Gadgets Future

Acer seems to have all of its grounds covered where the world of computers are concerned, ranging from mini notebooks to notebooks and business desktops. This time round, the Veriton S461 is a compact desktop PC that aims to deliver enough punch for office work without taking up too much space. Perfect for folks who live in cramped spaces these days. You will get the following specifications with each Acer Veriton S461.

• Intel Core 2 Duo E2200 processor
• 2GB DDR2 RAM (max. 8GB)
• 80GB SATA hard drive
• DVD burner
• Gigabit LAN
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3100

You have a choice between Windows XP or Vista Business where the operating system is concerned. Prices start from $549 upwards.

Macrumors is doing what they do best and they dug up some interesting news on Apple. We’ve all been waiting for a MacBook refresh and with Centrino 2 and a new crop of processors here the timing could be just right.

In addition to the MacBook being ready for a refresh and the new gear from Intel, Macrumors found out that Apple has big orders of display and notebook circuit boards on the way. Additionally Apple informed Best Buy they there would be decreased shipments of MacBooks over the next two weeks.

Any one of these details on their own could be nothing, but the combination of all of them right during the back-to-school season points to a refresh. Of course this could be just wishful thinking, but with recent rumors (and pictures) of a new MacBook Pro design it could be time to start saving those pennies.

Read more at Macrumors

Sony will be rolling out the playstation PlayTV service in the UK when September 10 comes about, and this news was confirmed by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe president David Reeves at E3 last week. For those who are not in the know, the PlayStation PlayTV is a digital TV recorder that works well with both the PS3 and the portable PSP, enabling you to record whatever’s showing on TV while having your fun with games. Of course, with Internet connectivity via Wi-Fi on the PSP, you will also be able to watch live TV broadcasts on the PSP.

You will need to sacrifice a USB port on your PS3 though if you want to use the PlayTV service as the PlayTV tuner takes up one USB port. Of course, that is but a simple matter of throwing in a USB hub if you’re fast running out of ports, so no biggie here. The best part about the PlayTV service would be the ability to watch, pause and record free-to-air digital TV whenever you feel like watching TV instead of gaming. It records both standard and High Definition channels as long as the latter is available, and works somewhat like a personal video recorder as you watch a channel with the option to record another simultaneously. Thanks to the built-in program guide, you will be able to view listings and schedule recordings for the following week.

Folks who prefer to rock on with the more portable PSP will also be able to carry these features along with them wherever they go as long as they remain within the radius of a wireless Internet connection. The Remote Play function also lets you watch live TV, access previously recorded programs and organize your media library. The PlayTV tuner will retail for approximately £79.99 when it is available this September.

Source: BIOS

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Not too long ago the Croissant Wrist Rest made its way around the net, coming with a fresh bread scent.  However, this latest wrist rest is definitely way cooler.  First of all, this squishy little frog can be hooked up to your USB port and to activate the pretty lights.  Nothing is cooler than a squishy glowing frog, it’s just the rules.  Although, it does look a little morbid, since it looks more like a frog that was recently run over by a truck.  Well maybe not a truck, probably just some evil little kid with a wagon or something equally small and fatal.

The wrist rest when hooked up to your computer through the USB also has a few interactive games.  One of which the objective is to catch flies, and you do so by hitting the frog.  When you catch one the lights on the frog begin to twinkle.  The poor frog has to endure all kinds of abuse just for a bit of attention.  Unfortunately as of now there is no pricing information, but you can read up on the frog a little more here.

Source: geekalerts

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When it comes to performance desktop hard drives Western Digital’s Raptor has been the king-of-the-hill for some time now. Its 10000RPM rotational speed gives it a boost over others 3.5-inch SATA disks, which typically top out at 7200RPM when designed for the desktop. In fact the Raptor series remains the only set of standard SATA hard drives to hit 10K. Over the past year or so we have seen some high-capacity drives approaching the performance of the last iteration of the Raptor, the 150GB model, but luckily for performance seekers WD recently released the 300GB VelociRaptor, the newest edition to the family.

The VelociRaptor is the fourth Raptor to be released and it takes the most dramatic departure from the rest of the series. The capacity is still small relative to today’s new desktop drives, which are surpassing the 1TB mark, but this Raptor no longer looks like your average desktop disk. The VelociRaptor is actually a 2.5-inch disk placed in a special housing, known as the IcePack, which makes it the same size as a 3.5-inch desktop unit. It’s a big change from what we have seen in the past, but WD needed to do something dramatic if they wanted the Raptor to stay relevant in a time when SSDs are on their way to becoming dominant. By doubling the capacity of the VelociRaptor, WD manages to provide users with a reasonable amount of room and stays well out of the range of SSDs, which are generally being seen in 64GB (if you want to stay under the $1000 mark) but are hitting 128GB.

