i-Phone, Sells at $99 ( Technology )

Apple Launches New iPhone, Sells Old 3G for $99

The waiting is all over, kind of. Apple has announced the newest iPhone, the 16 GB iPhone 3GS which will launch on June 19 at the old price point of $199.

Better than that, the old 8 GB iPhone 3G will sell at a new price of $99, starting today. Among the rumors that turned out to be complete fabrications are the forward facing camera, a soft rubber backing for a better grip on the phone, different colors ala the iPod Nano and FM radio.

However, confirmed was the aforementioned bump in capacity for the top model (from 16 GB to 32 GB), turn by turn navigation, a 3 MP camera with autofocus, tap to focus, video (30fps), MMS (though AT&T won’t be ready for it until sometime in the summer), improved battery life (9 hours of Wi-Fi browsing and up to 24 hours of music playback), and what we didn’t know about iPhone 3.0 before: the ability to rent or buy movies, TV shows or audio books through iTunes, directly from your phone. Extremely handy for when you’re about to go on a long flight. Looks-wise, it's pretty much exactly the same phone.

So how about it? Anyone tempted to buy the new iPhone? In all honesty, iPhone 3.0 is going to bring a lot of new features (like cut, copy, paste, MMS, etc.) so we’d be happy with either. More importantly, if there any new Pre owners now regretting their purchase? Let us know!

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Kingston Launches 128GB USB Stick ( Technology )

Prices are $120 for the 32 GB; $213 for the 64 GB; $546 for the 128 GB.

I have USB stick envy.

Remember how impressed we all were once upon a time when we saw a USB thumb drive? It was clearly the most convenient and portable of all storage devices thus far, even if it only held data in the “megabytes” range.

That was then, and this is now; and today Kingston makes all of our USB sticks look puny with its introduction the DataTraveler 200, the world's first 128 GB USB Flash drive.

"The new DT200's robust storage capability lets consumers store complete libraries of music, photos and videos. It is also a great tool for business users who carry around large databases or files," said Andrew Ewing, USB business manager, Kingston. "The password protection helps safeguard data and requires no admin rights, making the DT200 a terrific solution for the home or office."

Kingston didn’t reveal the speed of the drive, but did say that it’s fast enough to be compatible with Windows ReadyBoost.

With a drive that big, it’d be a viable solution for a user to load onto it an entire OS, programs and even media files. The DT200 is also available in 32 and 64 GB models. The 128 GB model will be a special order item, so don’t expect to see them on store shelves.

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Windows 7 to go RTM by Late July ( Technology )

Windows 7 to go RTM by Late July.


That's the real 'final' date.

• Now that the retail date for Windows 7 is officially set for October 22, Microsoft is going to be slowly planning out all the things that have to happen between now and then.

• The retail boxed copy of Windows 7 only represents a small portion of the new OS’ rollout for Microsoft. It’s the licenses sold with new PCs that makes Windows the top selling product for the company.

• With October 22 being the launch date, OEMs will have to have their systems configured, tested and fully prepared – which requires greater lead time than just packaging a disc. For this reason, the really big date for Windows 7 is when hits RTM, released to manufacturing in its final state for OEMs to build systems around.

• Microsoft doesn’t have an RTM date to share yet, but Brandon Leblanc, Windows Communications Manager, wrote in a blog, “Obviously, Release To Manufacturing (RTM) is an important milestone on the path to GA. We anticipate that we’ll be able to make the RTM code for Windows 7 available to our partners sometime in the 2nd half of July. We also expect to be able to make RTM code for Windows Server 2008 R2 available to our partners in this time frame as well.”

• While Windows 7 will be ready for the holiday shoppers, students getting new machines for back-to-school will still be faced with Windows Vista. The remedy that, Microsoft will offer an upgrade program for those who purchase new PCs with Vista to move to Windows 7. LeBlanc said that details regarding the upgrade option program will soon be revealed.

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PSP Go is 43% Lighter ( Technology )

Sony's much-rumored PSP Go finally made an appearance in the latest edition of Sony's Qore series, sporting a sliding top and a lighter design.

Sony's much-rumored PSP Go finally made its grand appearance over the weekend, highlighting the latest edition of Sony's Qore video series, and looking rather slick and compact with a sliding top and an obviously lighter design. The video, along with a group of product shots acquired by Eurogamer, verifies most of the speculation tossed around in the gaming industry within the last few months. The video also confirms that Sony ultimately decided to ditch the flailing UMD format altogether in favor of electronic media distribution.

The new hardware isn't expected to replace the current PSP-3000 model, but rather share the same shelf space with its bulky cousin. The new version is not only slimmer, but supposedly weighs 43-percent lighter than the current model. The screen itself measures 3.8-inches, covering the standard PSP controls--the D-Pad, thumb stick, classic buttons--under the sliding top. The unit also features 16 GB of internal memory, and offers an additional memory card slot for storing games, music, and whatever else gamers can purchase from the PlayStation Network Store. Bluetooth support is also included with the PSP Go, however it's unknown if the console's screen provides the rumored touch technology.

According to the video, the PSP Go will hit the market this fall, however for the moment, the final price tag is unknown; expect this revelation sometime this week. As for games, Gran Turismo PSP and Jak and Daxter are in the works along with a new Metal Gear Solid title. The only drawback to this new model is that gamers who want to "upgrade" to the new model won't be able to play existing UMD disks on the new device; they will need to keep the original hardware much like DSi gamers still need a Game Boy Advance to play pre-DS games. It's probably safe to bet that all PSP games will eventually revert to a digital format to purchase and download at a later date.

Look for an official announcement from Sony this week at E3. In the meantime, you can check out the PSP Go over on YouTube, although Sony keeps shooting these links down.

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Waterproof, Solar Powered Cell Phone ( Technology )

Japan's Waterproof, Solar Powered Cell Phone

This phone begs to be taken to the beach

• One of the most distressing things (at least for those of us who need to be connected at all times) is having a cell phone battery die without a charger or power source nearby.

• Japanese mobile carrier KDDI and Sharp plan to roll out a cell phone this summer that will be able to charge the battery using solar energy.

• According to the press release, 10 minutes in the light will grant the user one minute of talk time or two hours of standby. Using just solar energy, the phone can be charged up to 80 percent of full battery capacity.

• The phone, set to release this summer, is also waterproof. Sounds like something the passengers of Oceanic 815 could really appreciate… if there were cell phone towers on mysterious disappearing islands, that is.

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Intel's New Atoms: 2 GHz Z550, 1.2 GHz Z515 ( Technology )

Intel's New Atoms: 2 GHz Z550, 1.2 GHz Z515

As expected, Intel’s finally pulled the covers off of two new Atom chips.

• Joining the Intel Atom’s first birthday party are two new family members: the Z550 at 2 GHz and the Z515 at 1.2 GHz.

• The Z550 is the fastest Atom yet, thanks to its clock speed. Feature-wise, it’s the same as the rest of Atom family with Hyperthreading being the main trick along with the thrifty under-3-watt power envelope.

• The Z515, while slower at a top speed of 1.2 GHz, is a little more clever with the new Intel Burst Performance Technology which will run the chip at slower speeds (with lessened power demands) until the demand is there for full throttle.

• Intel didn’t immediately reveal pricing for either chip, but expect the Z550 to be in the more expensive netbooks and nettops, while the Z515 will likely only be found in smaller mobile internet devices.
  

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World's Largest Plasma Display (Technology)

Panasonic Launch 150-inch World's Largest Plasma Display.

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