Month: March 2008

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New Centralized IM Tool Launched by Digsby

 Digsby

A centralized updating tool that aggregates instant messengers, feeds, emails and status reports across all the major networks and IM clients. Today marks the public beta launch of Digsby, so everyone can get a chance to check it out.

Considering the hype we saw for Ping.fm, a centralized updating tool, I’m guessing that a few Mashable readers out there will be equally as anxious to get their Digsby accounts (sans invite code) set up as well. For today’s launch, Digsby is also releasing a handful of new features, one of which is a bulked out real-time newsfeed service for Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.

Other new features include a combined buddy list for AIM, MSN, ICQ, Yahoo, Google Talk and Jabber, with duplicate contact merging, tabbed windows and 2-way SMS from the IM window. E-mail alerts also have more interaction options, so you can mark items as “read” or report spam directly from Digsby.

source:reuters

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India Rejected Office Open XML

 ISO

In the meeting of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) technical committee Thursday, 13 members voted against the standard, while five members, including some outsourcing companies, and the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) voted for making Open XML a standard.

Nasscom is in favor of multiple standards, including Open XML and ODF (Open Document Format), the association said in a statement. It added that technology neutrality and competition will lead to falling prices of IT products.

The technical committee was constituted by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), India’s national standards body, after moves by Microsoft and other organizations to make Open XML a standard of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

BIS is a founder member of ISO, and represents India at the ISO.

The BIS committee had voted in August against making Office Open XML a standard, although some participants said at the time that Open XML may be again reconsidered as a standard by the technical committee and BIS after Microsoft makes the required changes to the document format.

The India vote comes ahead of a March 29 deadline for ISO members to reconsider their votes if they wished.

While disappointed by the decision of the BIS committee, Microsoft said Thursday that it was however encouraged by the support of IT industry players like Nasscom, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and Infosys who voted in favor of Open XML becoming an ISO standard.

source:pcworld

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Fly launches New SX 200 Mobile

SX 200

Fly Mobile has announced the launch of the SX 200 mobile phone with the bold claim that it’s “the best value mobile phone currently available in the UK”.

The SX 200 offers a (megapixel count not specified) digital camera, an FM Radio, MP3 player functionality, Stereo Bluetooth, video recording and playback on the phone, mobile internet, speaker phone capabilities and memory card support.

These slightly vague specs are all packed into a slider design that will set you back £29.99 – available exclusively from Woolworths.

A Fly Mobile bod said: “Why should mobile phones with music players, video recording and stereo Bluetooth be expensive on pay as you go? At Fly we like to think differently and offer these features in well designed, good looking devices at fantastic value for money”.

source:pocket-lint

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Toshiba has unveiled Dynabook SS RX1 with 128GB SSD

toshiba-ssd-notebook

Toshiba has unveiled a new 12.1 inch ultra portable that offers a 128 GB SSD as part of its specifications.

The model number of this new laptop Dynabook SS RX1 and it comes with a 1.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo U7600 Processor, 2GB RAM, 2.1″ widescreen LCD with 1280 × 800 (WXGA) resolution and Windows Vista.

The Toshiba Dynabook SS RX1 will be available in the local Japanese market from April for about $3,960.

 what is SSD

 

 

source:tech2
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What is SSD or Solid State Disk/Drive?

SSD

A solid-state disk or drive (SSD), also called a flash drive, is the next generation hard disk. Though the architecture of an SSD does not employ disks at all, the name is carried over from standard hard disks. In reality an SSD utilizes a special kind of memory chip with erasable, writeable cells that can hold data even when powered off. It might help to think of an SSD as the larger cousin of the memory stick.

Like standard disks, an SSD utilizes a special area for cache memory. Cache memory serves the function of increasing processing speeds by holding data that is needed repeatedly. With the data close at hand in the cache, it does not need to be fetched from the main storage area each time it’s called.

Some SSDs use cache that is volatile, as in synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), while others use non-volatile cache. The former requires a power source to retain data, just like computer RAM. The latter type retains data even without power.

