Section: Computers, Networking  Wireless N finally became official, so if you were holding out on switching your older machines over to the new standard, now may be time to make a move. TrendNet has introduced its new Wireless N USB adapter, the TEW-648UB, and it is tiny. You can see that it is a little larger than a quarter. TrendNet is claiming that you can get 150Mbps on this adapter. If you get half of that speed, you'll still have a pretty pleasant experience sending data around your network. This device has a MSRP of $24.99, which means you can probably land it for around $20.
Product Page: [TrendNet Wireless N Adapter] Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Communications, Computers, Desktops, Hardware, Netbooks Today began the Intel Developer Forum, a chance for Intel and a number of other companies to debut their newest computer technology. It’s the perfect opportunity to see what’s coming up next in terms of computer hardware and will likely see a lot of new Windows 7 machines throughout the conference. Today, as the opening day, saw a lot of announcements during the keynote presentation. The biggest announcement for Intel looks to be the new Intel Xeon 5500 series of processors. Intel is saying these new chips will power everything from the Internet to research oriented supercomputers. They look to be quite fast and smart enough to clock the multiple cores to handle the task at hand through the new Intel Turbo Boost Technology. Intel is saying the chip series is the most important processor innovation since the Intel Pentium Pro which was released nearly 15 years ago. For processors, Intel also brought on stage a wafer of its 22nm chips that are due for release in 2011. The technology is said to push Moore’s Law further than some have thought possible with the scaling wall nowhere in sight. The new technology would allow for 2.9 billion transistors in the area of a fingernail and will make for even faster, more efficient computers. In terms of more pressing consumer matters, Intel has announced the new Intel Atom Developer Program. The program is meant to draw developers into making apps for netbooks and later MIDs and smartphones that use Intel Atom processors. The idea is that the program will create more applications that are designed to fit on netbook-sized screens, and will be cross-platform using platforms like Silverlight and Flash. Some companies like Acer are planning on putting app stores for such apps onto future netbooks. It’s not clear why that is needed, however, as the idea of netbooks always seemed more like a portable web browser and maybe word processor, apps seem like they could be redundant or rarely used. Read [Xeon 5500 series]
Read [Intel Atom Developer Program]
Read [22nm chips (PDF Link)] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Computers, Security, Web, Websites, Features, Originals, Columns  Privacy experts are warning Netflix to cancel its upcoming research contest, citing serious concerns over the company's plans to hand over user data to contestants. The contest, like the one held previously, asks contestants to develop technology that will help it better predict what movies a customer will like. On Monday Netflix awarded $1 million dollars to the winner of the previous contest.
The concerns behind this contest revolve around the company's plans to release test data to the contestants. This data includes customer's ages, zip codes, genders, and previous rentals. Privacy experts say this information can easily be used to personally identify an individual. “Researchers have known for more than a decade that gender plus ZIP code plus birth date uniquely identifies asignificant percentage of Americans (87% according to Latanya Sweeney’s famous study.) True, Netflix plans to release age not birth date, but simple arithmetic shows that for many people in the country, gender plus ZIP code plus age will narrow their private movie preferences down to at most a few hundred people.”
Netflix could face an FTC investigation or a lawsuit under the Video Privacy Protection Act. They've had no comment on the controversy so far. While I don't think Netflix is purposely acting with disregard for its customers’ privacy, I do believe they may simply not understand that all customer data must be protected and kept private. At the very least they need to contact their customer base and give them a chance to choose to have their information withheld from the contest. Read [PCWorld] Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Communications, Email / IM, Smartphones, Mobile, Computers, Software / Applications  The big news today is that finally, Google has push email and push calendar updates for the iPhone and other smartphones that can use the Exchange protocol. Users can now have their inboxes and calendars always up the the second they are updated thanks to a license to use the technology from Microsoft. I’ve got to wonder though, is MS giving away the farm on this?
