Sony's slick-looking X1000 Walkman line popped up for preorder on Amazon UK with a release window of 2-5 weeks. That means we should be seeing the touchscreen, OLED player before the end of March.
The 16-gigabyte NWZ-X1050B will cost £214 (~$300) and 32-gigabyte NWZ-X1060B will cost £283 (~$400). Looking forward to the X1000 making a stateside appearance sometime soon.
 Has the right ports, but no new design It's that time again, another Apple rumour and another semi-blurry picture of what is meant to be a new piece of hardware that will be out "soon". The rumour about a new Mac mini has been going on for months now with some pictures turning up online just ahead of Mac World back in January, but this time around, the design doesn't seem to have changed. What have changed is the ports on the back, as the pictured Mac mini in this case has had a fairly radical upgrade (in Apple terms at least). It comes with five USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire 800 port, a mini DVI and more interestingly a mini DisplayPort, as well as an Ethernet port and two audio jacks. There was of course some spec's listed as well and in this case we're talking about a mobile Core 2 Duo processor with 3MB of L2 cache and a clock speed of 2GHz. There's also meant to be 2GB of DDR3 1,066MHz memory as standard, which we highly doubt, as the cost of DDR3 memory is still very high and Apple wouldn't stick more than 1GB in the system because of this if its past records are anything to go by. The "Super Drive" is meant to have a SATA interface rather than IDE as with the current Mac mini. Fact or fiction? You can make your own mind up by taking a look at the picture here |
It's official. As of today, the 20-inch Cinema Display is no more, reducing Apple's display lineup to the 30-inch model (that works with all Macs) and the recently introduced 24-inch LED-backlit Cinema Display featuring a DisplayPort interconnect and works only with unibody MacBooks. Whether the product's removal is the sign of hardware refresh that will transition 20-inch models to DisplayPort or, as some think, indication of a new 28-inch Cinema Display that would nicely complement previous rumors of the new top-of-the-line 28" iMac model, remains to be seen. All we know is that Apple told its partners that the 20-inch model has reached end-of-life status, effective immediately -- adding that all backlog will be canceled.
Apple quietly removed the 20-inch Cinema Display from its online store today. In addition, the company has informed resellers that the product has reached "end-of-life" status, warning that "all backlog will be cancelled and there is no automatic order conversion." Apple allegedly stopped manufacturing the display at the end of last year and was selling just channel inventory. Sources have immediately deciphered the move as a sign of hardware refresh with an updated product of the same design, meaning the LED-backlit display and DisplayPort technology found in the 24-inch Cinema Display overhauled last October.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs said during the unibody MacBook introduction (last September) that DisplayPort will find its way into every computer Apple makes. "We're building it into everything we make," he said. And Apple fans surely welcome the first signs of action from Cupertino, following an unusual period of silence that brought no refreshes to the company's hardware lineup since the 24-inch Cinema Display last October. The latter model replaced the previously sold 23-inch Cinema Display, having ditched the DVI interconnect in favor of DisplayPort.
Is Apple killing the 20-inch Cinema Display entirely?
Some Apple watchers are not convinced the removal of the 20" model means there is hardware refresh around the corner. Instead, they suspect Apple might have killed the 20" display in order to bring an alleged 28" display into the view. The move would fall nicely in line with previous rumors of a new top-of-the-line 28" iMac model that is also allegedly in the works.
The oversized iMac model would, according to these voices, sport the fastest processor and graphics architecture, catering to creative professionals who find Mac Pro too pricey but require more performance and screen real estate than the current top-of-the-line 24" iMac brings to the table. Readers should note that the 28" iMac rumor was based on unnamed sources, so it quickly fell in oblivion and has not been corroborated by reliable sources to lend it some credence.
DisplayPort confusion
With the removal of 20-inch model, Apple's current Cinema Display lineup consists of the 30-inch model (introduced in June 2004) and the24-inch LED-backlit Cinema Display with DisplayPort, meaning it can only be used with the latest unibody MacBooks equipped with the latest VESA-backed interconnect standard. Given Jobs' comments, the company will eventually update the largest 30" model to DisplayPort technology as well.
