Nov 28, 2008

Chinese’s cloned iPhone flip phone

There were rumors about Apple planning a flip iPhone. But, till now, we still haven’t heard of any movement from Apple.

The Chinese now have taken one step ahead of Apple, rolled out an iPhone clamshell. And of course, this is a clone which is not from the original factory of Apple. This flip iPhone comes from the mainland of cloned phones, China but is made to carry the Apple logo.

The maker of this cloned handset even gives the phone a name called iPhone V126 clamshell. It looks pretty attractive and comes in the brushed aluminum casing. But the back panel clearly indicates that it’s a cloned phone from China, as it’s poorly designed.

The entire phone looks to be inspired by Apple MacBook instead of the actual iPhone. It’s a 900/1800MHz GSM phone, small, weighs 110 grams and measures 105 x 53 x 17mm. It supports two languages, Chines and English.

Other goodies packed on the cloned clamshell iPhone are a 3-megapixel camera, 256MB built-in memory with card slot for expansion, a 240 x 320 resolution 2.6-inch display, USB connectivity, e-books, Bluetooth, Digital Audio Player, and flashing LED lights under the Apple logo. This clamshell offers standby time of 100-140 hours and talk time of 120-160 minutes. Some more it presents the familiar-looking iPhone UI. It is now available in China for $100 or 680 Yuan.

Nov 26, 2008

Nokia Unveils Nokia 6260 Slide 5 Megapixel Phone


Nokia unveiled a new slider phone today, the 6260 slide. The device is running on the new Series 40 6th Edition platform sports a 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and flash. The Nokia 6260 slide brings assisted GPS into the Series 40 software platform for the first time. It allows to share pictures with your friends and make the 6260 slide is the best Series 40 phone ever made.It also features quick access to search engines and points of interest straight from the home screen and the new 360° navi-key allows a great mobile Internet experience.

It comes with a 2.4-inch 320×480 pixel display, secondary camera for video calls, WiFi, 3G connectivity with support for HSDPA and HSUPA, microSD card support. Nokia will be solding this phone beginning 2009 for EUR 299, before taxes and subsidies.

Nov 25, 2008

Transcend Reveals 64GB JetFlash V20 USB Flash Drive


I got to know of this only last week. Transcend has recently announced of the launch of its new whopping 64GB JetFlashV20 high capacity USB flash drive!

If the size hasn’t made an impact yet, then this comparison will. I currently use a Dell Inspiron 6400 which has a 80 GB Hard Drive. Now here’s a pendrive which can store almost as much data as my notebook’s harddrive!!

As a part of value addition, Transcend is also offering its users a free JetFlash elite data management tools which the user can download and install their V20 flash drive. The JetFlash elite tool is capable of turning the V20 into a key to automatically log on to website accounts and temporarily lock the computer to prevent unauthorized access. It also allows users to browse their favorite bookmarked websites and check their email from any computer with the included Internet Favorites and Mobile Email functions. JetFlash V20 works flawlessly with Windows Vista and also supports Windows Me / 2000 / XP, Mac and Linux, providing seamless data exchange between different operating systems.

Transcend 64GB JetFlashV20 Product Features

- Up to 64GB capacity

- Elegant pearl-white finish

- Pocket-friendly contoured edges

- High-Speed USB2.0 interface for easy plug-and-play operation

- Includes free JetFlash elite software download:

- Website AutoLogin: Automatically login to online accounts

- PC-Lock: Use the JFV20 as a key to lock / unlock computers

- Mobile Favorites: Browse bookmarked websites on any computer

- Secret-Zip: Compress and password-protect files with powerful encryption

- E-Mail: Use any computer to securely check, save and send email

- DataBackup: Backup, restore and synchronize mobile data

-Online Update: Easily upgrade to the latest version of JetFlash elite

- 100% quality tested and verified

- Lifetime Warranty

Are you going to get one? I think I will :)

Nov 22, 2008

10 USB Gadgets to Keep You Warm


No matter what item you’re about to buy these days, it feels like the USB option is always available. In this list of ten “gadgets to help you prepare for the upcoming winter season” you will be able to find everything from eye warmers to heating blankets - all powered via that popular universal serial bus.

