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Articles from Abhi's Technology Blogosphere

EBay: Take That, Google! 1969-12-31 17:59:59 The bill has arrived for Google's protest party at last week's eBay conference. And even though the party was canceled, the cost is much higher than Google probably expected for its poke at a rival Internet powerhouse. In apparent retaliation for the planned intrusion on its annual pageant, eBay abruptly pulled all U.S. advertising for its online auction and shopping sites from appearing with Google's search results. Having made its point, eBay (EBAY) is ready now to resume paying for Google (GOOG) search ads?only at lower levels than before. But eBay says the reason for scaling back goes beyond displeasure at Google's ploy, which was meant to protest the exclusion of Google's Checkout service from the list of accepted payment providers on eBay's sites. During the 10 days that eBay did not place ads for its sellers' products next to Google's search results, traffic on some eBay sites actually increased, says eBay spokesman Hani Durzy. Read More ... Google

Samsung Unveils U3, USB Direct MP3 Player 1969-12-31 17:59:59 The Samsung U3 MP3 player works right out of the box with a slim-USB connection. Available in 5 colors (white/green/pink/blue/black), the U3 requires no wires or programs to work; simply plug it in a USB port and drag and drop your music files.The U3 player features up to 15 hours of battery life and comes in models with 1GB, 2GB and 4GB (enough room for up to 1000 songs).The U3 also features FM Radio and Voice Recording and supports Music Subscription Service.The U3 will launch globally in June 2007 for 79 USD(1GB), 99 USD(2GB) and 149 USD (4GB). ... Samsung  Usb

Viewsonic Introduces 3 New Budget Monitors 1969-12-31 17:59:59 View Sonic has updated their VA series with three new budget monitors. The 17-inch VA1716w which retails for USD$ 209 features a native resolution of 1440x900, has 250 cd/m2 brightness level, and a 500:1 contrast ratio. The 19-inch VA1916w which is available for US$ 229 comes with 1440x900 resolution, 2000:1 contrast ratio, 5ms response times and 300 nits of brightness. The final monitor in this lineup is the VA916, which retails at US$ 239 and includes 4:3 aspect ratios, 1280x1024 resolution and sports similar specs to the VA1916. The 17" display will be available from July while the 19-inch displays will come in August."These latest displays reflect ViewSonic's ongoing commitment to meeting the needs of the education market," said Jeff Volpe, ViewSonic America's VP marketing, in a statement. "Our VA Series of displays deliver the features and performance to make the most of a customer's technology budget." ...

Toyota eyes even bigger pickup truck 1969-12-31 17:59:59 Toyota ? fresh from showing off its Tundra CrewMax (pictured left with executive vice president Jim Lentz), a version of the full-size pickup with the largest cab space ? is now eyeing a ?Super Duty? version to fill out its vehicle lineup.It may need all the products it can get as the Wall Street Journal reports Toyota faces pressure to further boost North American production to counteract potential political backlash stemming from the U.S. Big Three?s woes.Toyota?s Jim Press dismissed concerns about political fallout over the Japanese carmakers? relentless charge in the U.S. market. In the end, Toyota?s cars and trucks will determine its success.Autoblog said the Tundra CrewMax finally gives the Japanese automaker a strong competitor in the full-size pickup market. Toyota expects to sell about 200,000 of the redesigned Tundras pickups annually.However, Edmunds.com said Toyota will be hard pressed to compete with Chrysler?s Dodge Ram Mega Cab. ...

BeoCenter 2 1969-12-31 17:59:59 Welcome to Entertainment CentralBeoCenter 2 is a complete entertainment centre for the living room and, with BeoLink, for the whole house. It adds DVD playback to CD and radio sources, including optional DAB radio (where available). Combined with a Bang & Olufsen television and any BeoLab loudspeaker, you are guaranteed a sensational picture and sound experience. One light touch to the smooth button-less surface of BeoCenter 2, and its polished aluminium wings glide aside to reveal a unique, integrated audio and video system.Elliptical in form with gentle curves, the polished aluminium surface of BeoCenter 2 issues an invitation to approach the unique soft-touch control pad. The ultra-thin polished aluminium is designed to discern a human touch. Just glide your finger along the surface and BeoCenter 2 responds. There are no buttons. The surface is reduced to a wafer-thin 0.5 mm around the operation panel and has been anodised five times to protect it from any signs of wear. The highly ...

