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Report: 3 Million iPhones Ready for Launch Day 2007-06-08 12:59:00 Analysts believe iPhone will sell 3 million in 2007, and Apple plans to ship them all in one day Worried about not being able to grab an iPhone when it launches on June 29? Don?t be. According to BusinessWeek?s sources, Apple plans to have a whopping 3 million iPhones for sale on launch day, dwarfing nearly all other consumer device launches in history. While the iPhone?s pricy entry of $499 may initially scare off enough consumers so that the device won?t immediately sell out, Apple still maintains a goal of selling 10 million units by the end of next year. Analysts are pegging the iPhone to sell only 3 million this year, which could mean no further iPhone shipments until 2008, when sales are estimated to surge to 10 to 12 million. Piper Jaffray Cos. analyst Gene Munster believes Apple could sell 40 million iPhones in 2009, majorly boosting Apple?s bottom line, but that may not happen without a lower-cost model intended for the more casual phone user. The iPhone?s June 2 ...

Seagate Announces Density Achievement with 250GB Platter 2007-06-08 12:55:00 Seagate's drives are dense: 180 Gb per square inch Seagate sent out a press release announcing that it has begun worldwide volume shipments of the industry's highest areal density desktop hard drive. At 250GB-per-disc, 3.5-inch disc relies on Seagate?s second-generation perpendicular magnetic recording technology to achieve its high density. Packing a data density of 180 Gbits per square inch, Seagate says its one-disc Barracuda hard drive sets new benchmarks for power consumption, acoustics and performance for its desktop PC hard drives product line. The Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 drive is built with an SATA 3Gb/s interface and will serve as the foundation for Seagate's 1-terabyte desktop, enterprise, consumer electronics and external hard drives. "Seagate remains focused on leading the hard drive's pivotal transition to perpendicular recording technology and maintaining our areal density leadership in order to meet our customers' growing storage capacity and ...

Amtek Hops on UMPC Bandwagon 2007-06-08 12:44:00 Amtek announces Intel-based UMPC with 4.8" display Intel launched its Ultra Mobile PC 2007 platform in April and a number of UMPCs using the platform have since been announced. We've seen offerings from Samsung, Fujitsu and Asus. Amtek is adding its name to the list with the new U560. The U560 makes use of an 800MHz Intel A110 processor and comes equipped with 512MB of RAM and a 40GB 1.8" 4200RPM HDD. The display used is a 4.8" 1024x600 which slides up to reveal a backlit split-qwerty keyboard. One of the main complaints of Sony's VAIO UX series has been its small 4.5" 1024x600 display which causes many users to squint in order to read text. The U560's 4.8" screen isn't likely to be much better in this regard. Samsung's Q1 Ultra lineup also offers a 1024x600 resolution, but is available with a larger 7" display. Other features of the U560 include a 1.3MP webcam, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, 802.11a/b/g, Synaptics-based pointer, CompactFlash slot, two USB 2.0 ports and an inte ...

Interview with Prada Phone Designer Kang-Heui Cha 2007-06-08 12:37:00 Inspired by the luxury and fashion orientation of the design sector, the South Korean mobile telephone manufacturer LG Electronics joined forces with the fashion organisation Prada to develop and market a new mobile telephone, red dot online interviewed the designer Kang-Heui Cha.What inspired you to create this particular product and what was the intention behind it?The Prada Phone by LG has changed the perceptions that a mobile phone must be under the conditions of ?Form Follows Emotion. Technology Follows Emotion.? and has differentiated itself by allowing satisfaction to the consumer through user experience. It is not just another phone amongst many other phones or a phone that contains many complicated functions, but which is capable of combining technology and minimal design, being understood as a Luxury product. Especially under intense competition with other manufactures, LG has continuously developed the line of minimal design such as ?Chocolate? and ?Shine? phones and is refl ...

3G Phones Using Qualcomm Chips Banned from Entering U.S. Shores 2007-06-08 10:18:00 Mobile phones and carriers heavily affected; Broadcom says its happy Mobile communications is a market that's home to a large number of players, all of which are vying for a top spot, whether it?s in actual handhelds, phones or integrated electronics. This week however, a ruling by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) throws a big wrench at major wireless carriers and handset makers.The ITC put forth a ruling this week barring the import of mobile phones using chips from Qualcomm Inc. According to the ITC, Qualcomm's chips used in mobile phones infringe on patents belonging to Broadcom Inc. The chips from Qualcomm specifically deal with 3G communications and other advanced features.Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel are the two major carriers in the U.S. that rely on Qualcomm's products to support their 3G networks. Qualcomm is the primary chip provider to 3G EVDO networks, and the ITC ruling will prevent any future phones using infringing chips from entering the ...