Other highlights of the drive include 1.4 million hours MTBF, 3 Gb/s SATA connection, 120MB/s transfer rate (buffer to disk), Rotary Acceleration Feed Forward, SecurePark, and a 5-year warranty. Back in the day many people questioned the Raptor’s status as an enterprise disk and believed them to be prone to failing, but all the problems (if they ever existed) have been worked out and both the 74GB and 150GB models were quite successful. Of course the 150GB Raptor X’s clear window on top was dropped in the VelociRaptor as there is barely room for it on a 2.5-inch disk, but you do get the IcePack. It is worth noting that the while there is a 2.5-inch disk in there, removing the IcePack will void your warranty as the heatsink is necessary to keep the drive cool enough to run optimally. If you take a close look at the VelociRaptor you will see that by using a smaller disk the connections are not placed normally so the VelociRaptor will not work with a drive enclosure or NAS.

The drive my not have a clear top cover like its predecessor it looks pretty cool just the same. The IcePack is a hefty metal block with built-in fins to increase surface area. If you have a case window it might be cool to check it out from time to time but it’s not that much to look at. The VelociRaptor may be a high performance disk, but it installs just like anything else. You just need to pop it in your system, in any 3.5-inch bay, and get it hooked up to a SATA slot and a SATA power connector.

Once the 300GB disk was formatted it was ready for some testing. We performed a suite of benchmarks and then real-world testing (gaming, desktop, workstation use, etc.). In stand-alone testing the WD does really well–just by looking at the numbers you can see that it blows the doors off your standard desktop drive, in our case a 7200RPM 250GB model also from Western Digital. Large improvements were seen in read, write, and burst speeds as well as access times (6.9ms) with CPU usage only going up about 2%. In fact, in general testing this this consistently the fastest hard drive we’ve tested.

So, as expected, the VelociRaptor sees some nice gains over standard desktop drives, especially of the budget variety. It also improves over the Raptor X, despite the move from a 3.5-inch to 2.5-inch form-factor. The game changes a bit when you introduce a higher performance, higher capacity 3.5-inch disk. Here the Raptor generally wins out, but it loses some points, especially if you are keeping the capacity and price-per-gigabyte figures in mind. One such drive is the Samsung SpinPoint F1 which ZDnet’s Hardware 2.0 blog did a nice comparison of next to the VelociRaptor. This reinforces something we have known all along about performance hard drives–they can be a good way to decrease the effect of a performance bottleneck, but they are the proverbial icing on the cake of a great computer, not something that will make a huge change, like a new processor.

For kicks we tested the VelociRaptor against SuperTalent’s 60GB MasterDrive MX SSD, just too see how the 10K drive did against an MLC SSD. Both drives demolished the baseline WD 2500KS in performance, but the SuperTalent generally lead the way, especially in read testing. In PCMark Vantage hard drive testing the VelociRaptor was rated 5935, the SSD 7577, and the baseline was 3271. The SuperTalent typically was on top, but a counterexample was HD Tune where the average read speed (MB/s) for the SSD was 92.3, the VelociRaptor was 107.7, and the 2500KS earned a 53.1. The VelociRaptor tended to beat out the SSD in write testing but usually had a higher CPU utilization. It’s not an apples-to-apples test but it was interesting to see the WD hang in there against the newer technology.

Rather than getting too caught up in the numbers, what you should take from this is that the WD VelociRaptor would be an asset to any performance desktop. One of these, or better yet two in RAID0, will have a positive impact on the performance of any desktop or workstation but it has its downsides. The capacity is twice that of the previous Raptor, but at $300 the price-per-gigabyte is still quite high. Also the performance benefit over higher-end 7200RPM disks, some of which have three times the capacity of the VelociRaptor, is limited.

What it comes down to is if you need all-out performance the VelociRaptor is still the way to go, but the marginal increase over the next in line is not what is once was. Once you factor in that in real-world testing the VelociRaptor tends not to “feel” as fast as the benchmarks would imply. This may make the VelociRaptor seem like a tough sell, but the fact remains that this WD is still has fast as you can consistently get with standard hard drive.

Credit: Donald J. Lindler, Sigma Space Corporation/GSFC; EPOCh/DIXI Science Teams

NASA has released images and a vides of a planet which looks very alien to the observer. In reality, it’s our own Earth as seen by the Deep Impact spacecraft from 31 million miles away.

Deep Impact’s primary mission was to travel to comet Tempel 1 to release an impactor directly into its path. When the impactor collided with the comet on July 4th, 2005 the Deep Impact spacecraft examined the material ejected to determine what the comet was made of.

