Its Electronica

Sony will be working together with Sharp when it comes to the manufacturing of flat panel LCD TVs, with Sony throwing in $926 million in a plant Sharp is building. This plant is expected to be operational by March 2010, as Sony doesn’t want to rely on just Samsung for its lcd panels. This partnership will probably yield more stability in Sony’s Bravia LCD TV line, although Sharp will still hold the majority of the shares with a 66% stake.

A lawsuit filed by two consumers last year over PC’s marked “Windows Vista Capable” has been granted class-action status by a Seattle District Court judge. The lawsuit, which was filed in March of 2007, could now potentially include all owners of Windows XP computers marked as a “Vista Capable” PC.

The lawsuit filed by Dianne Kelley and Kenneth Hansen claimed that Microsoft used deceptive sales practices when they purchased their PCs that were marked “Windows Vista Capable”–before Vista became available for retail. The complaint goes on to say that the PCs purchased were only capable of running the Home Basic version of the operating system, which lacked many of Vista’s features such as the Aero Interface and Media features.

Microsoft has defended its position by saying that during its “Windows Vista Capable” campaign the company clearly stated the differences between versions of Vista and the hardware requirements needed to run each edition.

We will keep an eye on this case for you and let you know further details as they develop.

Read more at InformationWeek.

MacBook Pro users will soon be pinching, swiping and rotating away along with their Air counterparts thanks to today’s refresh. But strangely, while Apple added its multitouch goodness to the high-end laptop, it neglected to alter the size of the trackpad.

Recall that the macbook air — Apple’s first notebook to incorporate some of the same multitouch gestures found on the iphone and ipod Touch — features a trackpad of substantial girth, the theory being that a larger pad facilitates these new multitouch gestures.

Some analysts expected that when Apple was ready to incorporate the same technology in its other notebooks (which does require a new trackpad and controller) the fatty variety would be incorporated too. Apparently not.

The reason for the omission, according to Yankee Group analyst Carl Howe, is entirely practical and related mainly to issues of design and consistency.

"The Pro has a lot more components than the Air," Howe says. "All those parts need electronics that connect to them. If you take the trackpad out of the Pro, you’ll notice that to the left and right of it there’s very little real estate."

So there you go. Adding a new, wider trackpad would likely require a complete redesign of the motherboard and some serious re-jiggering of the Pro’s innards — basically a MacBook Pro redesign. In the end, while Apple probably felt that multitouch was an important addition, it was one that warranted a complete design overhaul…yet. 

"This is not the revolutionary MacBok Pro, this is the evultionary one," Howe says.

If you’re one who loves living the wireless life, then the Sony DRC-BT100 Bluetooth Speaker is right up your alley. This tabletop addition is sure to be a talking point for visitors to your home, streaming audio from your PC, mp3 player, PMP or cell phone via Bluetooth. Features include high-powered amplifiers with a total of 30 watts of power and MegaBass technology for those head-banging sessions. It works perfectly fine as long as the audio source remains within a 30 foot radius of the speaker. The synchronization process is but a snap, where the speaker will look for compatible Bluetooth devices, request you to select the music source (if more than one that is) you want to pair it with, and you’re good to go. The Sony SRS-BT100 will be released this March for approximately $160, and each purchase comes with a remote control for easy navigation.

The latest multimedia speakers from Sony, the SRS-ZX1 measures approximately 5″ deep and 6″ tall. They aim to make you feel as though you are in a recording studio or at a live concert, which translates to the most lifelike sound possible thanks to its unique mobius-band shape of the duct in the solid aluminum speakers that reduces wind noise to deliver deceptively large, crisp sound from speakers so small. The duct design is merged with a digital signal processor to function as Sony’s “turbo shift” technology, moving bass sounds in the inaudible frequency range to the audible range for an enriched bass experience. The SRS-ZX1 multimedia speakers will roll out this April for around $400 each.

Typically, Geek.com does not cover many DVD reviews, but “Turok: Son of Stone” is an exception. The animated movie is based off the videogame character Turok, and we’ve covered him extensively. We spoke to the game’s studio head, Josh Holmes, followed how Turok was developing behind the scenes, and were totally psyched for the game’s release. Unfortunately, we were unhappy with how the videogame Turok turned out. Unfazed, Geek.com took on “Turok: Son of Stone.”

“Turok: Son of Stone” is animated much more like “G.I. Joe” than the CGI work of the movies out of Pixar studios, which sometimes resemble videogames and vice versa. To say this movie is for mature audience is somewhat understated. The blood flows like water in many scenes, and there’s more than one instance when I thought of “300.” This is not the kind of movie you want anywhere near children.

But that’s the weirdest part about “Turok.” The themes and the plot of the movie seem so basic that children could follow. So, the inclusion of ludicrous amounts of violence is an odd contrast.

The plot centers on Turok and another American Indian, who walk through a cave that’s a portal into the past; think “Chronicles of Narnia.” There are crudely drawn cave men who look like the monsters from “Where the Wild Things Are.” And there’s another American Indian bad guy who comes after Turok, guns blazing. Unfortunately, he’s got just arrows and a tomahawk.

Even though there’s virtually no connection with dinosaurs, I still found myself engrossed in the movie. The characters are simple caricatures, and yet you can still identify with them.

All told, “Turok: Son of Stone” was much better than it looked from the box. After the first five minutes I was just about to write this off as another great idea in the “Turok” franchise gone horribly awry, but then luckily I stayed. Although there are no Oscar-worthy performances, “Turok: Son of Stone” has a lot of heart. It’s definitely worth at least a rental, especially if you can NetFlix it. It’s only about 70 minutes, though, and there’s not necessarily much point in re-watching it.