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 1969-12-31 17:59:59 We've been talking about this one for a while now. Rated as Tech 2's best superzoom of 2006, the FZ50 makes it to our labs for review purposes. It may be close to a year old, but it's still a strong contender in the superzoom category, and now at a whole new discounted price it makes a very attractive package. So here it is, by high user demand, our complete review of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50. The camera's controls are divided between the top and the back of the camera. Unique to the FZ50 are the two SLR-like jog dials to adjust the shutter speed and aperture size, just the way I like it.In fact the FZ50 has so many similarities to an SLR camera that its easy to mistake it for one.Read More ... Panasonic

Nokia's E90 Communicator 1969-12-31 17:59:59 The E90, like the communicators of old, is a computer-like phone that opens up to a large 800x320 pixel screen with 16m colors with a full QWERTY keypad with buttons on either side of the screen. What's most appealing is the external screen and keypad. Like it?s predecessors, it does have one, yes, but this one is has a 320x240 pixel resolution sporting 16m colors as well. This makes it effortless to use if you simply have to use the phone for calls or messaging. However you have full access to all other functions as well. Another great feature about the E90 is the 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera with a flash. There's also a secondary QCIF camera for video-calling. The E90 is full function business and multimedia, 3G enabled device, with WI-FI, HSDPA, HSCSD, infrared, Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP compatibility and of course, USB connectivity. It has 128MB of internal memory and can support 4GB of external memory using microSD cards. So there's plenty of space for music and movies alike. ... Nokia

Microsoft's Latest, Best Hope in Search 1969-12-31 17:59:59 Microsoft (MSFT) executives like to say we're still in the early stages of the lucrative business of Internet search. They contend that as wide as Google's (GOOG) lead may seem now, it's not insurmountable. But for all of Microsoft's protestations, and the money it has pumped into building a better way to seek out information online, the world's largest software company continues to come up short in search (see BusinessWeek, 4/2/07, "Where Is Microsoft Search?"). In May, for example, only 8.4% of all searches among U.S. Web surfers went through Microsoft's MSN or Windows Live engines, compared with Google's 56.3% share, according to research firm Nielsen//NetRatings (NTRT). Microsoft isn't going to give up the fight any time soon. But the software giant is savvy enough to know that it may need to shift the battle to a different front. In recent months, Microsoft has been spending money to boost its efforts in what's known as vertical search, those niche markets where Netizens ... Microsoft

Samsung Unveils 70-inch Full-HD LCD TV 1969-12-31 17:59:59 The new TV boasts Samsung's image enhancement technologies and employs a light-emitting diode (LED) backlight instead of the conventional cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) version. Moreover, Samsung's local dimming technology enables the LED backlight to be turned off in dark image areas, delivering a dynamic contrast ratio of 500,000:1. At the same time, power consumption is lowered by as much as fifty percent.Meanwhile, Samsung's LED scanning eliminates the flicker and ghosting problems associated with large-screen LCD TVs."I am pleased to introduce the 70" Full-HD LCD TV with innovative Local Dimming Technology," said JongWoo Park, President of the Digital Media Business, Samsung Electronics. "Samsung will continue to strengthen its LCD TV leadership, enhancing Full-HD and large screen LCD TV line-up."The 70" full-HD LCD TV is high-gloss, "piano black" bezel and has titanium chrome trim, with dual hidden speakers and rear woofer.Samsung plans to put the product on sale worldwi ... Samsung

Intex Releases Four New DVD Players 1969-12-31 17:59:59 Intex has released four new DVD players bringing the total number of Intex DVD models to 14. All four players - N-10, N-20 vk, N-30 and N-40 are DIVx compatible and also read formats like DVD, SVCD, VCD, MP3, AUDIO CD, JPEG and MP4. These players also have an error correction feature that allows them to run scratched CDs and DVDs. They are also all equipped with standard component and composite video out, coaxial and optical digital audio out connections. And of course it also has the disc resume feature.Intex N10 and N-30 DVD players come in steel-silver gray metallic bodies. Intex N-40 comes in metallic slate gray semblance. The N-20 vk is also equipped with a Karaoke function and a VGA out so you can watch movies on a TFT or CRT monitor. ... Dvd

