Author: Daniel Sung
Windows 7 out on 22nd October
I’d like to sit here all smug saying we told you so after Acer let the cat out of the bag about a month ago but, as it stands, Windows 7 will actually be available one day earlier than we said. Can you ever forgive us?
Microsoft has promised that most retailers and manufactures will run an upgrade scheme for those who recently purchased Vista machines – we already know that Dell is a likely candidate – but it looks like only those with Vista Starter, Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate will be included with no joy for those who opted for Basic. That’ll teach you to skate cheap.
Both the Windows 7 beta and release candidate have been well received and you’d think that the this full version will sit far better with the public than Vista ever has, despite being more or less identical. I’d still rather run XP after using the 7 beta for a while now but then perhaps I’m just a stick in the mud. It’s very sticky and muddy down here. Probably best you do your own thing.
(via Windows Blog)
Philips GoGear Opus: iPlayer-friendly, inexpensive PMP
Philips has launched the wallet-friendly MP3 (et al) player known as the GoGear Opus. We saw a little something of the 8GB/16GB device – well Zara did – out in Lisbon and now we hear it allows you to pay downloaded BBC iPlayer content too. Nice touch.
The news since then is that it’ll cost £99 or £129 depending which model you go for and it supports MP3, WMA, AAC (non-DRM) and FLAC (hurray!) for audio and MPEG4, WMV and SMV on the video side. Fear not, though, AVI, MOV, RM, WMV and DVDs can be converted by the software included. Make sure you factor in the time for that.
It measures 107mm x 11mm x 57mm and sports a 320 x 240-pixel, 2.8″ LCD capable of 262,000 colours. Not exactly mind blowing stuff here certainly good for the money.
You get the ever-reasonable free Philips headphones backed up by the ever-dividing FullSound upscaling technology with 30 hours of audio and 6 of video battery life to consider you point of view.
There’s some hook-you-in 30-day trials of Napster, if you wish, or you can go and get your music like a real (wo)man instead.
All in all, a pretty good package from Philips. Perfect for downscaling those iPod Touch birthday present requests without the bad taste in the mouth.
Philips
Alienware M17x – the post powerful 17" laptop in the Universe
Dell has officially brough the Alienware brand fully under its 35-country wide wing today with the launch of the M17x aka “the most powerful 17-inch laptop in the Universe”. The gaming behemouth was lauched this morning at E3 but I was lucky enough to have sneak preview of the 5kg beast at the end of last week. Here it is…
The final specs on this monster are up to dual 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M graphics processing units, Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad-core factory overclockable mobile processor (which Dell expects you to overclock by up to 3 bin speeds), 8GB DDR32 1333MHz RAM, 1TB 7200RPM HDD or 512GB of SSD in Raid formation, WUXGA 1200p (1920 x 1200) edge-to-edge gloss glass LCD and integrated NVIDIA GeForce 9400M G1 GPU with HybridPower technology for all your day to day needs. Naturally, you don’t get all that for the starting price of £1,699 but you get the picture.
It comes with Windows Vista 64-bit as standard but were Windows 7 to come out on, say, 23rd October 2009, then Dell has confirmed that they would provide the same kind of free upgrade service to the new OS that they have on the past with only shipping of the new disc to pay. Good on them.
But the service doesn’t stop there. It’s easy for some hardcore elitists to have a go at these kinds of pre-packaged machines but if you’d rather get a tailor made option then I’ve been really impressed by the lengths that Dell goes to take care of you.
There’s a metal plate on the underside of the anodised steel chassis which they will engrave with whatever you like in both your native alphabet and the alien language too, and there are all sorts of other customisable options when you go to order yours online. The idea is that it’ll be ready to go precisely to your needs as soon as you take it out of the box.
You can pick one up as of today with delivery included in the price. Enjoy.
Alienware
INQ to launch Twitter phone for Christmas
INQ Mobile is hoping to launch its Twitter phone in time for Christmas. How thoughtful. It’ll cost operators less than $140 and use an integrated internet-based Twitter client such that all tweets will come out of the user’s data package.
The low cost social networking handset manufacturer has made such a storming success of their first mobiles that only the iPhone can compare in terms of how often consumers have used them to go online. Sixty-five per cent of all INQ phone customers contact Facebook on a regular basis and 50% are the same with Windows Messenger.
