MacBook Air & iPod Touch Going Cheap
Credit By : Neil berman

Want a MacBook Air but don't fancy paying full whack? I just spotted it for $1,635 including shipping at Abe's of Maine. That's almost $200 off the sticker price. Looking at the forthcoming 6-hour-batteried, 10-inch-screened, Atom-powered MSI Wind, the MBA still looks overpriced...Meanwhile I spotted the iPod Touch 16GB with current software going refurbished on Amazon's Marketplace for $299. That's $50 off Apple's own refurbished price.If you've been wanting to join the Apple faithful it seems like a good time to sign up!

XP extended to at least 2010 on Asus EEE style computers
Credit By: Neil Berman

Michael Dix's announcement on Thursday that Microsoft would now offer Windows XP Home until at least June 30th 2010 tells us one thing: the Redmond giant is getting more sensitive to its little customers.The message behind the April 3rd statement seems clear: Microsoft is nervous of losing a whole market to Linux and Google-apps-cloud-style computing. That market is what Dix called the ULCPC (Ultra Low Cost Personal Computer), which includes the amazingly popular Linux-powered Asus EEE, Everex Cloudbook and forthcoming models rumoured to be on the way from Acer and HP amongst others.In the past I think Microsoft might have just said, 'our current platform is Vista, make your hardware better'. However on this occasion market forces led to the creation of a more viable option. Most EEE buyers are probably happy with the price/power/battery trade-off in the unit. I know I am. Would I pay another few hundred bucks for a same size, same screened EEE with enough power to run Vista? No way.So Microsoft will now continue offering XP Home to OEMs of ULCPCs for the next few years. Good decision, and well done for responding to customer opinion. Dix said there is no intention to extend the sales period similarly for other XP versions. In any case, Vista sales have just reached one hundred million licenses so I would not expect the other versions to get a further extension.Microsoft's statement was swiftly followed by Asus announcing that they would start selling an XP-powered EEE on April 9th, priced at $400. The specs are believed to be identical to the existing 4G model, only this time some of the nice bits, such as the webcam, are more likely to work out of the box with applications like Skype. According to Laptop Magazine, XP boots in 40 secs on the EEE. That's pretty quick for XP. Asus is going to sell bucketloads of these.A few weeks ago Microsoft reinstated support for certain legacy file formats in Office 2007, following requests from the user community. I would expect that users of those legacy formats (mainly Office 97) are already strong candidates to move to OpenOffice or Google Docs. Perhaps this reversal from Redmond might keep them on side for a little longer.Is there a trend emerging here? Perhaps the giant is feeling like some dwarf's are getting taller.

MacBook Air Hands-on Review
Credit By: Neil Berman

Two weeks of watching someone pulling a laptop out of an envelope on TV can leave an impression on the mind. So I was glad to see a complete absence of said stationery in the Apple store MacBook Air display.I start giving the Air a good look over. 0.7 inches thin and 3 lbs light, with such an unblemished look that my camera has difficulty focusing on it. I instantly want one.

"It will slip into an office envelope" says a store assistant to a customer standing next to me. Thanks for forcing me to recall the advert which has almost driven me into therapy.

carry on tinkering. The multi-touch trackpad is great and makes surfing a breeze. It's really large, with a smaller button than usual. No problem with that, I never use the button on my MacBook anyway. Surfing and general Leopard navigation seems quick with 2GB RAM and unhindered by the slower Intel 1.6 GHz Core 2 Duo processor. Videos play smoothly from Apple's website. The Air seems very quiet, although in the noise of the store it is difficult to really tell.

The little door which opens on the right hand side reveals limited connectivity options. One USB port, a mini-DVI port and a headphone output. Pretty weak, but the USB port can be converted to an ethernet connection using an optional accessory and further USB ports could be gained through a hub.

There's a mini-DVI to VGA adaptor included in the box. The optical drive is an extra $99, but remote disc (which allows access to the optical drive of a Mac or PC), is included.

Placing the Air directly on top of my MacBook proves that apart from the thickness, the two laptops share similar width and length dimensions.

This unfortunately is one of the weaknesses of the Air. Whilst it is thin and light, you basically need a regular MacBook-size bag to carry it around...unless you have an office envelope sitting around of course.



The MagSafe power connection is very solid, better than the current MacBook. What happens if we pull it out...? The fully charged battery calculates remaining runtime as 3h 43m. Not bad, but not the quoted 5h, and I'm not even doing anything with the laptop. Start the envelope advert running and battery life drops instantly to 2h 27m.

I stop the advert and do some general surfing, after five minutes the battery life indicator settles down at 3h 05m. Once that runs down, there's no second battery option.

After a bit more playing around I'm feeling completely comfortable with the Air. The screen size and weight make it a great Cloud computing laptop. Several people come and go, some on the phone to friends and family: "Yeah, you're really going to like this. Should I bring you back one? It is a bit like spending a lot of money just to lose a couple of pounds on your MacBook though. I'm not sure what you're gonna gain."I agree. Money no object I'd definitely get one of these, but apart from the weight advantage it's basically the same size as my MacBook, slower than my MacBook and doesn't do anything my MacBook doesn't already do.