Nov 20, 2008

Dell Inspiron 1525

The old days of bulky, overweight Dell notebooks may be coming to a close in 2008. Today Dell announced their latest addition to the Inspiron family of notebooks, the 15.4-inch Inspiron 1525. We are happy to have a pre-production unit to review, and this sleek successor to the Inspiron 1520 might just surprise you.

Our pre-production Inspiron 1525 is equipped with the following specs:
1. 15.4-inch WXGA (1280 x 800) CCFL TrueLife (glossy) screen
2. 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo T7250 processor
3. 2GB DDR2-667 SDRAM (up to 4GB DDR2 SDRAM available)
4. 120GB 5400 RPM SATA HDD
5. 8x Dual-layer DVD±RW drive
6. Video: Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
7. Wireless: Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Mini Card
8. Mobile Broadband: Dell Wireless integrated mobile broadband mini-cards Sprint and Verizon serice
9. Colors: Multiple colors and finishes available
10. Media Card: 8-in-1 flash memory reader
11. Input and Output Ports: 4 USB 2.0, HDMI, VGA, IEEE 1394a, RJ11, RJ45, 2 headphone, 1 microphone, 1 ExpressCard 54mm slot, 3 mini-card slots, consumer IR, S-Video
12. Integrated 2.0 megapixel webcam available
13. Windows Vista Home Premium
14. Dimensions: 1.00" - 1.48" (height) x 14.05" (width) x 10.08" (depth)
15. Weight: 5.9lbs with 6-cell battery


Build and Design :
Dell received some much needed attention in 2007 with the introduction of the sleek, high performance XPS M1330 and XPS M1530 notebooks. Although these more expensive notebooks in the Dell lineup were praised for their looks and low weight, the Dell Inspiron 1520 was criticized for being yet another bulky and unattractive laptop. Dell listened closely to this criticism when they designed the new Inspiron 1525. The Inspiron 1525 is in fact 25% smaller, 30% slimmer and almost half a pound lighter than the Inspiron 1520.

In addition to the eight color options available on other Inspiron notebooks, the 1525 offers four new patterns. These designs are inlaid molds so there's no risk of the design coming off.


Although I wasn't a huge fan of the glossy inlaid "Commotion Pattern" design on our pre-production Inspiron 1525, I must say it looks flawless. I was highly critical of the paint application on the Inspiron 1420, 1520, and 1720 because the paint has questionable durability. The new glossy lid designs might be a magnet for fingerprints, but it certainly looks more durable than the old Inspiron paint jobs.

Screen
Display options for the Inspiron 1525 include a matte finish 15.4" Widescreen XGA (1280 x 800), a 15.4" Widescreen XGA (1280 x 800) with TruleLife (glossy finish), or a 15.4" "high resolution" (1440 x 900) glossy widescreen display. On the surface the lack of higher resolutions is a serious flaw in the design of the 1525. In truth, the overwhelming majority of "average" notebook users will think the WXGA resolution looks stunning.

The screen on our pre-production unit looks flawless from straight on and the horizontal viewing angles are great. Upper vertical viewing angles are good, but colors did begin to invert at lower viewing angles when the screen is tilted back.

Keyboard, Touchpad and Media Controls
The keyboard on the Inspiron 1525 is fairly similar to the 1520. The keyboard is firm with virtually no flex and the keys have excellent travel and cushion.


The touchpad surface utilizes the new design that is integrated with the palm rest surface. The only separation between the palm rests and the touchpad is the indented area above the touchpad buttons. The touchpad buttons have excellent travel and cushion, though I did feel like they made a bit too much of a "clicking" sound when pressed. The good news with the touchpad is that it's responsive, has dedicated scroll areas and the textured feel is good.
Get more informations @ Notebookreview.com

Nov 19, 2008

Acer Aspire 5920

Today we are going to review the latest model from Acer, which is designed for gaming. Let's see how it copes with games as well as other home tasks.
Acer Aspire 5920G-102G16
The manufacturer describes Acer Aspire 5920 as
the first notebook in the new stunning Gemstone design. Able to satisfy all requirements of a modern user, the Aspire 5920 is based on the latest Core 2 Duo processor. The graphics component is really splendid: wide 15.4" panel, Acer CrystalBrite technology, 8 ms response, with the NVidia GeForce 8600M-GT graphics card (up to 512 MB, some cards have 256 MB) of the latest generation with DX10 support. The excellent image comes with splendid audio owing to the 2.1 audio system (two speakers and a subwoofer) supporting Dolby Home Theatre Virtual Surround. Besides, a HDMI connector and a built-in HD DVD drive (in some models) open up the door to the age of high definition video.
And the key advantages are, according to Acer:

Excellent design
Acer presents a new concept design of Acer Aspire notebooks for home entertainment. It's designed in cooperation with a well-known industrial design team and called GemStone. The form and color of the GemStone design personify a natural harmony of gem stones. The new Aspire 5920 notebooks embody purity and value of precious gifts of nature. They attract with their excellent exterior and impressive components worthy of a modern notebook for entertainment

Multimedia heights
The Acer Aspire 5920 notebooks are truly multi-functional. They can impress even the most hard-driving users. The Aspire 5920 provides unforgettable impressions with its audio system (two speakers and a subwoofer) supporting Dolby Home Theater Virtual Surround Sound HDMI, HD audio/video port, HD DVD drive (in some models), and an optional built-in TV-tuner.
I generally agree with the description. But I would have also added gaming features of the 5920 to the list of its advantages. Web site, tech support
Unfortunately, it is not possible to go from the model catalog page directly to technical support. You have to instead use the menu.

The first page of the tech support web site is devoted to the warranty. It says that the warranty is valid only if you have a proper warranty coupon. Otherwise, the warranty will be up to your retailer. This page describes warranty peculiarities for Ferrari notebooks. Besides, the warranty for all Travelmate models is 2 years, Aspire models - 1 year. The international warranty is not described well. The website doesn't offer complete information on what you must do in the case that your notebook is broken.

The process of downloading drivers is not very good in our opinion. First you choose your notebook model in the list. On the next page dedicated to this model you choose the necessary driver (audio driver) from the drop-down menu. Then a window pops up with a direct download link. There are three links, one for XP Drivers, Vista Drivers, and Acer Utilities. The process seems easy enough, but the problem is it is difficult to tell whether you even need to download a new driver because no driver version is listed.

However, for advanced users direct FTP links to the drivers and utilities should cancel out the above inconveniences.

We should also mention that the bundle does not include a Recovery CD. A recovery image is stored on the hard drive, and the built-in utility suggests that you burn the image to a compact disc at startup. The company has started including an empty recordable compact disc into the bundle, so that users could create a recovery CD. -->
5920G-102G16 Specifications
Here are specifications of the model under review:

Processor :
Intel Core 2 Duo T7100 (1.8 GHz/ 2 MB/ FSB 800)

Chipset :
Intel PM965 Express

RAM :
2048 (2x1024) MB DDR II
Display :
bright (220 nit) 15.4" WXGA (1280x800) display with Acer CrystalBrite technology, 8 ms response
Graphics :
256 MB nVidia 8600M-GT
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M, 256 MB GDDR2 VRAM, up to 1024 MB with TurboCache technology (up to 768 MB is allocated from system memory*), support for NVIDIA PureVideo (WMV HD, High Definition MPEG-2 Hardware Acceleration), Microsoft DirectX 9 and DirectX 10, OpenEXR High Dynamic Range (HDR) and PCI Express
HDD :
160 GB SATA (5400rpm)
Optical storage :
DVD RW (Super Multi)

Audio :
Dolby-certified surround-sound system with two integrated stereo speakers (Acer 3DSonic) and one subwoofer supporting low-frequency effects.
Dolby Home Theater supporting Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Live, Dolby Pro Logic II, Dolby Digital Stereo Creator, Dolby Headphone, and Dolby Virtual Speaker
Intel High-Definition audio support
S/PDIF support
Acer PureZone support - it uses two built-in microphones for high-quality recording and better voice rendition.

