buy the comics in print. If you prefer to go the bricks-and-mortar route, the app also will locate the nearby comics shops and provide directions through Google Maps. The app does have a 17+ rating in the App Store. The offerings are either free or 99 cents. – Michelle Maltais [via LATimes.com]
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| Razer Orochi Bluetooth gaming mouse announced Posted: 23 Jul 2009 05:17 PM PDT Razer announced a brand new gaming mouse today called the Orochi and this device actually connects via Bluetooth 2.0, providing you with serious flexibility and functionality for the most intense of gaming moments.
The mouse has a 4,000dpi optical sensor that's super sensitive and is designed to be used by both right-handed and left-handed individuals. Also included are seven buttons that can be programmed to perform whatever functions you'd like. The Orochi gaming mouse comes with a three-foot cord for powering it up, but normally runs off of two AA batteries. It also comes with a carrying case. You can get the Orochi mouse within a few weeks, though you can pre-order it now for $79.99. Relevant Entries on SlashGear
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| Thanks to the iPhone, ‘app fever’ is spreading Posted: 23 Jul 2009 04:01 PM PDT Apple’s iPhone, an app trendsetter. Credit: Associated Press A sickness that first infected the elitist tech sector is exploding into the mainstream. Cellphones have certainly contributed largely to disseminating the illness, but it seems that just about every technology is catching the bug. App fever is spreading. We can trace the origins back to an Apple orchard in Cupertino, Calif. The iPhone’s wildly popular App Store distributed more than a billion applications — software built by third-party developers that can do myriad things including accessing Facebook and playing radio stations, but we’re sure you already knew that — in its first year. Thanks to the popularity of the Apple Inc. phone and its software marketplace, everyone wants a piece of the apption — sorry, action. As I put our review unit of the T-Mobile MyTouch cellphone, which runs Google’s Android mobile operating system, through its paces (review coming later), the interface places its “thousands of downloadable applications” at the forefront. Meanwhile, a co-worker nearby scours his BlackBerry to try to find Research in Motion Ltd.’s App World store. Another proudly flicks through pages of apps on his iPhone. Verizon Communications Inc. has been selling software through its phones for four to five years via its Get It Now service, said Ed Ruth, a business development representative for Verizon Wireless who works with developers. But that digital store doesn’t have the word “app” in its name. So, the company is preparing to launch a Verizon App Store, which is geared toward the growing smart phone market. The mobile marketplace will unlock … … certain network-exclusive features to developers. The software will sit alongside whatever other app options a phone might have, Ruth said. Last night, I saw a Verizon commercial advertising the “app-friendly EnV,” a touch-screen phone. It appears to be part of a Verizon guerrilla ad campaign to keep customers appcited — sorry, excited — about its non-Apple-branded phones. And whether intentional or not, it’s tricking at least one person into thinking it will actually run iPhone apps. Sorry, dude, you’re stuck with junk like the $9 Celebrity Digest. But Verizon’s ads aren’t nearly as ruthless as Sprint Nextel Corp.’s. The company’s commercials say Sprint subscribers are saving enough money on Internet-enabled, app-happy cellphones compared with AT&T’s iPhone customers that they could build a Dunkin’ Donuts in space. Just look at the websites for the three major U.S. telecoms that aren’t called AT&T. Each of them repeatedly make references to apps. AT&T doesn’t say the word anywhere on its page — the picture of the iPhone should suffice. Everyone wants a piece of the Apple pie. There were 5,400 mentions of the word “app” in news articles in just the last month, according to a Google News search. Geek celebrities gush about their favorite apps in this blog post. This post talks about how one app could “save public radio.” And this BBC News story predicts that apps will be “as big as the Internet.” (Though, Google says otherwise, despite catering to apps on Android.) It’s not just telecoms that are blathering about apps. Earlier this week, I received a news release from Panjiva, an online resource for information on international business. The company is promoting its “app store,” which allows third-party developers to feed their data into the service. I note that Panjiva’s use of the word “app store” makes no sense. “It’s a loose analogy,” spokesman Cody Barbierri said. “Well, it got you interested enough to talk to us, didn’t it?” Welcome to the tech world’s newest buzz word. Are you sick of it yet? – Mark Milian [via LATimes.com]
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| iBuyPower Harmony Sound Reduction System announced Posted: 23 Jul 2009 03:16 PM PDT iBUYPOWER has announced a new system called the Harmony Sound Reduction System or H-SRS today, which makes an aim to reduce the amount of noise your gaming PC puts out. The new tech is being offered on all their custom gaming PCs starting now.
It works by lining the walls of the case with acoustic dampening material. This prevents sound from escaping and reduces case rattle and vibration. You can add the H-SRS tech to any iBUYPOWER system from now on for $49 or $89 with White Lightning LED-lit fans. Relevant Entries on SlashGear
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| Sony offers three new Blu-ray players Posted: 23 Jul 2009 03:09 PM PDT Sony has announced three brand new Blu-ray players today that are sure to capture the attention of the high-end market. First up is the BDP-CX960 MegaChanger, which can actually hold up to 400 Blu-ray titles at one time.
