Dell unveils Pineview-powered Inspiron Mini 10
Trailing behind Asus and MSI, Dell has just unveiled its Pine Trail-based Inspiron Mini 10 (model 2010) netbook. Set to start selling early next month (January 4th most likely), this version comes with a 10.1-inch (1024x600 or, optionally 1366x768) LCD screen, a 1.66 GHz Atom N450 CPU, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB or 250GB HDD, the GMA 3150 graphics core, and a 3- or 6-cell battery, the latter providing up to 9.5 hours of operation.
"The Inspiron Mini 10 continues to offer some of the best mobile entertainment options available in a great-looking, compact and lightweight design," said Brian Pitstick, general manager of Dell's mobile products. "With an even better look and great battery life, we think Mini 10 is the perfect companion PC for anyone who wants to be entertained and connected wherever they go."
The 'new and improved' Mini 10 boasts a textured, smudge-resistant palm rest, packs 10/100 LAN, WiFi, optional Bluetooth, mobile broadband, and will have a starting price of $299. In the weeks following its release, Dell's netbook will be added options like the Broadcom Crystal HD media accelerator, surround sound capability, built in HDTV tuner, GPS, and the mentioned 720p display.
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British Christmas #1 track chosen by Facebook group
American rock band Rage Against The Machine have stolen the British Christmas charts this year, taking the number one spot from the usual X-Factor (Pop Idol Sequel show) winner, this year Joe McElderry.
The event will go down in history as The Internet vs. Simon Cowell, as it all started when a British couple made the decision that enough was enough with Cowell picking our number 1 each year, and that the people should be able to make their own decision.
In comes Facebook, and a group was formed. John Morter created the Facebook group that leaped to 950,000 members, with the idea to power people to exercise their own vote in favour of a different number one than the typical X-Factor finalist, which has dominated the Christmas number one spot for the last four years. Morter captured the imagination and hearts of thousands of people on the Internet who didn't want to see Simon Cowell's latest creation hit number one.
The crowning of RATM as Christmas number one in the UK proves that social media and social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are once again powerful forces that businesses and consumers alike cannot ignore.
This year's Christmas chart, in such an unusual Internet-inspired twist, is as follows;
1. Rage Against The Machine - Killing in the name
2. Joe McElderry - The Climb
3. Lady GaGa - Bad Romance
4. Peter Kay's Animated All Star Band - Official BBC Children In Need Medley
5. 3OH!3 ft Katy Perry - Starstrukk
6. Robbie Williams - You Know Me
7. Cheryl Cole - 3 Words
8. Rihanna - Russian Roulette
9. Journey - Don't stop believin
10. Black Eyed Peas - Meet me half way
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Corsair offering TRIM update for P series SSDs
After a limited beta testing period, Corsair has made available a new firmware update that brings TRIM support to the Samsung-based P series solid state drives - the P64, P128 and P256. In addition to the fresh SSD firmware, revision VBM19C1Q, Corsair is providing an update tool made by Samsung to enable a safe update.
"This new firmware release for Corsair's Performance Series SSDs adds support for the TRIM performance-maintenance command in Microsoft Windows 7, further enhancing what are already some of the fastest and most respected SSDs on the market," said Jim Carlton, VP of Marketing for Corsair. "While other SSD manufacturers have rushed out bug-ridden firmware and update tools, sometimes with disastrous consequences for end-users, Corsair refused to jump on the bandwagon. We took the time to rigorously test and quality our tools, ensuring that our users will have the best experience possible."
Owners of P series SSDs can visit Corsair's forum to download the firmware and update tool. Be sure to back-up your data as moving to the new firmware will erase all data on the drive.
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Swedish SVT TV employees camp outside Apple HQ in Cupertino
There were some fairly odd goings on at the Apple Campus in Cupertino this weekend, as employees of Sweden's SVT TV channel (the Swedish BBC so to speak) camped outside Apple's headquarters in Cupertino and broadcasted live back to their viewers at home while waiting for Steve Jobs to arrive at the office. Why? Well, their letter below says it all.
"Dear Steve Jobs,
We at SVT (the Swedish public service broadcaster) would like to ask you a favor. Below is a description of our SVT Play application. And to the right you can see all the Swedes who are eagerly awaiting its approval. So please Steve, hurry up and approve our app.
We have tried to simplify the approval process as much as possible for you. Just press the green button below and record a video of yourself saying "JA" (that's "yes" in Swedish, pronounced "yah").
Come on, Steve, Sweden is waiting. Say JA!
Sincerely,
SVT, Sweden"
They want their video application to be approved, and they figured out that this would be the fastest way to do it. Yes, the Swedes certainly are... unique.
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Hewlett-Packard delays MediaSmart software update... again
People have been going pretty crazy this month demanding updates from Hewlett-Packard on the status of their MediaSmart server software updates, in particular for the EX470 and EX480 models.
The 2.5 update was previously scheduled for Autumn, but was pulled from the planning list and 3.0 was re-scheduled for this month. Well, a nasty announcement has come in this week that reads as follows:
"HP MediaSmart Server 3.0 Software Update Progress
In the latter stages of testing our 3.0 software update, a couple of issues were discovered with the upgrade disks. One was related to compatibility with Power Pack 3 and the other with the media streaming software. Both issues have fixes and we are now going back through our build and testing process. As a result, the 3.0 software update DVD availability will now be in February. While this delay was unexpected, we remain committed to providing this upgrade path for owners of our EX470/475/485/487 products. As previously communicated, these upgrades will be available as a server recovery solution."
