Archive for the ‘Information Technology’ Category

Panasonic and Best Buy to Push 3D-Television with Large Price Cuts

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

Previously, 3D-Television is something only the wealthy can afford. This is because manufacturer place a high price for this technology. However, people wanting this technology at their living room can be very hopeful as Panasonic is teaming up with Best Buy to greatly reduce the price of 3D Television.

Panasonic will bring in the hardware to the United States and cut the price of these 3D-HDTVs by more than 30% of its current prices in the Japanese market. In fact, in some cases there will be as high as 50% price cut.

Best Buy on the other will be the platform on which these 3D-HDTVs will be sold. The electronics retail store will soon have its own exhibition area filled with Panasonic 3D-HDTV may it be LCD, LED or Plasma televisions. This won’t be in only a few of its outlets but instead hundreds of them nationwide.

Panasonic is hopeful that this new move by them will boost the sales in the U.S. In fact, they are hoping that the sales in the U.S will make up for at least half of their revenue. Previously, they have been hurting as there aren’t as many sales in the U.S due to cheaper brands such as VIZIO.

Google Buys DocVerse for $25 Million

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

DocVerse is a website that allows real-time sharing of Microsoft Office Documents such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel and many more. In fact, it works almost the same like Google Docs. DocVerse also allows people to make instant changes to any of their documents instantaneously without having them emailing each other so that they can see what the changes may be.

Google has been interested in DocVerse for quite some time and on March 5, they decided to acquire DocVerse for a whopping $25 million.

Founded by ex-Microsoft veterans, Shan Sinha and Alex DeNeui, DocVerse was created more than three years ago. The purpose of the site is to allow people to share documents with each other and simplify the work of modifying these documents as well.

The acquisition of DocVerse is probably Google’s first step onto upgrading its Google Docs. Previously, there were little support for Microsoft Office documents but with the acquisition, customers should probably see a lot more features available in Google Docs.

Latest Ubuntu Version to Support iPhone and iPod Touch Devices

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Every April, a new version of Ubuntu will emerge and this is no other than Ubuntu 10.04. One interesting update on this version of Ubuntu is its support for both iPhone and iPod Touch. Previously, there were no ways of getting these two devices to work on Linux computers. Other iPod devices work well with previous version of Ubuntu but not the two devices mentioned before.

Ubuntu 10.04 or Lucid Lynx will sync both the iPhone and the iPod Touch using the Rhythmbox music player which can be downloaded for free. Through the Nautilus file manager program available in the latest Ubuntu operating system, users will be able to navigate the files in their iPhone or their iPod Touch.

Other Linux distros have yet to announce whether they too will support both the iPhone and the iPod Touch. If the other distros do not support these two devices, it may be due to the inner working of the Ubuntu itself or the GNOME integration. If it is because of the GNOME integration, users may see that other distros would support the two devices as well.

Keeping Up with Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Linkedin

Monday, March 1st, 2010

Social network has become a part of everyone. There are hundreds of millions of users for these websites and they keep on growing day by day. Most people are a member of more than one social networking site and keeping up with these sites can be hard work as well.

Sobees is a program that allow users to login and get update of not one or two but 4 social networking websites. These are Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Linkedin. These aren’t just any social networking website but some of the most famous websites on the planet.

Sobees is currently in Alpha version meaning that there is still much development to be done. However, this doesn’t restrict its users in using the program as well. Users may encounter some bugs or problems but these aren’t very significant as well.

This handy program allows the user to view real time updates on these social networking website and keeps them updated of what is currently going on. If there are any new tweets made by someone that the user is currently following or if somebody posts something on the user’s wall, he or she will be able to check them out.

A lot of customizations can be done to suit the user’s need. Some examples include but do not restrict to the language, skin customization and many more. The program is currently supported by Windows XP and above and one of the major requirements is to have the .NET installed. Those that are interested can check out sobees.com

HD Media Players

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

The high-definition revolution has brought in some great products for the consumers. One such type of goods worth noting is the HD media player. There are a handful of them right now in the market and most of them have almost the same feature.

Here are some of the HD media players worth checking:

Western Digital WD TV Live – This product is simply one of the best HD media players in the market. It supports Full HD resolution as well as an extensive array of media formats. Wi-Fi support is available through the help of an optional Wi-Fi dongle.

Roku HD Player – Although the name is not well known to a lot of people, the Roku HD Player is the most sought after HD Media Player in Amazon. It has a built-in wireless making it easier to connect to any other wireless devices in the house.

Roku HD-XR Player – The difference between this and the normal HD player is that the XR supports the Wireless-N. This gives it a wider range making it great for those having their TVs far from their wireless routers.

ASUS O! Play – The ASUS O! Play makes it possible to view movies as well as photos in Full HD. In addition to that, there are also various input sources available making it possible to suit different types of hard disks.

Xtreamer 1080P HD Media Player & Network Streamer – The HD Media Player by Xtreamer supports a large number of media formats. In addition to that, it is also possible to utilize audio sources from DTS, Dolby Digital, DTS HD HR and many more. Wi-Fi is possible with the help of a dongle.

Brite-View 3-in-1 1080p Full HD Media Player/Streamer/Torrent Downloader – This device is a must have for those downloading a lot from torrents. The built-in Torrent Downloader makes it a lot easier to download movies, pictures and many more.