An SSD has many advantages over a traditional drive. Seek time is decreased significantly, making the SSD very fast. Being sold-state, the drive has no moving parts to malfunction, and does not generate significant heat. It is also lighter than a standard drive, more power efficient, and completely silent. Finally, the SSD is more durable. If dropped or banged it isn’t as likely to be damaged.

There are, however, disadvantages to an SSD over a standard hard drive. For one, standard drives have become so affordable that SSDs cannot compete except in niche markets. Industry insiders expect SSD prices to remain cost-prohibitive until 2009. The SSD also has a life expectancy of erase/write cycles, after which it no longer performs reliably. A hard disk can deliver a good ten years of solid operation. Finally, an SSD has a significantly slower write time than a standard drive.

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New Apple Safari 3.1, World’s Fastest Web Browser?

Apple Safary 3.1

Apple has introduced Safari 3.1, describing it as the world’s fastest web browser for Mac and Windows PCs.

The claim is that Safari loads web pages 1.9 times faster than Internet Explorer 7 and 1.7 times faster than Firefox 2. Safari also apparently runs JavaScript up to six times faster than other browsers.

Safari 3.1 is the first browser to support the new video and audio tags in HTML 5 and the first to support CSS Animations. Safari also supports CSS Web Fonts, giving designers limitless choices of fonts to create stunning new websites.

“Safari 3.1 for Mac and Windows is blazingly fast, easy to use and features an elegant user interface”, said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing.

“And best of all, Safari supports the latest audio, video and animation standards for an industry-leading Web 2.0 experience.”

source:pocket-lint

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Casio’s New 8.1 MP EX-Z9 Digicam

cASIOex-z9

Casio America, Inc. recently introduced the latest addition to its Exilim digicams, the Exilim Zoom EX-Z9. This newest member of the Exilim line features a stylish, slim and compact design to increase portability, and provides 8.1 megapixels of image resolution with 3X optical zoom.

This new model stays true to the user-friendly features that have become standard to the EXILIM Zoom series. The 2.6-inch wide LCD display enables users to easily navigate camera operations and enhance the review of images, while the 23 Best Shot Modes and face detection technology help users take high quality photos without having to adjust camera settings.

The EX-Z9 comes loaded with other useful features including Anti Shake DSP which reduces photo blur from shaky hands or moving subjects. Easy Mode simplifies the camera settings to three easy menus (image size, flash and self timer). With Easy Mode, the camera is set to take great photos in every situation without having to check presets or accidentally making a wrong adjustment.

Available at US retail in March, the EX-Z9 will be available in pink, black, silver and orange and will have an MSRP of $159.99.

source:tech2
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Google Sky “Explore The Universe” Now Available Online

Goole Sky

Google Sky is now available on the web at sky.google.com.

To help you explore the far reaches of our universe, Google have teamed up with astronomers at some of the largest observatories in the world to bring you a new view of the sky. Using Google Maps this tool provides an exciting way to browse and explore the universe. You can find the positions of the planets and constellations on the sky and even watching the birth of distant galaxies as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Sky in Google Earth, launched last August and was originally available to Google Earth users.

This release brings the universe to every browser and makes Sky accessible to anyone with an Internet connection – in 26 different languages.

 

source:google
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Launch a New Intel Mobile Quad-Core Processors

Intel

Keeping in mind the advent of desktop based quad-core processors in the mainstream, it was just a matter of time before they showed up in a mobile version too. This was confirmed by Digitimes, which goes onto say that Intel will be planning to launch its first quad-core CPU for notebooks, the Core 2 Extreme QX9300, in the third quarter this year. This new processor will be manufactured at 45nm and have a core frequency of 2.53GHz. The CPU will support FSB speeds up to 1066MHz, include 12MB L2 cache and have a maximum TDP of 45W. Despite the low heat dissipation of these processors, they will be a lot more power hungry as compared to standard dual-core processors and this will directly affect battery life.

source:tech2