Apple's miniaturized DisplayPort variant, dubbed Mini DisplayPort and used in unibody MacBooks, has been officially approved and will become a part of the upcoming industry-backed DisplayPort 1.2 specification. Users should pay attention to compatibility issuesbetween non-DisplayPort-compatible Mac computers and DisplayPort-compatible devices like the 24" LED-backlit Cinema Display. The company is expected to refresh its iMac, Mac mini and Mac Pro line with DisplayPort later this year, as well as its Apple TV set-top box.
By bringing DisplayPort technology to both its computer and display products Apple will eventually make life easier for new users, while owners of older displays or computers will have to resort to additional converter boxes to make their equipment work with the new standard. However, it is likely Apple will make this a relatively easy transition as well.
TRANSITION TO THE DISPLAY PORT
Apple began transitioning to DisplayPort interconnects with the new unibody MacBooks unveiled last October. The company soon replaced 23-inch Cinema Display with the new 24-inch LED-backlit model and its DisplayPort interconnect, meaning it can only be used with unibody MacBooks.
MINI DISPLAYPORT NOW PART OF DISPLAY PORT 1.2 STANDARD
Mini DisplayPort, Apple's own miniaturized variant of DisplayPort, can drive 30-inch Cinema Display via "Mini DisplayPort to dual-DVI" converter box and is just one tenth in size compared to the regular DVI interconnect. Mini DisplayPort will become part of the upcoming industry-backed DisplayPort 1.2 specification.
Still working on additional iPod models
Best work of fiction since The Lord of the Rings
This week, the Inquirer published an exclusive report based on conversations with unnamed Sony representatives at CES, claiming that Nvidia would be entirely out of the picture in all upcoming next generation consoles. Overall, claims were made stating that Intel's forthcoming Larrabee would be the general purpose GPU to power Sony's PlayStation 4 in the next gen console war.
"The nice Sony engineering lady at CES told us that Intel essentially bought the win, a theoretically good architecture, no imminent threats of going bust, and not being hated by Sony all contributed too. With a couple of deliverables satisfied, the PS4 GPU belongs to Intel." The report continued: "Yeah, Intel won the PS4 GPU, no shock considering how much they needed a console win to get people coding for Larrabee."
Fortunately, Sony Computer Entertainment has moved quickly to deny this latest rumor that Intel will be producing the GPU for the PlayStation 4. To further correct the given claims, TechRadar spoke with a Sony Computer Entertainment Europe representative who clearly stated, "it's nonsense, and is quite possibly the best work of fiction I've read, since Lord of the Rings."
On another note, the report even stated that the next gen consoles "will likely have a CPU which we know nothing about"and would "seem to be leaning towards x86" all while claiming this to be solid information.
All in all, we'll let the rumor mill have a swing at this one. The only speculation we are going to give at this point is the idea that Sony might very well choose to implement the OpenGL 3.0 specification in its next gen console for the new texture compression algorithms and full frame buffer object functionality, not to mention 32-bit floating-point textures. We hope some kind of general purpose GPU functionality will also be included, although we are left waiting in anticipation with the rest of the world for much more needed concrete evidence.
A Chinese man has died after his cellphone exploded, severing a major artery in his neck.
The man, thought to be a shop assistant in his twenties at a computer shop in Guangzhou, China, died after he put a new battery in his phone, the UK's Daily Mail reported on Tuesday.
It was believed that he may have just finished charging the battery and had put the phone in his breast pocket when it exploded.
According to the local Chinese daily Shin Min Daily News, the accident happened on January 30 at 19:30.
An employee at the shop told Chinese media that she heard a loud bang and saw her colleague lying on the floor of the shop in a pool of blood. The employee said the victim had recently changed the battery in his cellphone.
Chinese authorities have yet to determine the make and model of the phone and its battery.
