The fall 2008 update for Zune takes Microsoft’s iPod killer at version 3.0. The Redmond company is preparing to release a new lineup of devices, including a new 120 GB model for $249.99, but also variants of 80 GB for $229.99, 16 GB for $199; 8 GB - $149.99 and 4 GB - $129.99. But the new devices are only a part of the Zune 3.0 evolution. According to the software giant, the new models will be accompanied by the introduction of fresh color schemes: blue-on-silver and sleek all-black. And as the new Microsoft digital media players will hit the shelves, consumers will be able to enjoy new features and upgraded firmware.
“Digital music services really come alive when they help people find not only the music they know they like, but the music they didn’t know they would love. With the combination of subscription, wireless access to millions of tracks, and powerful discovery features like personal recommendations and the ability to buy music from FM radio, Zune is taking the digital music experience to the next level,” explained Chris Stephenson, general manager of Global Marketing for Zune at Microsoft. Read the rest of this entry »
As soon as you set up a computer network you are opening up a great big can of worms. Cabled networks are pretty secure but wi-fi can create problems. Providing you take sensible precautions and enable encryption you should be okay. Nevertheless, you still might like to keep an eye on who is using it and connecting to the Internet especially if you have kids in the house – in which case this little utility, called LookatLan puts you back in control. It generates a lot of infomration, most of which probably won’t be of much interest to you, but the main window tells you what you need to know, about who is connected to your network, and what they are up to.
Google, along with its partners, is supporting an initiative that is supposed to bring wireless high-speed Internet to every home, for an affordable price. The method is somewhat unusual, although the search giant has been promoting it for five months now, and it consists of allowing Internet providers to use the white spaces between the frequencies that are already employed by TV and satellite microphone providers.
“Our nation typically uses only about five percent of one of our most precious resources. Unlike other natural resources, there is no benefit to allowing this spectrum to lie fallow. The airwaves can provide huge economic and social gains if used more efficiently, as seen today with the relatively tiny slices utilized by mobile phones and WiFi services.” said the company in a plan filed to the Federal Communications Commission. Read the rest of this entry »
As you may know I’m a huge fan of the Asus Eee PC 700 and dashed out and bought one, with my own money I hasten to add, the moment they went on sale, late last year. This titchy laptop has become my constant travelling companion, it does everything I need when I’m out and about and the price, at around £200, set a new benchmark for pocket notebooks and spawned a rash of clones and copies.
So now we have the Eee PC 1000, which follows hard on the heels of the first Eee PC upgrade (Eee PC 900) launched just a few weeks ago. The key feature of the 1000 is a 10-inch screen, (the 900’s screen is 8.9 inches) and like the 900 it has a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor. Read the rest of this entry »
Booting up your laptop only to find there are no Wi-Fi networks nearby is a pain. Thankfully, geeks everywhere can now find a signal for surfing by simply looking down at their apparel.
The Wi-Fi Detector Shirt has a basestation design on its front with signal waves emanating from it that apparently glow according to the intensity of a nearby network’s strength. For example, a weak signal may only light up a couple of bars on your shirt, while a stronger signal could illuminate all of them. Read the rest of this entry »
The fall 2008 update for Zune takes Microsoft’s iPod killer at version 3.0. The Redmond company is preparing to release a new lineup of devices, including a new 120 GB model for $249.99, but also variants of 80 GB for $229.99, 16 GB for $199; 8 GB - $149.99 and 4 GB - $129.99. But the new devices are only a part of the Zune 3.0 evolution. According to the software giant, the new models will be accompanied by the introduction of fresh color schemes: blue-on-silver and sleek all-black. And as the new Microsoft digital media players will hit the shelves, consumers will be able to enjoy new features and upgraded firmware.