The upgrade DVD has actually already been finalized, and it will cost $25 in the U.S. and أ¢آ‚آ¬25 in the E.U.
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British e-Borders programme may be illegal in the EU
The British government are being widely criticised as their controversial e-Borders programme has been accused of being illegal under the European Union EU Treaty, according to a Home Affairs Committee report.
Said programme, which is geared to gather electronic information about all those traveling in and out of the United Kingdom, has been shown off by the government as a new and vital way of improving national security, as well as speeding up the flow of passengers in and out of entry points such as airports and ports.
The report from the Home Affairs Committee, however, urged the UK Border Agency to halt development of the programme, as apart from costing أ‚آ£1.2 billion in tax money, it may very well be illegal by EU regulations.
"It is shocking that money has already been spent on a programme which could never be implemented," said Home Affairs Committee chairman Keith Vaz. "This programme is supposed to cover tens of millions of passengers intra-EU. That accounts for a very significant chunk of travel in and out of the UK. Until this legality is resolved, the UK Border Agency must just halt any further work to 'go live' on intra-EU routes. We cannot have another massive IT project which flounders or is even abandoned at huge cost to the taxpayer. It is simply unacceptable."
With that said, Borders and Immigration minister Phil Woolas argued that the programme is legal under EU law. "e-Borders is fully compliant with EU law and this has been confirmed by the European Commission. This allows us to continue our efforts to secure our border by counting people in and out." he said in a statement.
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Ballmer accused of misbehaving in "Bing! You're Fired" hoax
Rumours ran wild last week when 'social media guide' 'Mashable' published a story headlining "Bing! Ballmer Says You're Fired", containing a video of an alleged former Microsoft employee that had been fired for not being enthusiastic enough about Microsoft Bing.
It was claimed that Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's CEO had laid off the man himself there and then during a company meeting (see the video at the bottom for full details). Not surprisingly, the whole thing was a hoax. Frank Shaw, Corporate Communications executive at Microsoft confirmed this in a comment he wrote himself on the website, saying: "Please mark this as funny but not true. This is clearly a hoax and you should mark it as such in the headline."
Mashable have been widely accused of posting without query, but have defended themselves as the author did state "we can't verify if the video is authentic in nature, but we have contacted the guy who uploaded it for comment".
Some time ago Ballmer was famously forced to deny accusations that he threw a chair at ex-MS employee Mark Lukovsky who told the MS CEO he was joining Google. With that said, many love to believe that these headlines could actually represent the man that is the face of Microsoft, given his crazy stage antics and various other bits of slightly tinged public history.
Here is the hoax video, in full.
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FastPictureViewer WIC Codec Pack 1.62 update
A set of free 32-bit and 64-bit codecs that enable full support for raw image formats from 12 manufacturers, covering 300 digital cameras in Windows 7, Vista and XP. Provides thumbnail support in Windows Explorer, along with viewing and slideshows in Photo Gallery / Photo Viewer and Window 7's Media Center. Also enables image metadata display and search integration.
Updates in this version include:
- Pro release: defaults to full raw conversion when jpeg preview is smaller than the screen.
- Added support for 30-bit display mode (Win7) and Direct3D 9Ex (Vista), bug fixes, optional alternate CMS.
- Added support for 30-bit display mode (Win7) and Direct3D 9Ex (Vista), bug fixes, optional alternate CMS.
- Right-click zooming enhancements. Also fixes a serious (but rare) bug.
- Maintenance release (small bug fixes).
Website: Axel Rietschin Software Developments
Download: FastPictureViewer WIC Codec Pack 1.62
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Yelp! CEO turns down $500 million Google buyout
According the TechCrunch, the CEO of Yelp (a company set to be acquired by Google last week for a whopping $500 million USD), made the executive decision this weekend to walk away from the deal just as the parties hit the final stages of their negotiations.
The speculation is currently that another company may have approached Yelp following their Google news and given them an even more interesting, more strategic deal.
Yelp's primary business is a website that contains member reviews of local businesses such as bars, pubs, clubs, restaurants, stores and more. The reviews and ratings from user's personal experiences help browsers in the United Kingdom, United States and Canada choose where to shop and where they can get what they need in their local area.
Founded in 2004, the company quickly grew to 9 million unique visitors a month, according to Comscore, but Yelp claims that the numbers are around 25 million unique visitors a month.
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Vodafone UK to start selling iPhones on January 14
Vodafone has today revealed that, as of January 14, it will become the third (after O2 and Orange) carrier offering Apple's iPhone in the UK. The shiny smartphone is now available for pre-order from Vodafone with contracts starting at أ‚آ£30 per month, consumers being able to get it for free with أ‚آ£35+/month plans.
"We started preparing our network over a year ago so that iPhone customers will really feel the advantage of being with Vodafone," said Guy Laurence, CEO, Vodafone UK. "We will offer an outstanding iPhone experience wherever our customers live, work and travel, delivering speed and reliability - something our customers have told us they really value. We're especially pleased to offer iPhone to business customers from launch, both directly and through a network of 20 dealers across the country - clearly demonstrating that Vodafone is the natural home for small business."
Those interested in getting an iPhone from Vodafone can check out the table below for info on available plans and surf to this page for a quick pre-order.
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