IT-Code-News: IT News HeadLines (Overclockers Club) 15/10/2009

Sapphire HD 5770 and 5750 Review

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Kellogg's To Shoot Corn Flakes With Frickin Lasers

Is it April Fool's Day already? According to Daily Mail, Corn Flake king Kellogg is so concerned about knock off corn flakes that they are contemplating the use of lasers to etch the company name into their flakes. A number of trial batches will be produced first, and if successful this food branding could make it to other Kellogg products such as Special K and Frosted Flakes. I'm looking forward to seeing the etching on Rice Krispies.

Barnes & Noble's eReader Is A Kindle-iPhone Love Child

While the eReader market continues to grow, I have to admit I still don't see the appeal in the gadgets. For what they cost, the functions are highly limited especially when you consider other devices that can offer the same functionality and more at the same price. But that's all a discussion for the forums.

Next Tuesday Barnes & Noble is set to hold a major event, where the company is set to debut their own eReader. According to Gizmodo the B&N eReader will feature a black and white e-ink display, similar to that of the Amazon Kindle. Underneath the reader will be a color multi-touch display used for navigation, store purchases, and other controls. It shouldn't be any surprise that B&N's eReader will tie into B&N's store for ebooks, however the nice touch is that for books that B&N publishes, they will be available cheaper on the eReader than if you purchased the paper copy. According to Giz, the B&N device will also have some sort of tie in with Google Books.

More information should be available next week, until then check out Giz for some shots of the product. Expect the price to be comparable to the Kindle DX.

Radio On The iPhone? There Might Be An App For That

A new rumor sent to 9to5Mac suggest that Apple is working to develop a radio app for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The app would offer similar functionality to the radio app included in the 5th generation iPod Nano, and will run in the background similar to or as part of the iPod app. Apple is looking for a way to tie in the radio app with the Mobile iTunes Store, so users can easily see more details about the song/band and even purchase the music.

Personally, I'd like to see Apple either license the technology from Shazam or purchase the company and incorporate the technology. Shazam is currently one of my most used iPhone apps. For those of you that don't know or haven't used Shazam, the app allows you to sample a song that is playing and then get details including title, artist, and album. Shazam can then send you to YouTube for a music video or the iTunes store for purchase. I've had over a 95% success ratio with the app using it to tag music playing at home, in my car, and even some of that odd, easy listening, Indy stuff they play at Starbucks.

The radio-digital media tie-in isn't anything new. Years ago XM Radio partnered up with Napster (the legit version, and subsidiary of BestBuy) to allow you to flag music you liked, and then download it later. Of course, that required a subscription to XM Satellite Radio as well as Napster. The Apple app of course wouldn't be charging for the FM radio access, and iTunes would only charge for purchases.

How would the Apple iPhone app allow FM reception? Easy the iPhone 3GS and the latest iPod Touch include a Broadcom BCM4329 wireless chip which supports a number of nice features, including FM reception. Currently the FM receiver is only being utilized for communication with Nike+ products.

If Apple does integrate an FM radio app into the iPod Touch, that could be bad news for Microsoft's Zune HD which launched last month touting "HD Radio" as a key feature. Contrary to popular belief HD Radio does not mean "high definition" as you see it used in regards to TVs and movies. It is simply a brand name from iBiquity, and describes a technology used to broadcast AM or FM in a digital format.

Kindle International Actually Less International Than It Leads You to Believe

The recently announced Kindle International may not be as great of a device as it originally sounded. Wired's Gadget Lab uncovered a bit of detail that Amazon tucked away in the fine print. Outside of the US, the Kindle's experimental web browser used for blogs and internet access will be unavailable. That leaves the device only useful for downloading books from Amazon's Kindle Store.

Included in the high cost of the Kindle International is the connection to AT&T's wireless network. This is done so that the users will never see a monthly bill. It's likely that AT&T is passing along a high roaming cost to Amazon for the international wireless access, and Amazon's probably doing what they can to keep costs down. Here's a suggestion for Amazon, sell a Kindle with no access and let the user pick up the monthly bill.

