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Intel’s Netbook was once a rumor but now, more and more images are starting to come out. Also called as the Eco PC, the Netbook is a sub-laptop set to compete in the ultra-portable market right along side the highly successful Asus Eee PC, which has already taken the world by storm.

The Netbook reportedly will sport both a 7-inch or a 9-inch display and will run a 900MHz Celeron processor and 512MB RAM. What’s notable is the carry handle of the laptop. It also looks very similar to the Intel’s Classmate PC but the Netbook will feature a larger hard drive, which is expected to be 40GB.

The price of the Netbook is expected to cost a little more than $300. No word yet on when this new Intel laptop will be officially launched. Keep reading for a few more pics, then click the “Images” link below for the full set.

Via [Eee Site] Images [Flickr user: mgminthu]

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Apple’s distribution tactic of its Safari web browser for Windows last Tuesday has created a raucous when CEO of rival Mozilla posted on his blog that what Apple did was wrong. Mozilla CEO John Lilly criticized Apple’s move to push the Safari 3.1 Windows browser through its software updater pop-up. The software updates gives users the option whether to install the Safari browser along with the iTunes software.

The problem is not so much on whether users want to install the Safari web browser. But rather on the way Apple gave the option – that is having the install box checked by default. For Mr. Lilly this is wrong and even calls it a malware distribution practice.

“
It’s wrong because it undermines the trust that we’re all trying to build with users. Because it means that an update isn’t just an update, but is maybe something more. Because it ultimately undermines the safety of users on the web by eroding that relationship. It’s a bad practice and should stop,” said Lilly.

I couldn’t help but understand Mr. Lilly’s reaction to what apple did. Imagine if not all users are mindful enough of that option to install. How many would bother to uncheck that box anyway?  For Apple it’s just one of their ways of making it easy for users to get the latest update from Apple, but for Mozilla, it’s an unfair and uncompetitive practice.

But in the end, the decision still lies with the users. Even if users would not uncheck the install box, they would still have the option to continue with the installation of the Safari browser as the software updater runs along. I think Apple was just employing some guerrilla tactics in trying to push its product. Mozilla can counter this with a guerrilla tactic of their own, unless they run out of good ideas.

Via [CNET] Read [John’s Blog]

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Posted Mar 23rd 2008 3:07PM by Ryan Block
Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video
So we’ve had a SanDisk Sansa Fuze hanging around the office for a few days and already we can tell you that fans of the Sansa line will find it a welcome addition to the line. The interface feels pretty snappy and it’s got all the geeky things you’re after (FM radio, microSDHC, 1.9-inch display) at a price $70 cheaper than the nano at the 8GB level. Plus, we know it sounds old school, but we’re really into the tactile scroll / click wheel, and the Fuze has the best one we’ve used in a long time. Check out the photos below, including a couple side by sides with a you-know-what.

Gallery: SanDisk Sansa Fuze hands-on

The shiny new gadget pictured here is a design concept for a “transformer phone” that has many high-tech functions built-in alongside its conventional mobile phone functions. Aside from being an able mobile phone, possessing a camera capable of recording video and capturing stills, this phone will also provide 3D scanning and even a holographic projector. The flip-and-swivel mechanism serves the purpose of limiting the change in navigation interfaces by allocating them into separate fields. The phone and other functions come at the front where they keypad and other shortcut keys reside, while the 3D scanner, holographic projector, built-in camera and stereo speakers go at the back. And speaking of the keypad, by the way, notice that it has a very unique embedded metallic keypad design that looks as if it’s a touch-sensitive surface. Continue reading to view another shot of this amazing transformer phone concept…

Via [INewIdea]

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There are many different things about your computer that are good to keep an eye on, especially if you’re one that enjoys pushing your PC to the limit. I tend to push my PC pretty hard, which means I need to keep an eye on the temperatures at all times. There are generally two options here: keep a software monitor running on desktop taking up valuable screen space, or you can have an lcd monitor installed on the front of your computer. Neither one is all that appealing to me, which is why I’m intrigued by this Gadget Display.

This little gadget is a 2-inch color LCD screen which connects to  your PC via USB. You can set this anywhere, likely near your monitor somewhere.  It can display dozens of different things ranging from a clock, CPU and RAM usage. We don’t have a lot of information on this little gadget, however, there is likely a way to get this to display other things such as your CPU or motherboard temperature.

Source: EverythingUSB

Not much is known about Motorola’s upcoming Motorola ZN5 except that it’s supposed to be a 5-megapixel Kodak camera-equipped candy bar handset with a Montavista Linux 2.6.1 OS. Unwired View is reporting about a few additional, if a bit disappointing features including 2.5G GSM/GPRS connectivity, 320×240 QVGA display, so-so multimedia capability (Mpeg4 playback) and a bulky camera mechanism. But Motorola has been mum on the issue so far and even that leaked video showing the upcoming Moto phones has been taken down. So right now, the details about this phone are really scarce. Now I’ll be honest with you, I’m curious about this new Motorola phone and all the others because I still believe Motorola can do a comeback even after scoring second to the last in a recently conducted survey of user satisfaction, and not to mention the dismal sales of their then precious Motorola RAZR2 V8. So I did a little digging and well, I found what I was looking for. Not rumors, but official specs of the Motorola ZN5 supplied by the manufacturer’s web site itself.