It’s no surprise that INQ is looking to stay ahead of the pack and there’s no doubt that, right now, Twitter is the place to be. I wonder if it’ll be all blue bird and clouds branded?
Garmin-Asus go Android with their smartphones next year
It’s always struck me as a strange marriage but the satnav/netbook team of Garmin-Asus announced today that their first Android-based mobile phone will be in our hands by the end of Q1 next year.
Their announcement at Computex, Taipei, might be lacking a little thunder after Acer pre-trumped them in both timescale and device but it’s another interesting move away from the Microsoft stables. Garmin-Asus’s current launches, the M20 and the G60, both run Windows Mobile and it’d be no surprise if Asus doesn’t follow Acer’s lead with Android platforms on their PCs too.
If having Garmin in on the deal didn’t already feel like a way Asus could financially hedge bets, then it does now. They’re saying that it’s Garmin who’ll still be taking care of the location-based services as well as geo-tagging but I can still see most users opting for Google maps.
All the same, I’m looking forward to getting my hands on one of these. Say what you like about Asus but they’re innovative. The Keyboard and touchscreen Eee PC T91 are evidence of that if nothing else. I’d be surprised if they made a mess of Android, especially with Garmin sitting on their shoulder.
(via PC World)
Acer to bring Android handsets later this year with Android netbooks to match
At the beginning of the year, Acer announced they had no plans for Android handsets at their first mobile launch largely because their accompanying laptops run on Windows. It makes sense. So, one day after the Dell-abee PC giant announced they’d have an Android handset in the marketplace by Q4 this year, it’s perhaps of little surpise that we now find out they’ll have a netbook to back it up.
In a speech at Computex, the company’s global head of IT, Jim Wong said:
“Today’s netbooks are not close to perfection at all. In two years, it will all be very different. If we do not continue to change our mobile Internet devices, consumers may not choose then any more.”
The company will continue to sell Windows based mini-systems but as much as analysts say the move could cause a serious blow to Microsoft in the PC department, it’s more the mobile field where I believe the Ballmer Inc. will suffer. If there are Android computers to synch up your phones with, then why would anyone bother with Windows Mobile at all?
Acer
RUMOUR: iPhones to come in 4GB, 8GB, 16GB & 32GB
Trickle by tricle we’re working out what Apple plans to release come WWDC this year and today is further evidence that they’ve got a few differnet options for us.
A source at a mobile phone certificating body in the US has seen papers approving 4GB, 8GB, 16GB and 32GB sized iPhones which would suggest that Apple is moving away from a one handset strategy.
There’s already been word of a larger media tablet and we’ve seen mooted spec sheets for the current model’s improvement but the introduction of smaller memory units points towards early talk of more basic iPhones, perhaps even available for less than £100.
Doubtless we’ll have more and more as the WWDC gets closer and I’ll keep you posted as soon as I hear.
(via Engadget)
Nokia N97 out in the UK on 19th June
The Nokia N97 will be out on 19th June exclusively on Vodafone for a whole week before all but O2 get a look in. The RRP for the SIM free version is £499 or you can spread it over an 18-month contract for £40 per month making it one of the priciest smartphones available.
In its favour, the handset does just about everything you could want and includes the best camera by far in its class but, having had my hands on it, I’m not convinced that it’s enough of a draw to warrant the extra £5 or £10 per month over the likes of the iPhone and Android handsets. We wait to see what Palm and Toshiba come up with.
N97 preview:
(via What Mobile)
HEADPHONES WEEK: Shure SE115 in-ear buds
Welcome to Headphones Week on Tech Digest. I’ve been getting a little wound up with rubbish sound quality of late. It’s bad enough listening to squashed up music files but doing it through came-with-the-player headphones is even worse. If you’re not up on this already, then I’ll give you a very quick version of why you need to spend money on them.
Free headphones neither isolate nor cancel ambient sound and most likely don’t fit very well in your ears. So, that means you have to turn the volume up loud in order to get the immersive experience you’re after which then distorts the quality of the music. Add to that the fact that the drivers inside basic headphones are rubbish anyway and you’ve got the equivalent of AM audio in you brain. Understood?
So, the next question is what to buy? How much do you need to spend to get decent sound and at what point is it the Emperor’s new airwaves? So, I’ve picked five sets of headphones fairly new to the market and I’m giving them a little low-down each afternoon this week. I believe they call it a review. If it’s useful, let me know and I’ll do some more.