Local reports said that this was the ninth recorded cellphone explosion in China since 2002.
In the most high profile recent incident, in June 2007, a 22-year-old welder, Xiao Jinpeng, died from chest wounds when his cellphone exploded while he was at work at an iron mill in Gansu province.
A local government inquiry found that the mobile phone battery had exploded due to the heat of the iron mill.
Lithium batteries are widely used in mobile phones - but if they are overcharged or exposed to heat, the inflammable liquid inside can explode, the Daily Mail reports.
Motorola and Nokia, two of the world's biggest mobile phone makers, denied links to the distributors of problem batteries in China, suggesting they were counterfeit.
After the latest incident, the Shin Min Daily News published advice for consumers on how to avoid mobile phone explosions. The tips included:
- Always use original batteries. Be sure that batteries by the manufacturer are meant for your mobile phone.
- Never modify your phone
- Do not expose your cellphone to high temperatures, and avoid exposing it to direct sunlight
- Avoid long phone conversations
- Do not make or answer calls when the phone is charging
- Try to keep your phone in a bag instead of in a pocket
- Do not use damaged batteries
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Samsung is reportedly planning to announce the first 12MP cameraphone at the Mobile World Conference in about two weeks, lobbing another salvo of megapixels in the moment's most pointless technology race.
Details are slim about the handset, which is telling—if the most notable and leakworthy feature of this phone is a noisy, pumped-spec camera then we probably aren't going to be treated to anything revolutionary. It'd be reasonable to expect something like the Innov8, Samsung's 8MP cameraphone (pictured above, slightly 'shopped by Unwired) but a touchscreen handset like theabout-to-drop 8MP Memoir isn't out of the question either.
Either way, the point remains that the cameraphone megapixel battle is a ridiculous one, driven by marketers instead of engineers—until there's a truly great 3.2 megapixel cameraphone, milking more pixels out of these phones' already strained sensors shouldn't be a priority.
Earlier this morning, every single one of Google's search results came with a warning that the site "may harm your computer," including their own properties like Gmail and Google Maps. They've since explained what happened:
Google works with the non-profit StopBadware.org to create a list of potentially dangerous sites, which is updated periodically. One such update happened this morning, but somebody typed in "/" by mistake. That simple keystroke expands to every single URL, which is why Google was universally borked. Google engineers fixed the problem in about half an hour, and it's back to normal now.
Please don't play with our heads again, Google. We trust you. If you tell us the entire internet might infect our computers, we'll probably believe you.
Bloomberg's interview with Adobe's Shantanu Narayen reveals that Adobe is developing Flash for the iPhone, it's been in development since June 2008, and is a customized solution just for the iPhone.
Apple has said repeatedly that regular desktop Flash is too heavy (on CPU, and thus battery life) for the iPhone, whereas Flash Lite is too lousy. Jobs has coerced Adobe to create a custom solution. From Narayan's words of "the ball is in our court. The onus is on us to deliver," the engineering effort lies more in Adobe's engineering team than in Apple's.
Adobe actually said, back in September '08, that there would be a version released "in a very short time" if Apple approved it. Obviously either Apple rejected it, or Adobe themselves decided it wasn't quite resource-friendly enough to launch.
Still with a reference cooler
Thanks to the Alternate.de, we finally have a picture of XFX's HD 4870 X2 card. This card wasn't listed at XFX's web site, even if it was listed at some local e-tail/retail shops.
The card has a same reference cooler, which isn't that strange as the non-reference cards are very rare. As far as we know, Gainward, Palit and Sapphire with its Atomic are the only partners with non-reference cooled X2 cards. The sticker on XFX's HD 4870 X2 looks good and the card is currently listed but unfortunately not yet available. According to the details over at Alternate.de, the card works at reference 750MHz for both GPUs, and has 2GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 3,600MHz.
You can find the card listed here and here is the picture of XFX's HD 4870 X2 card. We hope that XFX can ship these cards soon to as many retail/e-tail shops, as at current listed price it is just way to expensive. 