Now the Deep Impact mission has been extended to include two new mission components including the search for alien (extrasolar) planets and a fly-by of another comet called Hartley 2. On its way to Hartley 2, Deep Impact snapped a 15-minute cadence of shots which was then made into a color video. The images as well as the video can be seen on the NASA website.

These videos definitely make you look at Earth in a whole new light. It’s incredible to see the moon pass in front of the camera. You really believe that this is an alien world somewhere far off in the universe. I suppose from the perspective of the Deep Impact spacecraft it is.

Read more and watch the videos at the NASA press release

At the risk of coming across as an Apple Fan Boy, I’ve now had two great experiences with Apple support in the past month. The first one I detailed in a previous article where my MacBook suddenly stopped working and a call to tech support and a follow-up visit to the Apple Store fixed my issue. The second one I experienced on Thursday evening.

I bought an iPhone 3G and then bought some music from iTunes using it. I had previously done the same with an older iPhone, so was already used to the experience. I then synced my iphone 3G to my computer, and as expected, the tunes I had purchased showed up in iTunes next to other previously purchased tunes. When I went to play the older ones, however, I was prompted to type in a password for authorization. I figured since the tunes were purchased using the new iPhone that there must be some authorization that needs to take place on my MacBook. Either that or it could be that I have a new logic board in my MacBook, and perhaps the DRM references that somehow? Regardless, I went through the process and typed in my password. It then told me that the song was authorized but for some reason iTunes continued to prompt me again and again for authorization every time I clicked play on the tune. I should also mention that the song would not play each time I received the “this computer is now authorized”.

Not knowing how to proceed next, I deauthorized my computer, and then when that didn’t work, rebooted. Feeling frustrated I searched the Apple site for a support e-mail address. I then stumbled on a link for live tech support for iTunes.

I signed on and was greeted by Erin. I have included the transcript from the chat below, but the summary of the story is that I explained my issue, then received a “Please click here for troubleshooting steps!” (the actual link has been hyperlinked for your pleasure)

Feeling like I had just been blown off I clicked on the link anyway, and to my surprise it actually brought me to a page related to my issue! So far that was two positives for Apple. The first positive being that the person responded via chat in under a minute.

I read through the support page quickly, figuring that I’d try it later but that chances are it wouldn’t work. I thanked her and was about to click close when she came back with a “Joel, I think I may have some information for you”.

The part that’s interesting here is that in any other tech support situation, when the person in need of support (me, in this example) says “bye”, the tech support rep usually sends through a bunch of pre-programmed “thanks for being a loyal customer … yada yada yada”. In this case, Erin was actually continuing to research my issue, without being asked to. Good thing she did because she immediately found the issue. It turns out that I had bought the music with a different account, and I apparently have three different accounts!

So, I went back into iTunes, as per her instructions, and authorized the computer using the account’s username and password–problem solved. I then converted all of my purchased tunes to MP3s so that I wouldn’t have this problem again.

So, am I an Apple Fan Boy? To be fair, I’ve had both positive and negative experiences with other manufacturers, too. Don’t get me started on the trouble I’ve had with Dell over the years, and I’ve even had very positive experiences with companies where others have had the exact opposite.

So, why does Apple continue to impress me? I believe it’s the fact that the Apple workers seem to really try to understand the issue. In the case of the laptop, The Genius tried everything he could think of before finally giving in and saying that it was the logic board. I also witnessed him doing something similar to another customer who had come in with an out-of-warranty MacBook, so I know it wasn’t just because mine was under warranty. Perhaps it was the Genius himself? Maybe it’s the way Apple trains its employees?

Regardless, I have a couple of homegrown machines, a Toshiba laptop, a Dell laptop, a mac mini and a MacBook, and in the future I think that a MacBook or Apple-infused laptop will continue to be the only way I go. On the desktop side, I still have no desire nor need for a Mac, so homegrown machines will always be my preferred option. I’m just hoping that I don’t need any tech support for any non-Apple products in the future.

Actual transcript below:

Duration (actual chatting time) 00:10:53
Operator Erin
info: Hi, my name is Erin. How can I be of assistance?
joel evans: i purchased music on my older iphone. i synced it to my macbook
joel evans: when i try to play it it wants me to put in my password. i do and it still doesn’t play
joel evans: it won’t sync to my iphone 3g either
joel evans: it wants me to authorize the computer, and i do, and it says that it’s authorized to play the song but when i hit “play” it asks me for my password again and the same thing happens again.
Erin: Please click here for troubleshooting steps!
joel evans: can you paste the link again? it doesn’t work for me
joel evans: maybe the actual html link?
Erin: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1389?viewlocale=en_US
joel evans: ok. i’ll try later and chat again if i didn’t solve the issue.
joel evans: thanks.
joel evans: good to know it’s not just me.
Erin: You’re welcome
Erin: Joel, I think I may have some information for you
Erin: You have three accounts
Erin: So it’s most likely that you just haven’t authorized for all of them
joel evans: i have three?
joel evans: how can i see all of them?
joel evans: i think i only want two now
joel evans: sounds like i might have purchased using an older account
Erin: [Erin then gives me the three accounts — I omitted them for obvious reasons]
joel evans: ok. so, i probably purchased using [omitted] then.
Erin: The account name used to purchase is forever tied to a song
Erin: So you will always have to authorize for that account
Erin: That is how we keep things legal
Erin: So accounts cannot be merged
Erin: To authorize your computer, go to the “Store” menu along the top of iTunes and then select “Authorize Computer.”
Erin: You’ll enter your old account name and password and click “Authorize.”
joel evans: ok. i’ll try that.
joel evans: got it. that worked.
joel evans: ok, i’ll figure this mess out. too many accounts.
joel evans: thanks so much for your help!
Erin: You’re very welcome
Erin: Thank you for choosing the iTunes Store!

iPhone/iPod touch fans take note - there is a new dimension to the Remote application that seemed to have been overlooked by many. Apple themselves have done virtually nothing to promote such a feature either, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t useful or interesting to look at. The iphone or ipod touch will be able to be used as a keyboard in lieu of the hard-to-use on-screen non-QWERTY keyboard as your Apple TV keyboard. Best of all is, the typing is reflected on the TV screen itself so that you know exactly where you’ve gone wrong with a wayward finger or thumb.

Source: Crunchgear

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Creative’s ZEN line of MP3 players has been a sleeper success for a while now.

The series is also one of the most diverse and just two weeks ago they introduced the ZEN X-Fi, an mp3 player with Wi-Fi that can be used for instant messaging through Yahoo! and MSN. The other players in the line run from small MP3 players with built-in speakers starting at US$40 to the widescreen Tivo-loving Vision W. Now, a listing has shown up on their Hong Kong site for another new player.

This model, labeled the ZEN Krystal, takes another unique turn. Much like the Nike+iPod system, the ZEN Krystal has a built-in pedometer, calorie counter, and stopwatch. For about US$90, you also get a 4GB player with an OLED display, FM Radio, voice recorder, and even 3 games. Those games are Hurdle Race, Catch & Dodge and Dice Roll, so don’t get your hopes up that they’ll be the most fun you’ve ever had.

Also, the site touts the player’s ability to drag-and-drop files to and from your PC, but Creative’s been doing that for a while now. Right now, the ZEN Krystal only works on Windows (which may do even more to separate it from the ipod market).

Hopefully, it’ll be released in America because it’d be nice if there was an option in the MP3 player for runners market.

Read more at Creative, found via Crunchear

The CherryPal is what happens when you combine a highly customized, incredibly efficient platform with cloud computing. It is a tiny (1.3×5.8×4.2-inch) computer that runs on a FreeScale processor. It is designed to provide casual PC users with an easy, reliable, and affordable solution that avoids the problems of the typical desktop/notebook while taking advantage of CherryPal’s cloud infrastructure.

For $249 you get a small box outfitted with a Freescale’s MPC5121e mobileGT processor (400 MHz) , 256MB DDR2 RAM, b/g WiFi, two USB ports, ethernet, and VGA-out. It may seem quite anemic–and it’s true that the CherryPal does not have a lot of power–but the thing is that it does not need much power. This is possible for two main reasons…

The first is the cloud. The CherryPal relies on the cloud-computing for most of its activities, including storage (up to 50GB),  updates, new applications, and so on. Unlike other computers using this approach (like the Zonbu) CherryPal offers the cloud without a subscription fee. The same goes for its 24/7 helpline.

The other element of the CherryPal that enables it to work on just 2W is its dedicated software. The OS is based on Debian Linux, but most people would never know this because the OS is hidden from the user. Instead almost everything is done through the browser, a customized version of Firefox, which means the system is easy to use and there is not much that can go wrong (even if the user starts poking around).

Some software is kept locally, like Open Office, but much of it is loaded from the cloud each time the user wants to run it. At this loading point an advertisement will eventually be presented for a few seconds, but that is not expected until Q408.

We haven’t gotten our hands on the CherryPal yet, but it’s looking quite cool so far. A few people are excited about it and it could be the ideal desktop for a casual home user or college student. There are, of course, privacy concerns that the company is taking very seriously (like by hardware-encrypted communications) and considerable limitations to what the system can do, but it’s an exciting approach to cloud-intregation and making computing easier, and more efficient, for all sorts of consumers.

More information is available at CherryPal.com