Apple iPhone Review by CNET 1969-12-31 17:59:59 CNET editors' take Heads exploded around the tech world today after Apple CEO Steve Jobs finally announced the long-awaited Apple iPhone during his Macworld 2007 keynote in San Francisco. The iPhone, as Jobs proudly dubbed the device to thunderous applause (take that Linksys), will be three devices in one: a cell phone, a wide-screen iPod with touch controls, and an Internet communications device. AT&T (formerly Cingular Wireless) is the lucky carrier (apparently the companies have patched up their relationship following the Motorola Rokr bust). We haven't gotten to hold an iPhone yet, but we're just as excited as the next person to finally write down our first thoughts, and we won't sleep until we get our hands on one. Check back near the product's June 29 release date for our full review. Availability Both Apple and AT&T stores will sell the phone starting on the release date, and the handset will also be available on Apple's Web site. It will not be sold on AT&T's site for th ... Apple  Iphone

Apple iPhone Review by NewYork Times 1969-12-31 17:59:59 The iPhone Matches Most of Its Hype Talk about hype. In the last six months, Apple?s iPhone has been the subject of 11,000 print articles, and it turns up about 69 million hits on Google. Cultists are camping out in front of Apple stores; bloggers call it the ?Jesus phone.? All of this before a single consumer has even touched the thing.As it turns out, much of the hype and some of the criticisms are justified. The iPhone is revolutionary; it?s flawed. It?s substance; it?s style. It does things no phone has ever done before; it lacks features found even on the most basic phones. Unless you?ve been in a sensory-deprivation tank for six months, you already know what the iPhone is: a tiny, gorgeous hand-held computer whose screen is a slab of touch-sensitive glass. The $500 and $600 models have 4 and 8 gigabytes of storage, respectively ? room for about 825 or 1,825 songs. (In each case, 700 megabytes is occupied by the phone?s software.) That?s a lot of money; then again, the price inclu ... Apple  Iphone

iPhone doesn't work with most 3rd party headphones 1969-12-31 17:59:59 As several tipsters have pointed out, the recessed iPhone headphone port means that a lot of third party headphones don't work properly: we've tested a few models already (you can see the current list after the break), but maybe you can help us out and let us know which models work / don't work in the comments -- and yes, if you have to press down on the jack to get both channels to play sound, we count that as not working. You'll need to buy a $19 "TTY Adapter" if you want most third party headphones to function correctly, which sounds like a great business plan to us: just break an important device function, and sell the solution for fun and profit. For now, one of the few third party 'phones that do work are the Zune headphones.Read More ... Iphone

Use your cell phone as a modem 1969-12-31 17:59:59 Most phones have built-in data modems, and most of the major carriers support the feature. To dial up the Internet, all you need is a connection kit (usually a data cable and software available from your carrier) that connects your cell phone to your laptop, your ISP information (this varies from mobile to mobile, so contact your provider for details), and a data plan. For the most part, data speeds aren't much faster than a 56Kbps dial-up modem's, but carriers such as Verizon have introduced 3G services with broadband speeds ranging from 144Kbps to a possible 2MB per second. ... Cell Phone

Toshiba Adds 4GB microSDHC Card to Memory Card Line-Up 1969-12-31 17:59:59 Toshiba Corp has announced, with Toshiba America Electronic Components Inc (TAEC), that it has expanded its line of small-format, high-speed, high-capacity memory cards with the launch of a 4-Gbyte (GB) microSDHC card. The addition of the card extends Toshiba's comprehensive range of microSDHC cards -- memory cards for mobile phone applications -- from 256-Mbyte (MB) up to 4GB. Toshiba's 4GB microSDHC card meets SD memory card standard Ver 2, the SDHC card standard for SD products with a capacity of over 2GB. The card is designed for use in dedicated microSDHC slots, but can also be used in standard SDHC card slots in an adapter. Read More ... Memory Card