But if you're considering dropping a load of cash on a MB or you own a larger MB Pro, then the Air is worth thinking about. As a first Apple laptop it's a very desirable option..

iPhone 3G lines start at the Apple Cube... one week early
by Joshua Topolsk

So we heard some really over-eager folks have decided to get a jump on the iPhone 3G line -- a really, really big jump. Obviously, we had to head down and see if it was true... and it is. Right now, about ten people have started a line outside of Apple's flagship store on 5th Avenue in New York. Word is that the family at the head of the queue are attempting to break some kind of record which involves their baby -- which kind of sounds a little intense if you ask us. On the other hand, you didn't hear Greg Packer complaining, right? We're going to wrangle some of these cats for an interview and video, so stay tuned! For right now, check some more pics after the break.Update: We got a chance to speak with group leader Daniel on video, who let us in the gang's desire to break the world record for waiting in line, as well as some... er, broad political ideas. We also learned that the baby probably won't be forced to stay outside of the Apple Store all week. See it for yourself in the clip after the break!Update 2: According to a Fortune report on the group, five of the ten have already hit the road, and New York City cops sent the baby packing not long after we visited the scene. The remaining neo-hippies have also refined their confused political message as well, which manages to come off as somehow more inane than just wanting to break a world record.[Via GearDiary]

Report claims iPhone will go 3G, gain GPS in early 2008
By AppleInsider Staff

A new report claims that Apple is already aligning component suppliers for a major iPhone overhaul due early next year that will package, among other things, support for faster 3G networks.The rumor, which was accompanied by claims that the handset would also include features like global positioning for navigation services (GPS), was reported Monday by The Street.com, which has little to no track record in predicting Apple's future business moves.The claims also arrive in stark contrast to comments made by Apple chief executive Steve Jobs early Tuesday morning regarding a timeframe for an Apple-branded 3G handset. While introducing the iPhone for UK customers, Jobs was asked by reporters about his firm's decision to forgo 3G access in the version of the iPhone that will be made available in the region later this November."[3G] chipsets work well apart from power. They're real power hogs. Most phones now have battery lives of 2 to 3 hours and that's due to these very power-hungry 3G chipsets," he explained. "[iPhone] has 8 hours of talktime life. That's really important when you start to use the Internet and want to use the phone to listen to music. We've got to see the battery lives for 3G get back up into the 5+ hour range. Hopefully we'll see that late next year."Nevertheless, The Street believes the 3G iPhone will arrive "sometime in the first quarter" of 2008 and include assisted GPS chips from Broadcom's Global Locate unit and power amplifiers from TriQuint.

AMD Phenom 9100e First Pics & Review

AMD เผยโฉม Phenom 9100e ราคาประหยัดสำหรับกลุ่มตลาดล่าง โดยราคาค่าตัวนั้นคาดว่าน่าจะอยู่ที่ประมาณ 100-130USD ซึ่งก็มีผลทดสอบหลุดออกมาบ้างแล้ว แต่ก็ยังไม่เป็นที่แน่ชัดว่าจะเปิดตัวอย่างเป็นทางการเมื่อใด ตอนนี้เราก็ไปชมผลทดสอบแรกของมันกันก่อนหละกันครับ

Computer PC Laptop Spyware AntiVirus Freeware download hardware

AIS พร้อมประกาศบริการ 3G เชียงใหม่ 6 พ.ค. นี้ กทม. ต้องรอ มิ.ย.

หลังจากที่ได้มีนโยบาย “เร่งด่วน” ของรัฐบาลให้ผู้บริการเครือข่ายมือถือไทยมี 3G ใช้ภายใน 6 เดือน ล่าสุด AIS ประกาศพร้อมให้บริการ 3G ในเชียงใหม่เริ่มต้น 6 พฤษภาคมนี้และกรุงเทพฯ​ 15 มิถุนายน

สำหรับสาเหตุที่ต้องทำการเปิดตัวที่เชียงใหม่ก่อน เพราะว่าเชียงใหม่เป็นเมืองใหญ่อันดับสองของประเทศ แต่กลับมีการใช้งานอินเทอร์เน็ตที่น้อยกว่า จึงมีความต้องการใช้งานอินเทอร์เน็ตแบบไร้สายเป็นอย่างมาก

สำหรับบริการใหม่นี้ ได้ใช้ชื่อว่าบริการ 3GSM Advance สำหรับ AIS นั้นเป็นเครือข่ายที่จะให้บริการ HSPA ที่คลื่นความถี่ 900MHz ซึ่งปัญหาหลักมีอยู่ว่ามีเพียงแค่ Nokia 6121 และ PhoneOne บางรุ่นเท่านั้นที่สนับสนุน แต่ข้อดีก็คือคลื่นสามารถเดินทางได้ระยะไกลกว่า

ถึงแม้ AIS จะทำได้แค่บนคลื่น 900MHz ก็ตาม แต่ในอนาคตคาดว่าจะมีมือถือสนับสนุนคลื่นนี้มากขึ้น เช่น Sony Ericsson Xperia, Nokia N96 และแน่นอนค่ายอื่น ๆ ต้องทำตามในเร็ววัน ในที่สุดคาดว่าเมืองไทยน่าจะมี HSDPA ใช้กันถ้วนหน้าต้นปีหน้าแน่นอนครับ (ข่าวดีจริง ๆ)

ที่มา - GSM Advance http://www.blognone.com/node/7505