A quick brief update on Apple's iPad

Three years after launching 'iPhone' Apple, the computing giant recently launched a new product. It's known as the 'iPad'.

iPad basically is a tablet computer, magazine sized touch screen that can do various tasks like surfing the web, watching movies, emailing, etc.. its like a bigger version of iPhone with more capabilities.

The Device ?
The device weighs just 1.5 pounds, compared with a few pounds for the typical laptop. At a mere half-inch thick, the iPad is also thinner than most laptops, including Apple's super-thin Macbook Air. With a maximum of 64GB of storage, the iPad can hold as many photos, movies and songs as most laptops.
The Pricing ?
The most basic iPad, with 16GB of flash memory, will be priced at $499. A 32GB version will cost $599 and a 64GB version will cost $699. The WiFi-only versions of the iPad will be available in the United States in March at Apple retail stores, the Apple web site and selected dealers. So other contries have to wait...

This sleek gadget aims to revolutionise the publishing business the same way as Apple iPod transformed the music industry and iPhone transformed the telecom industry.

Here is a brief official video of the iPad from Apple.


Friends, what do you thing of this new product? Share your views on the comments below..

Google moves closer to home entertainment market

Google is all set to bridge the gap between Google and your TV. It recently released a new gadget for Google Desktop called Google Media Server allows you to take content found on your computer or any of the online Google services like YouTube and Picasa Web Albums and shares it with UPnP compatible devices like the PS3.

It uses Google Desktop technology such as Desktop gadgets for the administration tool and Google Desktop Search to locate media files. All you need is a PC running Google Desktop and a UPnP-enabled device (e.g. a PlayStation 3).

With this release Google moves closer to an area of the home entertainment market coveted by Microsoft and Apple.

Both companies have software within their respective operating systems for connecting a Windows Vista PC and Mac, respectively, to a TV. More details on the Google Media Server can be found here.

Friends check out this gadget and share your views...

Microsoft demonstrates inexpensive wall based multi touch interface

As early as June 2007 i had written a small article on "Microsoft Surface" the real magic. Well it now seems that the 'Surface' table wasn't big enough.

Microsoft envisions your walls as computers. At the CEO Summit 2008 Bill Gates demonstrated the "TouchWall", a new hardware technology from Microsoft that creates a touch based white board interface that lets users interact more naturally with data and applications on their computer. However as per Microsoft the two products (Microsoft Surface and TouchWall) are completely different.

Surface is a multi-touch and vision system that uses cameras to sense what is on the table, where it is and what it is doing. Whereas TouchWall consists of three infrared lasers that scan a surface. A camera notes when something breaks through the laser line and feeds that information back to the Plex software. While Surface retails at around $10,000, for TouchWall is just "hundreds of dollars".

Heres a quick video demonstration of "TouchWall"

Lenovo ThinkPad can it be a threat to MacBook Air ?

Lenovo ThinkPad X300 could now be the world's next thinnest laptop. Lenovo ThinkPad X300 comes with dimensions of (WDH) 12.5 x 9.1 x 0.73 inches and weighs 2.93 pounds. Where as Apple MacBook Air, measures 0.16-0.76 inch, (0.4-1.94 cm) high by 12.8 inches (32.5 cm) by 8.94 inches (22.7 cm).

The X300 gets up to 10 hours of battery life on one charge. It has a 1.2-gigahertz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and a 64-gigabyte solid-state drive that uses flash memory. The X300 has three USB ports, as well as a headphone jack, Ethernet jack and an optional slim DVD burner. There is also built-in Wi-Fi and an integrated camera and microphone.

MacBook Air is powered by 1.6GHz or 1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, with 4 MB on-chip shared L2 cache running at full processor speed and uses an 800MHz front side bus. Lenovo X300 comes with the standard Microsoft windows XP or Vista professional operating system. MacBook Air's installed software include Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard (includes Time Machine, Quick Look, Spaces, Spotlight, Dashboard, Mail, iChat, Safari, Address Book, QuickTime, iCal, DVD Player, Photo Booth, Front Row, Xcode Developer Tools).

The price for X300 ranges between $2,550 to just under $3,000. Mac Book Air base model is priced at $1,799 and goes up to $3100 based on the configuration.

What do you think friends.. a real threat ? Post in your comments below..

Worlds smallest mobile handset to revolutionise mobile world

If you thought its the iPhone that has revolutionised the mobile market, well you might not be completely correct. With most of the mobile majors releasing newer models of mobile phone, there is this one company which is all set to change the rules of the game.

An Israel-based company called Modu Mobile recently announced the world’s tiniest handset called the Modu, which is the worlds smallest mobile handset (recently certified as such by the Guinness Book of World Records).

Modu give its users the freedom to create a new phone as often as they like based on their personal preferences and style. Think of it as a Swiss army knife device that can take on different forms and functions.