It can also hold DVDs and CDs, if you'd like, and sports Ethernet, BD-Live support, DTS-HD Master Audio, 7.1-channel Dolby TrueHD, and more. It will be available in the fall for about $800. Next is the CX7000ES, which can be used as a multi-room device with IR and serial ports and 12-bit Deep color support all for about $1,900 once it's released next month. Also announced today was the BDP-S1000ES, which is a single-disc Blu-ray player that features 14-bit image processing, 802.11n Wi-Fi, BD-Live support and the same audio specs as the MegaChanger models. You can get this player next month for about $700. Relevant Entries on SlashGear
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| Microsoft posts 29% drop in profit, cites lagging PC and server sales Posted: 23 Jul 2009 02:40 PM PDT
“Our business continued to be negatively impacted by weakness in the global PC and server markets,” said Chris Liddell, chief financial officer at Microsoft. The Redmond, Wash., software giant reported a 29% drop in profit, to $3.05 billion, or 34 cents a share, along with a 17% decline in revenues at $13.10 billion. Shares lost as much 8% in late trading after gaining 76 cents, or 3%, to $25.56 in regular trading. Profit slumped across all of Microsoft’s business segments, including a particularly steep 33% decline in its Client division, which makes the Windows operating system products. Showing its intense interest in competing in Web-based markets, Microsoft made several major announcements during the quarter, including the launch of its new Bing search engine and the unveiling of a cloud-based suite of Office software to be launched next year. – David Sarno [via LATimes.com]
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| MAINGEAR reveals eX-L 18 gaming notebook Posted: 23 Jul 2009 01:37 PM PDT MAINGEAR has announced a brand new gaming notebook today that is supposedly the most powerful desktop replacement to be on the market. It's called the eX-L 18 and this notebook really packs in the features.
For starters, it has 3D graphics with dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M graphics cards, 1080p resolution and a slew of Intel Core 2 mobile processor options. Also included is NVIDIA PhysX support for even more realistic gaming. Even better, you can expand this notebook to super high capacity. For instance, you can add on 3 2.5-inch SATA or SSD drives. Also included are numerous connections like HDMI, USB 2.0, FireWire, and eSATA. A 3-megapixel camera is included as is a keyboard with gaming buttons that can programed. As with many MAINGEAR products, you can use their M.A.R.C laser etching tech to get a custom logo or design on the case. You can get the MAINGEAR eX-L 18 gaming notebook now for a base price of $2,999. Relevant Entries on SlashGear
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| Sony touchscreen VAIOs planned for Windows 7; PlayStation Network integration Posted: 23 Jul 2009 08:42 AM PDT Sony are planning VAIO computers with touch capabilities once Windows 7 launches, potentially taking advantage of casual gaming, streaming and downloadable movies and TV content from the PlayStation Network. Speaking in an interview with LaptopMag, Sony's senior VP of the Information Technology Products Division, Mike Abary confirmed that the company find the touch functionality in Windows 7 "compelling" and that they would be looking to adopt some of those technologies in their upcoming PC ranges.
Abary did not clarify whether the touch functionality would include multitouch support, though given it's that which most differentiates touch support in earlier Microsoft OSes it seems a likely assumption. He also failed to differentiate between Sony's desktop VAIO line and their notebook range, though it's entirely possible that both the all-in-one PCs and the laptops could gain touchscreen controls.
As for integration with the PlayStation Network, Abary highlighted that the VAIO team are now under the same electronics group as PlayStation, Walkman, and Reader, and confirmed that there is increasing collaboration between the four divisions. Finally, talking about NVIDIA Ion, Abary pointed out that NVIDIA is a hardware partner of Sony and suggested that, while netbooks in general "have taken us backwards in the overall industry", Ion was a step forward for the budget ultraportables. As for smartbooks, though, he's less impressed, being of the belief that customers will expect laptop performance from such devices, and being unclear on the differentiation between a smartbook and a normal ultraportable (such as Sony's own VAIO TT) with integrated WWAN. Relevant Entries on SlashGear
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| Posted: 23 Jul 2009 08:36 AM PDT Toshiba may not have the fashionable appeal of Apple, nor the solid reputation of Lenovo, but they do know how to push the envelope. Their Portégé series of ultraportables is already slim, and was the first to offer a 128GB SSD back in 2008; now it's the first, in the shape of the Portégé R600, to offer a 512GB SSD. Legitimate business tool or shallow one-upmanship? SlashGear decided to find out.
In terms of physical design, at 283 x 215.8 x 19.5-25.5 mm and 2.46lbs the Portégé R600 is certainly thin and light, but don't expect a full metal casing for your money. Instead, you get a plastic shell with metal-effect paint; Toshiba say it's part of their shock-absorbing design, but we can't help but be a little disappointed at how it makes the R600 feel cheap compared to its MacBook Air and ThinkPad X301 rivals.