GoDaddy.com Takes Over RegisterFly Domain Names and Customers 2007-06-08 10:05:00 RegisterFly crumbles under relationship problems of its two co-owners This week marked a big week for two major domain registrars, GoDaddy.com and RegisterFly. With the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers' (ICANN) approval, GoDaddy.com this week obtained all 850,000 generic top-level domain (gTLD) names previously held by RegisterFly. Existing RegisterFly customers will be able to access and manage their domain names from GoDaddy's website. Over the last year, much has occurred at RegisterFly; and the result was unhappy customers, phone calls unanswered and a barrage of mismanagement. In March of this year, ICANN terminated RegisterFly's status as an ICANN-accredited registrar due to allegations of corporate fraud. It was noted in a lawsuit that co-owner Kevin Medina used corporate funds for personal use. In fact, co-owner John Naruszewicz filed a suit claiming that Medina had spent $27,000 on escort services, $6,000 on liposuction and $10,000 per month o ...

funGaia Announces Two New Mobile Solar Power Banks 2007-06-07 13:31:00 funGaia's solar power banks power mobile devices ranging from cell phones to digital cameras funGaia, a division of Golden Bridge Electech, announced two new solar mobile power banks this year at Computex. The company specializes in the development of solar energy products that provide power to handheld devices such as cell phones, MP3 players, and digital cameras.The solar power banks are comprised of two parts: a control module and a solar module. The solar module is laminated with durable and waterproof material, allowing it to be used in various weather conditions. The solar bank also features a "triple-junction amorphous" silicon solar cell, which enhances its ability to absorb different wavelengths of light and increase efficiency. The power cells are able to absorb all photons of visible light. In addition, the solar module remains completely flexible making it easier transport.Once solar power has been absorbed, it is transferred to the control module, which can be ch ...

Nanotechnology Toxicity Controls Proposed 2007-06-07 13:27:00 Do we need new legislation to regulate Nanotechnology? J. Clarence Davies, Senior Advisor for the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies and Senior Fellow at Resources for the Future, last week released a report titled ?Managing the Effects of Nanotechnology.? Davies had two purposes for writing this report: first, to describe the ?menu of possibilities? of laws that exist under which the adverse effects of nanotechnology (NT) may be dealt with, and second, to ?provide evidence relevant for determining what needs to be done to manage NT.?Nanotechnology is currently used in everything from nanoelectronics to the generation of biomaterials; its possibilities are almost limitless. ?It has implications for almost every type of manufacturing process and product,? says Davies, such as in ?therapies for several different types of cancer, much more efficient lighting and battery storage, a major reduction in the cost of desalinating water, clothes that never stain and glass that never nee ...

IBM Settles SEC Securities Probe 2007-06-07 13:22:00 IBM is no longer in the SEC's crosshairs IBM settled its case in which the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused the company of misleading investors during a 2005 investor conference call. IBM told financial analysts the company would report stock options as a financial expense in future financial statements. The company went on to say it expected first-quarter earnings to be reduced 14 cents per share and reduce full fiscal year earnings by 55 cents per share, according to the SEC.In reality, IBM really forecasted the stock options expenses to reduce earnings by a total of 10 cents per share and only 39 cents for the fiscal year. While most financial analysts were able to adjust estimates properly, others accused IBM of wrongly making them believe the impact of the stock options expenses to be larger than expected."The facts here are particularly troubling because the disclosure decision was driven, in part, by management's perception of how the news would ...

Microsoft, LG Electronics Sign Patent Cross-License Pact 2007-06-07 13:13:00 Microsoft has signed another licensing deal -- totaling six in the past year Microsoft announced it has agreed to a cross-licensing deal with LG Electronics Inc. The agreement between the two companies covers hardware and software intellectual property, including the Linux operating system. It took the two companies more than four years to finalize the deal, which began in late 2003.The deal will allow LG Electronics to have access to Microsoft patents which can be used in computer and home appliance products. Microsoft will have access to LG patents that deal with LG computer-related products."We believe that the license agreement with Microsoft provides appropriate recognition of the value of LG's computer system-related patents, which includes patents directed to computer architecture utilized in game consoles and other products," said Jeong Hwan Lee, LG's executive vice president of intellectual property.Analysts expect LG to be able to better compete with companies ... Microsoft