Best iPhone Apps for the Year 2010

Monday, February 8th, 2010

iPhone has been playing such a big part in so many lives. It allows so many things to be done in ways never thought of before. It has an extensive application database for the iPhone users and some of these are paid applications while other can be downloaded for free.

Here are some great applications to get for the year 2010.

TrueHDR – Ever wished of taking high dynamic range photographs from the iPhone? Previously, the technology was limited only to d-SLRs but now, TrueHDR brings out this capability using the 3GS camera. However, iPhone 3G users can create HDR from photographs already taken by the user but they will not be able to use the camera functionality from TrueHDR. It is only 8MB and costs only $1.99.

Logitech TouchMouse – With the help of this application, all computers can have multi-touch capabilities. This application from Logitech is handy for users having their computer quite far from where they are at. It uses the iPhone screen as the mouse as well as the wireless keyboard. Best of all, this application can be downloaded for free.

App Genie – This application has 26 different applications available for the user to use. In fact, if the user refers the application to a friend, the 27th application will be unlocked. The application ranges from currency converter to a metal detector. All for the price of $0.99.

Yes We Camera – The HOPE poster for the Obama campaign has gained quite a popularity amongst many people. In fact, this application allows the creation of such pictures. This lightweight (0.2MB in fact) can be downloaded for free.

QuickOffice Mobile Office Suite – This app works like an office suite much like Microsoft Office. It can perform many basic and commonly used functions which is great for those wanting to do some basic editing on the iPhone. This handy application costs $9.99.

Intel to Add vPro to New Processors

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

The Intel vPro technology is used by corporate companies all around the world. It offers security not available or less capable in the commonly used hardwares. The vPro technology will be available to the i5 and the i7 processors that were recently launched by Intel.

It is said that an i5 processor equipped with the vPro technology will speed up business productivity applications by more than half as compared with a 3 years old computer. In fact, encryption of data is said to be at least 3 times faster as compared with a notebook 3 years ago.

There are various improvement in the vPro version 4.0 mainly encryption of data as well as the KVM feature of the notebook. Tech staff will be able to take over of the computer even when the operating system has failed and they are able to lock down the computer easily in case of a theft.

This new technology is aimed at the SMB group as well as large companies around the world. It is also aimed at companies that have yet to upgrade their computers due to the global economic recession.

There are various companies that will be creating computers equipped with the new vPro 4.0 technology and some of these are Dell, Acer, Toshiba, Lenovo and a few others. These are mainly computer manufacturing companies that have been in the business for quite some time and are being used by corporations all over the world.

Nexus One to Experience Update

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

An update will soon be released by Google for its Nexus One phone. The Android based phone will experience few updates as well as fixes particularly with the 3G problem that has clouded thousands of Nexus One users worldwide.

The update also includes installation of a new Google application called the Google Goggles. It allows users to search the Internet not through keywords but through pictures instead. Users can use the camera on the Nexus One to utilize this feature.

The Google Maps application will also experience an update to version 3.4 which allows night mode navigation for those who may need it. In addition to that, it also allows search suggestions to be made based on the user’s Google Maps history. Users will also be able to synchronize starred items on Google Maps website as well.

The best feature on this update is the release of the multi-touch capability. It allows the user to use the pinch-and-zoom feature commonly available on the iPhone and some other multi-touch devices. However, the multi-touch feature is somewhat limited to only this and only time will tell whether Google will incorporate many other features for the multi-touch capability of the Nexus One.

Apple’s approach on eBook may confuse consumers

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

As the iPad is soon to be released, questions regarding the format of the eBooks meant for iPad have surfaced. This is because it was made public that the eBooks downloaded for the iPad can only be used for the iPad itself and the iTunes application. This means that there are in no way that the eBooks will be compatible with any other eReaders in the market.

This might not be a very good move because as of now, the Kindle by Amazon has gained much popularity within the eReader population. Little compatibility with various eReader may cause users hesitant to change from one eReader to another simply because they cannot afford to lose all of their books while making the changes.

Other eReaders such as the smartphone, Barnes and Noble Nook and various Sony Inc. eReaders have opted to use the media formats made by Adobe. This allows eBooks to be shift from one platform to the other because they are compatible with the same format.

However, Apple is sure that its large consumer fans will have no problem adapting to the new changes made by the company. The fact that it has 125 million credit cards consumers created from its iTunes may create millions of sales for the iPad itself.

China PC Maker to Sue Apple for iPad Design

Monday, February 1st, 2010

The iPad has certainly caused frenzy amongst gadget enthusiasts but those aren’t the only people who are frenzied by the tablet. In fact, a Chinese company, Shenzhen Great Loong Brother Industrial, may consider suing the American company for mimicking the design of its tablet called the P88.

The China based company is notorious for creating iPhone replicas also called as shanzhai phones. In addition to the iPhone, the company also created various replicas of other famous phones from manufacturers such as Nokia, Sony Ericsson and many more.

The P88 has a similar design to the iPad with its black border and has a size almost the same with the iPad. The P88 has a total width of 10.2 inches while the iPad on the other hand has a 9.7 inches screen. In addition to that, it is reported that the P88 utilizes a touch screen feature much like the iPad as well. However, the iPad has a battery life of 10 hours instead of only 1 hour of usage for the P88.

It appears that the China electronics manufacturer isn’t alone on suing the Apple. A Japanese manufacturer Fujitsu also claimed rights to the name iPad. Apple has yet to comment on the following issues clouding its tablet device.