The Short Version
Name – Shure SE115 in-ear headphones
Type – over the ear sound isolators
How much – £66 plus postage
How much should they cost – £45
Should you buy them – no
The Long Version
Build
I’ll start with the positive’s here because there aren’t many and I’ll feel like I’ve achieved something once I’ve got them out of the way. First, the build quality is really good – probably the best out of all the headphones I’m looking at this week.
They’ve got proper thick cables, the kind you could garrotte people with without them breaking. They mean that what you’re buying is as close to “for life” as you can get with these things. The leads also come in two parts with a nice, chunky 3.5mm connection in the middle. I’m not sure what it is I’m supposed to insert in between my ears and my mp3 player but I feel very safe that these Shures would do whatever that job is very well.
Buds
The buds themselves aren’t too bad. You get the choice of six different sets – three of some disappointing grey rubber nothingness but the others made of squishable memory foam type material that you roll between your thumb and forefinger and jam into your head before they have time to expand.
The look a bit nasty once you’ve bullied them into submission – rather like greasy Mediterranean olives; doubly so when they come out of your ears pitted with wax.
The effect is that they pretty much fit to fill your aural canal and block out quite a lot of the ambient noise – not all, but good enough to give the drivers a chance to work their magic.
Packaging
Yeah, this is probably the last good thing I can say about the SE115s. The packaging is ok. For a £66 set of ‘phones, you do get set up alright. What I’m referring to is the small black canvas zip bag complete with metal carabiner because, obviously, we’re all about quality audio while we’re trying to tackle the next overhang.
The Shure SE115s may actually be targeted at extreme sports enthusiasts but the point is that the bag is ok. It may even be slightly waterproof. Probably isn’t but the promise is good.
Sound Quality
Here’s where these headphones really fall down. They sound rubbish – admittedly, better than a free pair but, if they’d been any more expensive, I’d be absolutely panning them. It may be the choice of material for the ear bud foam but all punch of the sound is lost. It’s like listening to £10,000 stereo system with hiking socks shoved in your ears.
You can tell that someone somewhere has done their job but that another bod down the line has totally ruined their work. It’s soft, muffled, rich but completely unexciting, and there can be no more damning word for audio equipment than that. They’re just plain lifeless.
Conclusion
The Shure SE115s offer a reachable step up in audio from freebee phones but, if I were you, I’d reach a little higher, or, at least, in a different direction.
Philips Cinema 21:9 TV out for £4,500 – full specs and availability
We knew it was coming in June but now we now exactly when you can fork out for the Philips Cinema 21:9 TV. 18th June is the date to jam in your diaries and you’d better put in some serious overtime because you’ll need a rather icy cool £4,500 to get one in the UK. The good news is that we do have the full details on the dream machine so you can at least drool if not afford.
It runs a full 2560x1080p HD resolution making for a grand total of 8.3 million pixels, each controlled by the Philips Perfect Pixel HD engine. It offers a 200Hz frame rate – as well it should – response times of just under 1ms and a contrast ratio of 80,000:1. Oh, and before we have a bunch of nay-sayers jumping in, there’s some smart tech to resize your 16:9 pictures without significantly distorting the images or leaving black bars all over the place.
The 17bit colour processing makes 2250 trillion different shades – prove them wrong if you’ve got a year or two spare – and the old faithful Philips Ambilight Spectra 3 system will chuck out the appropriate hues against the wall, by which it sits, for a more dynamic experience.
There’s five HDMI ports to play with as well as USB connectivity and it’ll play back ACC, MP3, AC3, LPCM, WMA, JPEG, GIF, PNG, MPEG1, MPEG2 and MPEG4 which is everything you’d hope for with only a few exceptions in the shape of FLAC and DivX. Best, though, it’s fully webbed up with Philips’ NetTV system which will allow full internet browsing as well as all your widgetry.
Soundwise, there’s an integrated 15W system of two backward facing subwoofers and a set of face-on high-enders but I’d be amazed if anyone who shells out four and half big ones is going to stop short of a full AV set up.
If you buy sooner rather than later, Philips will throw in a swivel stand and “smart level” bracket trinket but, if you’re seriously after one of these things, I’d wait. Wait because this is just the kind of kit that you’ll see for considerably less once the fuss dies down – particularly as the first quote we had was 4,000€. I know the pound has been bad, but not that bad.