Quick and Dirty AMD K10 Cinebench 2007-06-07 13:04:00 An early AMD "Barcelona" revision gets its first non-simulated benchmark Earlier today, AMD announced that it successfully demonstrated Barcelona across the server market. The company did not publically state how fast the processor was running, the stepping of the processor, the processor thermal envelope or the eventual ship date.We had the opportunity to benchmark the AMD Barcelona, native quad-core on an early stepping. We only had a few minutes to test the chip, but we were able to run a quick Cinebench before we were instructed to leave.The AMD benchmark ran on a single-socket, K10 CPU running at 1.6 GHz on NVIDIA's nForce Professional 3400 chipset. According to the system properties, the AMD system used 4GB of DDR2-667.The most similar Intel system we could muster up on such short notice was an Intel Xeon 3220. The Xeon X3220 is clocked at 2.4 GHz, and ran on Intel's Garlow platform (Intel X38). This system property profile stated the system utilized 4GB of DDR2-800.Ci ...

Memo Whiteboard Clock 2007-06-07 12:57:00 The natural action of looking at the clock means that the unit will be viewed on a regular basis and as a result that written notes will be kept ?fresh? in the mind of the user. This means that the user is far less likely to forget important messages to themselves. The graphics of the memo clock were developed around the existing language of a clock's graphic system and the existing language of a whiteboard's grid system, allowing straight writing and structuring of information written on the board.Designer: Luke Forsythe ...

AMD Partners Demonstrate "Barcelona" at 1.6 GHz 2007-06-06 13:48:00 Quad-Core AMD Opteron demonstrated by MSI, Supermicro, TYAN and UniwideAMD took the opportunity at Computex to server platforms running the Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors, codenamed Barcelona, with the help of MSI, Supermicro, TYAN and UniwideThe AMD quad-core processors are designed to drop-in (following a BIOS upgrade) with all existing AMD Opteron processor-based systems using DDR2 memory, while also enabling new platform capabilities such as those being demonstrated today.One vendor demonstrated Barcelona to DailyTech running at 1.6GHz. Current AMD Barcelona samples are not scaling too well. AMD partners confirmed the highest running, POST and OS capable, Barcelona processor is 2.0 GHz. AMD previously posted benchmarks of a simulated 2.6 GHz Barcelona.?We commend AMD for its non-disruptive roadmaps, allowing for a smooth upgrade from dual-core to quad-core,? said Danny Hsu, president, TYAN. ?Streamlining and mitigating the complexities customers often face when upgrading their IT ...

Thermoacoustic Devices Recycle Excess Heat Into Sound and Energy 2007-06-06 13:44:00 Tiny "screaming machines" could stretch battery life in laptopsA U.S. Army-funded research project at the University of Utah has resulted in a crop of unusual devices that turn waste heat into sound energy, then into electricity.A team led by physics professor Orest Symko is scheduled to demonstrate the thermoacoustic engines Friday at the Acoustical Society of America's annual meeting in Salt Lake City.One doctoral student participating in the project created a cylindrical device smaller than a penny that can pump out 120 decibels of sound -- roughly equal to that produced by a rock concert or a police siren.In a statement released by Symko, the researcher said he plans to test a range of thermoacoustic designs developed by the 2-year-old Thermal Acoustic Piezo Energy Conversion (TAPEC) project later this year. The tests will be conducted at an Army radar installation and at the Utah campus' hot water plant.The Army hopes to harness the technology to reduce waste heat from devices s ...

Report: Children Tech Savvy at Younger Ages 2007-06-06 13:41:00 NPD recently released the third published report of ongoing studies of kids' technology habits Research firm NPD found that the average age of children using electronic gadgets lowered to 6.7 years of age in 2007; a drop from 8.1 years of age in 2005. In the report, "Kids and Consumer Electronics Trends III," NPD used an online questionnaire aimed at adults at least 25 years of age who have children in the household between 4 and 14."Kids are drawn to the latest and greatest digital just as their parents are. They appear to have no fear of technology and adopt it easily and without fanfare, making these devices a part of their everyday lives," said Anita Frazier, NPD Group industry analyst.Televisions and desktop computers are commonly the first forms of consumer electronics children are exposed to - usually starting at age 4 or 5 years old, but most common for 7 year old children. Devices such as portable digital media players and satellite radios are used more often by ch ... Children