Today, the Apple store was down worldwide - and this means some of your favorite Apple products have received an upgrade!

The MacBook Pro received a ton of new features today: the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors, larger hard drives and 2GB of memory standard (upgradeable to 4GB!), the latest NVIDIA graphics processors (with up to 512MB of video memory) and the Multi-Touch trackpad (first introduced in the macbook air) in addition to all the standard features all MacBook models have.

From the Apple press release:

Build-to-order options for the MacBook include the ability to upgrade to up to 4GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, a 160GB or 250GB hard drive, Apple USB Modem, Apple Mini-DVI to DVI adapter, Apple Mini-DVI to VGA adapter, Apple Remote, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter and the AppleCare® Protection Plan.

The 2.4 GHz, 15-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $1,999 (US), includes:

* 15.4-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1440 x 900 LCD display;
* 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 3MB shared L2 cache;
* 800 MHz front-side bus;
* 2GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB;
* 200GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
* a slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
* NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 256MB GDDR3 memory;
* DVI-out port for external display (VGA-out adapter included, Composite/S-Video adapter sold separately);
* built-in Dual Link support for driving Apple 30-inch Cinema HD Display;
* built-in iSight video camera;
* Gigabit Ethernet port;
* built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
* ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot;
* two USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port and one FireWire 400 port;
* one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;
* Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard; and
* 85 Watt Apple MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 2.5 GHz, 15-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $2,499 (US), includes:

* 15.4-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1440 x 900 LCD display;
* 2.5 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 6MB shared L2 cache;
* 800 MHz front-side bus;
* 2GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB;
* 250GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
* a slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
* NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 512MB GDDR3 memory;
* DVI-out port for external display (VGA-out adapter included, Composite/S-Video out adapter sold separately);
* built-in Dual Link support for driving Apple 30-inch Cinema HD Display;
* built-in iSight video camera;
* Gigabit Ethernet port;
* built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
* ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot;
* two USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port and one FireWire 400 port;
* one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;
* Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard; and
* 85 Watt Apple MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 2.5 GHz, 17-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $2,799 (US), includes:

* 17-inch widescreen 1680 x 1050 LCD display;
* 2.5 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 6MB shared L2 cache;
* 800 MHz front-side bus;
* 2GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB;
* 250GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
* a slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
* NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 512MB GDDR3 memory;
* DVI-out port for external display (VGA-out adapter included, Composite/S-Video out adapter sold separately);
* built-in Dual Link support for driving Apple 30-inch Cinema HD Display;
* built-in iSight video camera;
* Gigabit Ethernet port;
* built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
* ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot;
* three USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port and one FireWire 400 port;
* one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;
* Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard; and
* 85 Watt Apple MagSafe Power Adapter.

Build-to-order options for the MacBook Pro include the ability to upgrade to up to 4GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, a 2.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 200GB (7200 rpm), 250GB (5400 rpm) or a 300GB (4200 rpm) hard drive, Apple Remote, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter, Apple USB Modem, glossy widescreen display, 17-inch LED-backlit 1920 x 1200 high-resolution display and the AppleCare Protection Plan.

Available right now at the Apple Store.

[Apple.com]

In keeping with what seems like a Tuesday tradition for 2008, Apple has once again given us all something new. The store went down, the speculation began and with the return came some updated MacBook and MacBook Pro’s, both of which will be available immediately.

Starting with the MacBook line, they were given a speed boost along with more storage. The MacBook line still consists of the three “base” models and now offer the white model with either a 2.1 or 2.4 GHz processor with a 120GB and 160GB hard drive as the standard. The black model will offer the 2.4 GHz processor along with a standard 250GB hard drive. The MacBook also ships with 1GB of RAM on the low end and 2GB standard on the higher spec’d white model and black model, all three can handle up to 4GB total RAM. Pricing on the MacBook’s remain the same as before, which was $1,099, $1,299 and $1,499.

Moving on to the MacBook Pro lineup, which now features the multi-touch trackpad as found in the Air. In addition to the new trackpad, the Pro’s now also have the latest NVIDIA graphics card with 512MB (except for the lower-end 15-inch model, that will remain at 256MB) of on-board video memory. The processors in the MacBook Pro’s are at 2.4 GHz on the low end with a 2.5 GHz processor in the 17-inch and a 2.6 GHz processor in the higher end 15-inch model. They have also seen an increase in hard drive size, with the storage beginning at 200GB for the lower end 15-inch model and 250GB for the higher end 15-inch and 17-inch models. They can also be upgraded to a 4200rpm 300GB drive. Wrapping up the MacBook Pro changes was the addition on an LED backlit display as an option in the 17-inch model.

As always continue to follow our sister-site Appletell to get all the latest and greatest Apple news, now lets just hope we see the iphone and ipod Touch SDK soon.

Read [Apple]

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Never be hampered with your mouse and mousepad again.

Spending long hours in front of the computer navigating the pointer with a mouse puts stress not only on your fingers but also on your arm — believe me, I know. Not to mention, lugging a mouse and mouse pad around (if you don’t like using the trackpad) could be a tad annoying. The USB Wireless Finger Mouse offers a simple, easy-to-use design. Simply slip the mouse over your finger, control the buttons with your thumb and work the mouse using any surface; even your trousers. The USB Wireless Finger Mouse is available for around 20.

Tuesday brings the almost watch-settable downing of the Apple Store promising something new.  Will it be a Mac Book Pro as so many are suggesting?  Will it be the SDK (doubt it)? Will it be a new color theme for the website?  So many theories, so much drama.

One this is certain, Apple moves to their own drummer, so anything is possible.  Check out Appletell for the latest updates.

Site [Apple]

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