Under the hood, aside from that 512GB SSD, there's Intel's Core 2 Duo SU9400 running at 1.4GHz, 3GB of DDR2 RAM, and Intel's GMA 4500MHD graphics chipset. There's also a DVD burner, WiFi a/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, together with gigabit ethernet, an ExpressCard slot and an integrated webcam. As for ports, there are two USB 2.0, one combo eSATA/USB 2.0 port with "sleep and charge" for powering gadgets while the R600 is shut down, an SDHC reader, audio in/out and VGA output. We're disappointed that Toshiba have persisted with VGA rather than DVI or HDMI.
The 12.1-inch widescreen display runs at WXGA resolution, and as well as being wafer-thin has a party-trick for use outdoors. A dedicated button in the top right-hand corner switches it into transflective mode, all the better for using in direct sunlight. So set, the display uses direct light shining on it to reflect out and augment the artificial backlighting; by ramping down the latter, Toshiba can save battery power compared to normal notebooks which have to increase backlighting in order to remain legible. It's a neat trick, but ironically it does mean you need relatively bright sunlight in order for the display to look its best; anything less, and you're better off – visibility-wise, anyway – to crank up the standard backlighting. The Portégé R600 isn't a multimedia powerhouse by any stretch of the imagination. With a single monaural speaker, you'll be wanting to plug in headphones for anything but the most basic media use, and the GMA 4500MHD graphics chip is no use for gaming or 3D rendering. Watching DVDs (or ripping them to the SSD and watching from there) is a more rewarding experience, and even when the R600's fan kicks in it's still a quiet notebook overall. Where the R600 does step up is in situations where it can rely on the SSD's speed benefits. In our Geekbench benchmarks the ultraportable scored 1727 overall, around the same as the Lenovo X301 at 1772, and less than the new-generation MacBook Air at 1953; however the user experience in Vista was much improved compared to the ThinkPad. The whole OS feels snappier, applications load far faster, and heat is reduced.
There are battery benefits to an SSD too, and Toshiba make some pretty impressive claims on their spec-sheet. They quote up to 7.53 hours runtime from the standard 5,800mAh battery; we found the Portégé R600 could manage 4 hours and 10 minutes when tested with a mixture of browsing, word processing and listening to MP3s with headphones. Watching a DVD, the R600 managed 3 hours and 41 minutes before it expired; all testing was done with both Bluetooth and WiFi turned on. The biggest issue, unsurprisingly, is the price. While the Portégé R600 range starts at $2,099, expensive for an ultraportable, that gets you the 160GB 5,400rpm HDD model. If you want the R600-ST4203 512GB SSD model we have here, you're looking at $3,499.99. That's almost double what you'd pay for the top-spec MacBook Air, and over $1,000 more than the ThinkPad X301; admittedly they each have a mere 128GB SSD. Is the R600 – and 384GB – worth all that extra money? For most users, no. The most obvious application for a huge chunk of fast, solid-state storage is audio and video editing, something the R600's graphics abilities don't really lend themselves to, and it's tough to imagine any businessperson who might have enough presentations, documents and files to occupy such a huge drive. There's a sense that Toshiba have produced the Portégé R600 half for bragging rights and half because they think they should: because SSDs are getting bigger, and it makes sense to drive the market by slotting them into appealing machines. Perhaps a desktop-replacement notebook would be a more suitable fit, but that would lack the ability to surprise colleagues and friends when you tell them your slender ultraportable has more storage than their home PC and a DVD burner to boot. Not for everyone then, no, but the small minority who pick up an R600 will have a capable, capacious machine, while the rest of us can look forward to seeing similarly large SSDs a generation or two down the line. Unboxing Video
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| Walmart $298 Compaq laptop: who needs a netbook? Posted: 23 Jul 2009 08:11 AM PDT If there's one thing this dour economy is good for, it's pushing down prices. Walmart have just announced that they'll be offering a $298 notebook, the Compaq Presario CQ60-419WM, complete with a 160GB hard-drive and 3GB of RAM, from July 26th at 8am. The promotion is part of the retailer's back-to-school sale, and they're unsurprisingly warning that stocks will be limited.
In fact some adverts apparently suggest that bricks & mortar Walmart stores will have just ten of the laptops in stock, although it will also be available online. The particular machine has a 2.10GHz AMD Sempron processor, NVIDIA GeForce 8200M graphics and a DVD burner, together with WiFi b/g and a 15.6-inch 1366 x 768 display. To be fair, you're not going to be doing much gaming on such a machine, but if you can get to the front of the queue then you could pick up a basic bargain. Make sure to check out the size, though; according to the official spec sheet the dimensions are listed as "CHINA", and that's a pretty big country. For the rest of Walmart's deals, check the press release below. Press Release:
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