Month: February 2008

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Lost Odyssey Comes to Xbox 360

Lost Odyssey

Microsoft in partnership with Hironobu Sakaguchi, the famed producer of Mistwalker game studio and feelplus, has brought to the Xbox 360 a new exclusive game called “Lost Odyssey”.

Touted as a next generation role-playing game (RPG), “Lost Odyssey” blends massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) elements with the game’s traditional RPG system, enabling players to make strategic decisions for a more immersive game play experience.

“Lost Odyssey” is the story of ‘Kaim’, an immortal character, who has lived more than 1,000 years and doesn’t remember his past and doesn’t know where his future lies. Players will witness Kaim’s life as he lives through many generations, becomes part of numerous families, falls in and out of love, and confronts all of the conflicts that arise.

The struggles are set in a world that is on the brink of a mystical industrial revolution, where mankind has attained dark powers.

Through Kaim’s journey, a handful of characters join him on an odyssey to discover their intricate past and their destiny — all leading players in a drama of massive proportions.

According to Microsoft, the massively scoped worlds, the memorable characters, and the epic story line of the game — all play out like an intense and unsettling blockbuster action film.

The game is powered by Unreal Engine 3 technology that brings out the smallest details in the largest battles, including facial expressions of emotionally distressed characters in the world of the “Lost Odyssey”.

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Fujitsu Unveils the LifeBook U1010

Fujitsu

Fujitsu has introduced in India a 3.5G-enabled mobile companion — the LifeBook U1010.

Touted as the world’s smallest tablet-convertible ultra mobile PC (UMPC), the LifeBook U1010 is based on the Intel Ultra Mobile Platform and powered by Intel processor A110 with 800MHz of processing power.

The U1010 exhibits versatility with its multi-functional design. Users can twist the screen to make it a Tablet PC with pen input, or use it like a notebook with a QWERTY keyboard.

Weighing just half a kilogram, the U1010 has dimensions of 171mm(w) x 133mm(d) x 26.5-32.0mm(h). It sports a 5.6-inches WSVGS display with resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels, and a passive touch panel. In addition, it has a palm resistance touch screen that allows the fingers to do the work, in the absence of a stylus.

According to the company, the new LifeBook can handle multiple operational possibilities like watching movies, listening to music, viewing and editing documents, video-conferencing, as well as surfing the Internet.

The U1010 integrates both 3.5G and HSDPA, and promises superior Broadband Internet connectivity with a bandwidth of up to 3.6Mbps. It packs 1GB DDR2 400MHz memory, and 40 GB hard disk for storage.

Additionally, the U1010 is packed with a suite of security features, including trusted platform module support and 2-level BIOS lock for documents. It is equipped with a fingerprint sensor that allows users to encrypt sensitive files with a swipe of the finger.

Other features include: integrated Intel Graphics with 3D accelerator, RealTek ALC262 HD audio codec with built-in digital microphone, integrated 0.3 mega pixels camera, Bluetooth, and digital card reader.

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Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Leaked

Sp1

As Microsoft is working on the latest update for Windows Vista, also known as Service Pack 1 or SP1, news has it that it has been leaked on to the internet. Vista SP1 is supposed to be released in Feb and it seems just the right time for Microsoft to label the latest builds as RTM or Release to Manufacturing.
Microsoft is just about to release it to the partners and may be someone from the developers was naughty to release it. Or may it was someone from the partners. Anyway, the leak is some kind of a standalone executable and has the build 6001.18000.080126-2040. Another leak has it as 080118_1840, but its a pretty early timestamp (18-01-2008) which suggests that its a fake. These builds are probably escrow and candidate for the final RTM.
If you don’t have patience to wait till release then go ahead!! But it may screw up your OS also I am not sure about this package nay way try it with your own risk

–Visat SP1–

source:winvista

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HTC TouchFLO 2 “Manila” leaks out, are you brave enough to install it?

HTC

I have zero information if these screenshots are legit or just a simple PhotoShop result but according to Swiss Windows Mobile fan-site “Mobile-Devices.ch”, bellow you see some screenshots of HTC’s upcoming/next TouchFLO GUI which is code-named “Manila”.
No further information given so it’s not clear if it is real (really from HTC), an HTC development environment or really HTC “TouchFLO 2.0”; also Mobile-Devices.ch hasn’t mentioned where they got the information from but from what you can see from the screenshots, it could be real

UPDATE: Original source seems to be “The HTC Insider” Blog. But also no word here if it is legit and where it comes from.
UPDATE 2: Okay, as I’ve heard from several anonymous sources (thanks for the E-Mails), this is indeed a new user interface, HTC might release later this year – most likely with its upcoming devices (but it might also replace the current TouchFLO as available on the HTC Touch, HTC Touch Dual and HTC Touch Cruise). Nevertheless, it’s intend for internal testing and usage only and the files, floating around the Internet aren’t intend to be installed on current production devices. If you are not a developer, better don’t install anything yet.