Communication :
4 x USB 2.0
1 x HDMI with HDCP support
1 x VGA
1 x ExpressCard/54
5-in-one card reader (SD/MMC/MS/MS PRO/xD)
1 x S-video/ TV-Out (NTSC/PAL)
1 x CIR
1 x IEEE 1394
1 x AV-In (in some models)
1 x TV antenna (in some models)
1 x RJ-11
1 x Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45)
1 x headphones/speakers/line-out with SPDIF support
1 x mic-in
1 x line-in
1 x connector for the AC power adapter
I/O ports :
1 x RJ-45 Ethernet port (1GB Lan)
1 x RJ-11 Modem port
1 x S-video
1 x SPDIF (shared w/ Line-out jack)
1 x VGA port
1 x PCI Express Card (Type II)
1 x Mic-in
1 x Line-out
1 x Line-in
1 x Port Replicator Jack
1 x C-in for power supply
Power supply :
ACPI 3.0 supporting Standby and Hibernation modes
71 W 4800 mAh 8-cell battery pack (Li-ion): up to 3.5 hours life
Acer QuicCharge support: 80% charge in 1.0 hour, 2.0 hours recharge time with power off, 2.5 hours with power on
3-pin 90W AC adapter

Extra :
Built-in Acer Crystal Eye digital camera, support for Acer PrimaLite technology (in some models)

Warranty :
1 year

Dimensions and weight :
364 x 270.2 x 30.8/43.7 mm
3.00 kg
Get more Informations @ digit-life.com

Nov 18, 2008

Google’s introduction of voice search for its iPhone app

Arguably the top tech story of the day was Google’s introduction of voice search for its iPhone app. As of this morning the updated app still isn’t available in the iTunes store (that’s not Google’s fault). According to Mike Cohen and Gummi Hafsteinsson described the app something that sounded qualitatively different in terms of accuracy and usability vs. competitive offerings now in the market.

Unfortunately no one has had an opportunity to try the updated app yet. But, if it works as promised, it should be quite impressive.

The technology behind the new voice search capability is built partly on the same platform as Goog411 but apparently that’s only part of the story; there’s a good deal more going on as well. In fact, Goog411 is reportedly improving and benefiting from the work done on voice search for the iPhone.

The first thing that is both intriguing and very different is that there are no buttons to push to initiate voice search. Once the app is open on the iPhone you hold it up to the side of your head as though you were going to talk on the phone and simply speak the query. Search results then appear as they would if you had manually entered a query.

Google says it has learned tremendously from its experience with Goog411 but its desktop search query data is also contributing knowledge to the effort. These and other technical factors, beyond the scope of my expertise, will make the system more accurate that what has been possible in the past, said Google’s Cohen.

Beyond its reported accuracy, the usability of the system is striking. Most voice control on mobile handsets requires that buttons be pushed. There’s also often a “walkie-talkie” style experience, with the phone held out in front of the user to speak the query or command into the phone.

By removing the need to push a button and simply mimicking the experience and handset position of talking on the phone Google’s voice search may prove to be quite a bit more “natural” and intuitive. Another benefit for Google is that by having the phone’s receiver closer to the mouth of the person speaking the system gets a better, cleaner input.

Yesterday in postscript to Matt’s post that none of the voice apps or voice-initiated search tools currently in the market had proved to be a kind of “killer app” for mobile. That’s largely because of uneven accuracy and success rates or some other limitation or awkwardness. After my discussion with Google yesterday I became hopeful that what Google was going to introduce would be a leap forward.

If it indeed is we should see increased query volumes and longer query strings — and increased search monetization from mobile for Google. But all this will become more clear once the app launches, hopefully today.

Voice search is launching in US English and will roll out to other handsets — and eventually other countries and languages — in the future.
Read More @ Search engine land

Nov 17, 2008

iPhone Backup Extractor a useful new tool for iPhone users and developers

When you back up your iPhone or iPod Touch, iTunes can use the backup to do a restore, but not much else really. It’s nice when Apple’s stuff “just works,” but what if you want to see inside the black box and interact with the data on your phone? This is especially important for developers, who can fix bugs a lot more easily if they can look at a user’s backup to figure out what’s causing problems with an app. iPhone Backup Extractor is a tool that makes this possible.

With iPhone Backup Extractor, you can convert an iPhone/iPod Touch backup to make it readable by the OS X Finder. This lets developers get access to application resources that there’s no way to see in iTunes. It might be of some interested to curious non-developers, too, if you just to figure out what files a 3rd-party app has created on your phone. A very useful tool, indeed.
The app is available for download at: http://supercrazyawesome.com/ and it’s totally free.

Read more @ Iphonestalk.com