Still like the idea of the Kindle International? The article goes on to state that the device is being shipped from the US, which of course will add additional shipping costs to anyone overseas. But the big kicker is the Kindle International only includes a US power adapter. Want to charge the International device while outside of the US? That'll cost you extra for an adapter. Not a big deal for US travelers who already have the adapters, but a kicker for those that live outside the US and don't already have one. Wired estimates that the $280 Kindle International could cost as much as $350 by the time it's all said and done.

Sounds like it should have been named Kindle Limited.

BFG Tech Launches 'Deimos X-10' SLI Gaming Notebook

Illinois based hardware company BFG Tech has announced the launch of its first gaming notebook, the Deimos X-10. The Deimos X-10 is designed for gamers or media enthusiasts in mind, and comes with the option of dual NVIDIA GTX 280M 1GB graphics cards (2GB in total). Other specifications include Intel Core 2 Duo, Quad or Extreme CPUs, up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM, a Blu-ray reader and up to 1.5TB of storage (using all three drive bays). The Deimos X-10 also features a Full HD (1920x1080) 18.4" LCD screen, 5 speakers with an integrated sub-woofer which support Dolby surround sound, 4 USB 2.0 ports and one HDMI and DVI output respectively. John Malley, senior director of marketing for BFG Technologies says "[The] Deimos X-10 comes fully locked and loaded to deliver the ultimate HD mobile gaming and multimedia experience." The BFG Deimos X-10 is currently available for pre-order from BFG starting from US$1859 and includes a free Case Logic notebook backpack, along with a 10% discount if ordered before October 30.

Twitter Looking Into Username and Password Issues

In a status update, Twitter announced that they are currently looking into reports by users who claim to be locked out of their account after having changed their username, email address, or resetting their password. If you use Twitter, hold off on making any changes to your account for the time being.

New Voyager GT Flash Drives Debuted

While Corsair keeps the market on edge with its amazing power supply units along with its outstanding memory products, it also offers a couple different flash drive products. One of those, named the Voyager GT series, provides users with a large flash storage medium as well as fast transfer speeds. The new drives introduced by the company come in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB sizes, and will come with a ten year limited warranty upon release. As of now, there are no numbers on each of the drives concerning their read and write speeds with small and large files, but the numbers are thought to be impressive. The casing surrounding the new Voyager GT flash drives, as well as the 128GB model, protects the flash storage from water as well as shock, so physical damage should not be an issue to the average consumer. Corsair plans to retail the drives anywhere from $50, all the way up to $200, depending on the size of the Voyager GT along with any rebates or special offers retailers may tack on.

T-Mobile Offers Compensation for Sidekick Data Loss

Users that have had their T-Mobile Sidekick data wiped are being offered compensation for the major error, though it depends on whether personal data gets recovered or not on what they will be eligible for. Sidekick data users are being offered being offered a free month of data service for a start. The other news is that T-Mobile now says it is having some joy getting data back for some of the accounts after all, but if it happens that it can't recover your data, it will be offering a $100 customer appreciation card that can be used towards products and services, or towards a bill should you wish. The word is that you will only qualify for that $100 gift card if T-Mobile can't restore your data after two weeks. Depending on what got wiped, you might see that as not much or quite generous.

Dungeons and Dragons Online Free Once Again

The Dungeons and Dragons MMO has been available since 2006, but the $15 per month subscription coupled with the initial purchase price turned many users off. However, players can now get access to the game for free once again. Subscriptions are no longer necessary, and players can experience nearly all aspects of the game without a subscription. Users can earn Turbine points through playing the game or by purchasing them, and can then use them to unlock various items and content packs. By making the game free, Turbine has been able to get the game out to a wider audience, an audience that it has found is willing to pay. Subscriptions have been up since the game went free, and some people are even spending more money per month than $15. This seems like something for people not willing to shell out the monthly fees to check out.

There's a Remote Car Starter in My iPhone

Living in the Northeast, I see plenty of people who have remote car starters. Gone are the days of scraping off your windows and freezing on the way to work. The Viper SmartStart will allow users to start their car using an iPhone or iPod Touch. The SmartStart has a hefty price tag of $499, but will only cost $299 if added to an existing remote starter. The cell plan required to be able to start the car from anywhere adds an additional $30 per year. The app has an easy to use interface and also enables the user to lock and unlock their doors.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

IT News HeadLines (Overclockers Club) 15/10/2009

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