Mobile users get to choose from different Modu jackets, or phone enclosures, and Modu mates, which are Modu-enabled consumer electronics devices, to dress up their slimmed down standalone phones.

You can access below listed features from the tiny Modu device such as:
A large screen or keyboard
MP4 player
Ability to send/receive SMS
Speaker
Bluetooth
Minimum 1GB of storage
Can act as mass storage USB Flash Drive

The possibilities are endless for branding, as new modu jackets take almost no time to develop and each jacket can even have its own theme that's loaded, translator content, when you pop the modu in. Check out the below video for a live demo of Modu in action. Modu was displayed in the Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona.

More info on Modu available here. Also do post in your views/comments below.

A brief update on Apple's MacBook Air

MacBook Air is Apple's entry into the lightweight portable computer market. Weighing 3 pounds and measuring 0.16 inch at its thinnest, the $1,799 MacBook Air could force other computer manufacturers to roll out slimmer, lighter laptop computers.

The laptop will compete with a range of portable devices, from companies such as Sony, Dell and Asus, which are already building so-called sub-notebooks, designed to be lighter and more mobile. The MacBook Air also has a 13.3-inch widescreen display with 1,280-by-800-pixels resolution. It also includes a built-in iSight camera.

How did Apple make so thin laptop ? Well, a combination of factors went into the MacBook Air’s design. Its main circuit board is remarkably small—Apple took a photo of it next to a pencil for comparison purposes—and packed with electronics. There appear to be no accessible RAM slots. Most standard Mac ports were omitted.

There’s no optical drive. Apple even had to call in Intel to create a special, smaller version of the Core 2 Duo processor. And the battery isn’t removable, which allowed Apple to save a lot of space by omitting a battery-access compartment.

You could get more info on this product here or checkout the quick video guided tour of MacBook Air

Your comments are most welcome.. and here's the official MacBook Air Ad.

How to group chat via Google talk

We all might have used Google's Gtalk and Yahoo messenger many a times. One of the major things which Google Talk lacks is the functionality to have conference or do Group Chats. However this feature is readely available in Yahoo messagener. Well if you thought that there is no way one could have a group caht on Gtalk...you are wrong. Infact this group chat feature is provided by google but only through the Google Talk Gadget.

To start a group chat, launch the Google Talk Gadget here, and start a chat with one of your friends. Click on the button at the top of the chat window that says "Group Chat," and then pick the name of the third (or fourth, or fifth...) friend you want to invite from the drop-down menu. They'll receive an invitation to join the group chat. If your friends are using Gmail chat or the downloadable Google Talk client, their invitation will launch the Google Talk Gadget. Try this out..

Google now available at gas pump stations

"I’ll have 6 gallons of gas and a Google search please" is what US drivers would soon say at an gas pump station. In a recent announcement made by the internet gaint GOOGLE which said thay will dispense driving directions at thousands of gasoline
pumps across the United States beginning early next month. These internet-connected pumps will feature a color screen which can be touched and used to find landmarks and such.

The device is being made by Gilbarco Veeder-Root Inc. These toys will be used to help tourists locate restaurants, hotels, landmarks, etc.

Drivers will also be able to print out directions to these locations right on their receipt printer. Ads will not be displayed along with maps but station owners will have the option of making deals to have coupons or other promotional material dispensed along with driving directions.

As per Google, the service became of interest to the company because it wanted to make its services available to consumers at times when it is most needed.By the way take look at the picture above, and that’s probably how the pumps will look when all said and done.

Way to go google!!!

Skype now goes mobile, Talk worldwide for Free

Skype have recently partnered with Cellular service provider 3 to promote its skype dedicated phones. So a user will be able to chat or call his Skype contacts for free from this phone.

So You don’t need a computer to make free calls anymore. Use 3 Skypephone instead. It’s a stylish mobile phone that calls, texts and takes pictures like you’d expect it to.

The handset features 3G, 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth with A2DP support and 16MB internal memory with a microSD card expansion slot.

You could also buy this phone online from here.

A 39 megapixel for professional photographers

Hasselblad, a Scandinavian company recently launched the latest line of its high end H3D-II digital SLR full frame camera, a 39-megapixel model, the H3D-39II. Also debuting are the H3D-31II and the H3D-22II with 31 and 22 megapixels, respectively. It has full digital lens line and the choice of 22, 31 or 39Mp capture units using CCD image sensors up to 48 x 36 mm – the largest currently available and more than twice the size of even the largest 35mm camera sensors – the H3D-II now has a large, bright 3in display, which affords both improved viewing of captured images and lower power consumption.

Hasselblad A/S has developed, manufactured and delivered the very best in high-end camera systems for over 50 years. Hasselblad continues to pursue its founder’s philosophy of combining the most advanced technology available with a passion for photography to give professional photographers the best possible tools to capture the best possible images.