The Microsoft Exchange protocol is extremely stable and reliable. Windows Mobile phones have had this benefit for years, but recently, Microsoft began licensing the tech to companies that wanted to attract corporate market share. Another way to read that is companies came to Microsoft to license the tech to steal business from Windows Mobile. And Microsoft says, “Here are the keys to the castle.” Was it short-term thinking on Microsoft’s part? Take the cash now for the license, make your competitors pay you? Could they have been thinking, “Hey if this whole WinMo train wreck doesn’t turn around, we can still sell software, you know, our core competency?” I am not alone in this thinking. Kevin Tofel over at jkOnTheRun agrees, “I know I've said this before, but what's interesting to me is that Google Sync uses the Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync protocol to make the magic happen. A primary differentiator and advantage that Windows Mobile devices used to enjoy in the early days was this rock-solid sync method. Now that Microsoft has licensed it away to several phone platforms, that advantage is lost….I still find it bad for the Windows Mobile platform as a whole — it requires Microsoft to deliver another "killer feature" for WinMo.” Today, iPhone users not using Exchange for work are thrilled, I am sure. For those of us that do pull email and calendaring from our corporate exchange servers are left out wishing the iPhone could handle more than one profile for these functions. Read [Google] via [jkOnTheRun] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Computers, Software / Applications A lot of us have a strange relationship with software. We want software to get easier and easier, but we don't want anything to change because we do not want to relearn things. Windows 7 is about one month away, but there are some changes to the Start menu that some users may find jarring. In Windows 7, as you drill down into folders from the Start menu, the contents of the Start window change without fly-out panels. The Classic Start Menu software is meant to make the Windows 7 Start menu more like the Start menu of older versions of Windows with those fly-out panels. There is a trial version of Classic Start Menu available for free. If you want to own it, the price is $19.99. If you're afraid of change, this may be your answer. Company Site: [Classic Start Menu] Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Communications, Cellphones, Smartphones, Computers, Software / Applications A year ago, when Google introduced its Android mobile operating system, Sprint said, "Thanks, but no thanks. Android just isn't ready for prime time." Sprint recently released its first Android phone, the HTC Hero, with the swanky Sense UI. Sprint also is showing its new found Android love by putting up a dedicated Android section on its developers' site. There are FAQs and a forum. The forum is a little light on content right now, but expect it to fill up as time passes. The Sprint site is pretty well laid out and puts all the tools you need to put together an Android app at your fingertips. If you are a developer or are interested in making Android apps, the Sprint site may be a good site to start with. Read: [Android Sprint Developer site]
Read: [Google Android Developer site] Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Computers, Desktops, Hardware Silicon Graphics International (SGI) has announced the availability of the Octane III, a supercomputer that combines a high performance deskside cluster and practical usability in a workplace environment. Features of the Octane III include a one by two foot form factor, quiet operational modes, 80 high performance cores, and 1TB of memory. What makes the Octane III unique is that it is practical by making functions easy to use. It can also use standard outlets to operate and does not require specialty electrical gear. The Octane III will be packaged in four different variations: Ten dual-socket Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor 5500 series-based nodes, one dual-socket Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor 5500 series-based workstation, 19 single-socket Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor 3400 series-based nodes, and 19 single-socket Dual-Core Intel Atom processor-based nodes. Out of the box, the Octane III is factory-tested and already pre-integrated platform with broad HPC application support. The Octane III is available now and the base model will start at an affordable $7,995 for a supercomputer. Read: [Yahoo Finance] Full Story » | Written by Heather Wood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Computers, Software / Applications, Gadgets / Other, Household, Lifestyle, Imaging, Accessories  Here's a typical scenario. You take a bunch of pictures on your camera and eventually take that memory card to your PC with the intent of showing them off and eventually end up leaving them on your computer. Honestech has a clever solution for this scenario called the Fotobox. It is a flash memory card reader that has video and photo slideshow software in the reader. The included software also lets you upload your slideshows to YouTube, Facebook, or just your computer. The Fotobox is a pretty interesting idea considering you could just take it from computer to computer and always have the same software on you. Honestech will be selling the Fotobox for $79.99 in October 2009 in big box stores like Costco, Office Max, and Best Buy as well as online.
Product Site: [Fotobox] Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile, Gadgets / Other, GPS/Navigation  Rumor has it now that the way-late-to-the-game, Garmin-Asus nuvifone will cost $299 on a two year contract or $599 with no commitment. Since announcing the phone, Garmin has delayed it, taken on a partner, released the phone in Taiwan and it finally appears that the GPS phone will come to the US on AT&T. Can this phone compete at $299?
Garmin-Asus intend this phone to compete in the business sector where having GPS might be a huge benefit, or was a huge benefit when the phone was originally conceived by Garmin years ago. Since then, most other phones have built in GPS turn by turn directions and consumers seem to be adopting them. Sprint even includes the feature in their Pre Everything Plan. Did Garmin miss the boat? Even back when the phone was fresh and just announced, NPD analyst Ross Rubin said on his blog, “Nufiphone is GPS thriller, not an iPhone killer.” And that was before the iPhone could add third party apps. Since then, Garmin has abandoned its OS and will instead rely on Windows Mobile, a move that reveals its corporate sales hopes. The phone will feature a 3.5-inch touch screen with a 3 megapixel camera. Garmin GPS will, of course, be a feature application. Word is the price is after a $100 mail in rebate and while launch date is not official, the phone is expected before the end of October. Read [Boy Genius Reports] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Computers, Software / Applications  Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of Ubuntu has recently released a nice video on YouTube that officially announced the upcoming version of Ubuntu.
Basically, aside from a really cool sounding name, Lucid Lynx, the upcoming version will be 10.04 and as you can determine from that will be available in April of 2010. In other words we have a little while to wait before it will be available, or more importantly stable for anyone to download, install and begin using. That said, there is not any reason why Linux geeks and those curious should not begin to get excited. Anyway, features aside, according to Mark Shuttleworth, at just about 3:40 he begins to tell us about the name, which again is Lucid Lynx. In regards to Lucid, he noted that as being clear and focused on the important parts and the while the Lynx is a predator, he described it as being a “thoughtful predator.” While that does not give the features away, it does, in a strange way make Ubuntu 10.04 sound just a little bit interesting. Watch [YouTube] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
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