From Motorola’s web site, this handset is officially called the Motorola ZN5 with Symphony Browser 1.0. Symphony is an open source browser with features that are comparable to the Opera 8.5 browser pre-installed in other models (supports page scaling, font adjustment, Fit Screen mode, multi-window browsing, bookmarks are shown in folder trees and it has a built-in pop-up blocker). Moving on, Motorola’s web site confirms the following features: 240×320 pixel screen resolution, Montavista Linux 2.6.1 OS (like the ROKR E8), Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, and a max MMS resolution of 1920×2560 pixels (equating to roughly 5-megapixels), which confirms the details of the camera on this baby. But other than these, I found a few other things about the Motorola ZN5 from Motorola’s web site. And these other things are quite intriguing.

To be sure that I understood what I was reading correctly, I opened up the spec sheets of two other cellphone models, the Motorola L7 and Motorola ROKR E8 and tried to match what I was reading against each of the documents for comparison. Here’s what I found:

• The current bearer service supported is only GSM_GPRS_IPV4, and the list of supported bearers only includes SMS, CSD, and GPRS. Meaning, the Motorola ZN5 really won’t be having 3.5G, and not even 3G, after all.
• There are two officially supported languages: English and Chinese.
• Even though I mentioned earlier that the Motorola ZN5 will have Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, Motorola’s web site strangely says “none” in the portion for its Bluetooth Profiles.
• “We are not supporting the connection oriented Push. So no Push characteristics are included” is written at around the halfway point of the document.
• It supports a slew of many different file formats, and these include JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP, MP3, AAC, M4A, MPG, 3GPP and even Real Audio.

Aside from what I’ve previously mentioned, the document I found makes no other reference to the supposedly Kodak-supplied 5 megapixel camera phone. And frankly I don’t think what we have here would be enough to salvage Motorola’s weakening mobile handset business. I guess I got what I came for, but it isn’t exactly what I expected. But of course, these specifications could change at a later time since the product has not been made official yet anyway. You never know. What do you think?

Read [Motorola ZN5 RDF]

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Teclast will soon introduce their new M26, which features TV out. The new Teclast M26 features 2.6″ WQVGA multi-touch display. It supports RMVB, RM, FLV, AVI video playback. Not just MP3, WMA playback, it also supports lossless audio playback with Microsoft PlayFX compatibility.

[ via iMP3 ]

Teclast, M26, MP3 Players

If you haven’t heard of Cricket Wireless, you should be sorry my friend, because you are missing an absolutely awesome deal by being oblivious to them. Cricket Wireless is a smaller and lesser known wireless carrier compared to the likes of AT&T but they also offer unlimited Internet access just like the big players in the industry. The only difference is, compared to AT&T for example, you don’t pay a small fortune for Cricket’s wireless data plan. Instead you pay $35. I’m not kidding. Admittedly slower than what you’ll get with much more expensive plans with other providers, Cricket offers truly unlimited service with no limits or secret caps on the traffic. Probably the only caveat for would-be Cricket customers is that although the service is unlimited, unfortunately it’s not uninterrupted. The terms of service state that a user is prohibited from using the network “continuously, with or without breaks, so as to create the functional equivalent of a telephone line dedicated to continuous use.” Which is fine, considering your PC needs rest from time to time anyway. But one last thing to remember about this is that it’s only available in some US cities. So pray that it is in yours.

Via [Gear Log]

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USB Travel Case Hub

This fantastic unique design is your notebook’s travelling companion. This 4-port hub provides you with a ‘Brief Case’ unique design featured with cable-tidy and dust-free function It’s ideal for travelling purpose as well as office or home use. The 4-port hub is self powered and no software is required. The USB hub is 1.1 version but also compatible with 2.0. Transfer rates at full speed are 12Mbps and low speed 1.5Mbps. To open the case you simply press the plastic handle for the brief case and lift the top. This USB hub in an elegant aluminium travel case is a great accessory for you computer or notebook. All will be intrigued as to what you are carrying in that little case!

How many buttons does your mouse have? Many people would say three, while plenty of others  might say five. However, if you were using this next mouse, you’d proudly answer with 11. I can understand using a few extra buttons when gaming, or even for multimedia purposes, however, this 11 Button Multimedia Mouse just seems like overkill.

It looks like there are buttons for volume, play/pause, page forward, page backward, internet and even double-click. I’ve really never found it all that difficult to click on the Firefox icon, but I guess it would save you around a second or so of hard work. However, I can’t possibly understand why someone would need a button to double click for them. You’d think it would take more time and effort to train yourself to press the double click button than just click the left mouse button twice. If you need more buttons on your mouse than your keyboard, you can pick this one up for just $14.99.

Source: RedFerret