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Ipods will not kill you

ipod

THE US Food and Drug Administration has decided that running an Ipod is unlikely to interfere with heart pacemakers.

Apparently this had been a great fear amongst those who had pacemakers. It could be a bit of an inconvenience if you are sitting next to someone playing Coldplay on their iPod on the train and suddenly keel over.

Last year heart experts ran an Ipod during a patient’s examination and claimed they had seen interference with the pacemaker.

At issue was was whether or not an iPod produced enough of a magnetic field to tigger a pacemaker.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, FDA researcher Howard Bassen set up a complex experiment involving a bag full of salt water to simulate the human body and a coil sensor designed to pick up electromagnetic emissions.

They tested four different Ipod models and measured the voltages delivered to the inside of the pacemaker by the magnetic fields from the devices.

All their measurements indicated the Ipods could not affect cardiac pacemakers. Particularly if you are made of salt water.

One thing that is odd is that the FDA only tested Apple gear. It was almost as if it had been lobbied to give Ipods the all clear.

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Microsoft warns users against using vLite

vlita

THE GLORIOUS empire of the Vole, upon which the sun does not set, is miffed that people would want to slim down its flagship operating system, Vista.

Earlier this week we mentioned a third party application, called vLite that offered to turn Vista from an over-bloated slug into something a bit closer to British Medical Association guidelines on obesity.

Speaking to News.com, a huffy SpokesVole did not bless such changes that strip out applications from Windows Vista prior to installing it on your system.

He hinted darkly that one day you might need one of those applications and your cut down operating system will fail you in your hour of need.

Future Windows updates and service packs could be impossible to download and your system will become unstable.

Apparently, the Vole does have a project as part of its Windows 7 development process, to create a slimmed-down Windows kernel called MinWin. Pity about the name as any Goon fan knows Min was an ancient crone who seems on the verge of breaking down. In ancient Egypt the God of fertility, Min, also had huge gonads.

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Heat probs reported for Intel E8400s

Intel

A HEAP of heat problems with Intel’s E8400 microprocessor are being reported on a host of hardware forums.

Users are claiming that the sensor diodes aren’t up to scratch and that’s causing the overclockers to get overheated themselves.

That’s not something Intel is admitting. A response from an Intel techie to a user over at OC Forums claims it has nothing to report on sensor problems but that just seems to be adding fuel to an already crackling blaze.

A search on Saint Google reveals there’s plenty of heated discussion raising people’s temperatures around the world.

source:theinquirer

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Mozilla freezes Firefox 3.0 Beta 3

Mozilla

As Mozilla Corp. began the final push on Firefox 3.0 Beta 3 this week, it also announced that at least one more beta will be necessary before it starts building release candidates.

On Tuesday, Mozilla “froze” the code for Firefox 3.0 Beta 3. Testing of the beta is scheduled to start on Monday.

At the same time, in a message to the mozilla.dev.planning newsgroup, Mike Beltzner, Mozilla’s interface designer, said that a fourth beta would be required.

“[We] will be adding another milestone before moving on to Release Candidate builds,” Beltzner said. “Our goal is to do a quick turnaround on Firefox 3 Beta 4, but we cannot provide a good estimate until we know the size and scope of blockers remaining after the Beta 3 code freeze.”

As of Beta 3, all efforts will turn to addressing bugs that could stymie the preview’s release, Beltzner added. “We will be driving the list of blocking+, P1, target=beta 3 bugs to zero,” he said. As of Thursday at 9 p.m. (EST), there were three bugs that met his criteria; in Mozilla’s nomenclature, such bugs are dubbed “blockers,” meaning they are crucial enough that they require solutions before the beta is allowed to ship.

According to notes from a Tuesday meeting, Beta 3’s tentative schedule points toward a release on or about Feb. 13.

Those same notes also noted the status of efforts to make the browser’s add-ons compatible with the upcoming preview. Approximately 41% of all extensions, by usage, have been modified so that they will work with Beta 3, Mozilla reported. Several widely-used add-ons, however, do not yet support Firefox Beta 3, including IE Tab, Forecastfox, Fasterfox and Firebug.

Mozilla released Firefox 3 Beta 2 on Dec. 18, beating a self-imposed deadline by several days. The company regularly declines to set a release date for the final version of the browser.

source:computerworld