The H3D-II is available immediately worldwide through Hasselblad’s national subsidiaries and channel partners with a retail price of €26,500 ($34,000) for the H3D-39II, €21,500 ($27,000) for the H3D-31II, and €17,900 ($25,000) for the H3D-22II, excluding tax.

Heres a video on the basic features..

Orange releases SPV M700, an upgraded Windows Mobile PDA phone

Well this is an upgrade from the M600, with a key feature of M700 to now handle 3G connections, as well as the EDGE and GPRS capabilities. Its specifications are 10.8 x 5.8 x 1.8cm, 150g in weight. That 3G support certainly helps with functions such as downloading email attachments and video clips, giving it an edge for business or pleasure.

The M600 included Orange's satnav technology but then it needed an additional Bluetooth device to pickup GPS satellite signals. The M700 brings that technology under its hood as is increasingly common in PDAs and smart phones. The lens obviously has to be on the front so you can see the other caller and they can see you.

However, you can also choose which of the PDA's cameras to send images from during the call, switching back and forth to show them your face or what the camera on the reverse can see.

Well, you could also check out this 1 minute video review of the phone below.

Sony Ericsson, turning mobile phones to remote control

Nokia when announcing the N80, went as far as saying that: "With simple to use yet advanced UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) technology, the pioneering Nokia N80 can be used to tap into the digital home network, acting almost as a remote control, enabling secure and convenient access to compatible PCs, audio equipment and TVs."

However, the key words here are "acting almost as a remote control..." In other words, not quite a remote control - yet! Now Sony Ericsson, with its new patent, seems to have come up with obvious idea of making your mobile phone an actual remote control, capable of switching TV channels, calling up and controlling a TV programme guide, operating your DVD or VCR - in other words, everything you'd want a remote control to control.

Sony Ericsson's idea is even more ingenious, though, as they anticipate the remote contorl user interface being implemented as a 'skin', which can be downloaded onto the phone either from the device itself or from a web-ste. In other words, the user interface you see on the phone can be changed according to the device you want to use simply by downloading a new interface either from the web, the phone network, or the device itself.

MSN Mobile Beta is now available

MSN Mobile Beta is now available for those with a Windows Mobile Treo to take advantage of. So whats included in the all-new MSN Mobile beta? Well.. You never know when you'll need quick access to information, now it’s even easier to find the information you need with these mobile web services.

Windows Live Mail
Don’t miss out on email just because you’re away from your PC. With Windows Live Mail for mobile, it’s fast and easy email on the go right from your mobile device.

MSNBC News
Stay in the know on the go with the latest news headlines from MSNBC. You'll find full-length articles and images formatted especially for your mobile device.

Windows Live Search
Find friends, facts, and answers while you’re out and about. Windows Live Search for mobile connects you to the information you need when you want it and delivers it right to your mobile device.

MSN Entertainment
Get local movie times, celebrity gossip, and more right on your mobile device.

Local
Find pizza in Pittsburgh or mufflers in Memphis. Use your mobile device to find what you’re looking for, get directions from where you are, and connect instantly by phone. You can even save your results for the next time.

MSN Weather
Forecasts change. Luckily, your info does too.

MSN Money
Make your money work for you. Get the latest news, as well as planning, investing, and tax tips from the experts at MSN Money. Plus, get instant stock quotes and check on your portfolio throughout the day.

FOX Sports
Get news, stats, player info, and more – any time of the day.

Nikon Launches Two New Wireless Cameras

It's about time there were Wi-Fi cams available for those of us who've been longing for the next generation to follow up Kodak's EasyShare-One, Canon's PowerShot SD430 and Nikon's own Coolpix P1 and P2.

Nikon has added two new digital cameras to the Nikon Coolpix Style Series line-up, the S50 and S50c. These cameras combine enhanced imaging quality and performance with an eye-catching wave surface design. The Coolpix S50 and the Coolpix S50c boast 7.2 effective megapixels, a 3x Zoom-Nikkor glass lens and a huge, bright 3.0 inch LCD screen. These cameras also utilize an Optical VR Image Stabilization system, ensuring the consumer will be able to capture stunningly sharp images.

The Coolpix S50c also offers the additional advantage of a built in Wireless capability for e-mail and image storage with the enhanced Coolpix Connect 2 service. COOLPIX S50 and the COOLPIX S50c feature 7.2 effective megapixels, allowing the consumer to make superior quality prints in a variety of sizes, they also incorporate advanced technologies which help create new opportunities to take sharper, and more natural looking photos.

These technologies include the new Optical VR Image Stabilization, high sensitivity up to ISO 1600, and Best Shot Selector (BSS) which can all be activated by pressing the Anti-Shake Button, conveniently located on the top of the camera. These features allow the S50 and S50c to produce shots that are steady, sharp and stunning. Tthe LCD monitors serve as excellent platforms for Pictmotion, which allows users to select their favorite images or movies, as well as music (up to 10 songs) and combine them automatically in-camera to produce audiovisual shows in VGA quality for the ultimate photo-sharing experience.