Microsoft Aims to Launch New Windows by 2010

InformationWeek.com - With Windows Vista out the door and its first service pack on the way, Microsoft has begun to focus on the road map for the future of its flagship operating system. The details are still extremely skimpy, but the company is beginning to discuss Windows 7, which is Microsoft's internal code name for the next version of the Windows client, with select customers and partners.

Since Vista's release, Microsoft has been saying that the next version of Windows would appear significantly quicker than Vista did after XP's release. To that end, Microsoft is still on track. "Microsoft is scoping Windows 7 development to a three-year time frame, and then the specific release date will ultimately be determined by meeting the quality bar," the company said in a statement. However, earlier statements by Microsoft execs had put Windows 7 on track for release in 2009, while doing the math on the latest statement puts Windows 7 more in the 2010 time frame.

Surf the Internet Wirelessly at 15GB/s in the Future

ScienceMode.com - Scientists at the Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC) announced a new research which investigates the use of extremely high radio frequencies (RF) to achieve broad bandwidth and high data transmission rates over short distances. This means that tangled wires under desks and in data centers will be a thing of the pas, scientists say.
Within three years, this “multi-gigabit wireless” approach could result in a bevy of personal area network (PAN) applications, including next generation home multimedia and wireless data connections able to transfer an entire DVD in seconds.
The research focuses on RF frequencies around 60 gigahertz (GHz), which are currently unlicensed — free for anyone to use — in the United States. GEDC researchers have already achieved wireless data-transfer rates of 15 gigabits per second (Gbps) at a distance of 1 meter, 10 Gbps at 2 meters and 5 Gbps at 5 meters.

OvisLink Introduces Wireless Hard Disk (Enclosure)

Manila, Philippines -- OvisLink Corp. introduced the AirLive WMM-6500FS, a 3.5" Wireless AP storage that is designed for 3.5” IDE and serial-ATA(SATA) hard disk drive use. The additional advantage is its 3.5-inch hard disk that allows you to share information and storage capacity via either a wireless or a wired network.
AirLive WMU-6500FS is an ideal device for small-medium companies and home users who need to backup and share files more efficiently and easily anytime and anywhere. It provides a complete SOHO solution for Internet surfing, and is easy to configure and operate even for non-technical users. You can use this device as a BitTorrent Agent to download and upload files via the BitTorrent protocol. It also has an iTune File Server function that lets you share your video, music and or files wirelessly. The AirLive-6500FS offers WLAN mobility for home user and business people to maintain continuous network connectivity. Via its AP function, home users can stay connected to the network anywhere in a building without pulling along a LAN cable.

Features :

> 3.5" Wireless Hard Drive Enclosure

> BitTorrent Download Agent

> 125Mbps Turbo-G Wireless

> Build your wireless network or integrate into existing WLAN networks

> iTune File Server function for iPOD music download

> Share your video, music, and or files wirelessly

For further information, please visit www.ovislink.com

Shanling MC-30 Music Center for iPod

The latest peripheral for the iPod is the MC-30 Music Center from Shanling. MC-30 is basically a hi-fi CD player, tuner, iPod dock with tube power amplifier. Keeping with the smooth design, the input selector is concealed and the volume control is positioned at the top of the front feet. The single-ended tube amplifier section pumps 3 watts per channel to the speakers. You can control the entire unit with the (included) Remote Control.

iPhones Knocks Out Wi-Fi System

One of the big selling points of Apple's iPhone is the ability to connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi, but I.T. pros at Duke University might say otherwise. The iPhones on campus are flooding the school's wireless LAN with as many as 18,000 access requests per second, temporarily knocking out access points for 10 to 15 minutes at a time, according to Kevin Miller, Duke's assistant director of communications infrastructure .
The iPhones are requesting a router address that's not valid on Duke's network. When there's no answer, the iPhones keep asking, a process that essentially amounts to a distributed denial-of-service attack, knocking out access points and keeping Duke's I.T. staff scrambling.
Miller said there are about 150 iPhones on campus causing the issue, but noted that "because of the time of year for us, it's not a severe problem." When school starts full sessions in late August, "this would be devastating," he said.

ASUS EN8600GT Silent 256MB GDDR3 (GeForce 8600 GT)

Now that ATI's mainstream DirectX 10 graphics cards have been officially launched, the low-end and mid-range segments are looking increasingly crowded, with NVIDIA having up to four different SKUs, each with variable configurations for memory type and size. ATI too has three major SKUs for its Radeon HD 2400 and 2600 series altogether, with comparable leeway for vendors to customize their products. Throw in the fact that ATI has generally priced its products a notch lower than competing NVIDIA SKUs to compensate for their lower performance and it seems that there could be quite the dilemma for consumers looking for a new mainstream graphics card.

It is however a welcome dilemma as having more choice is almost always better for consumers, provided they do their research of course, and not rely solely on brand names or hastily formed first impressions. The crowded field also means that vendors have greater incentive to distinguish its products by adding more features and inevitably, the list of the usual methods include having overclocked versions, non-standard coolers, and in case of some, like the recent XFX GeForce 8600 GT Fatal1ty we saw , both. For those who have no use for these frills, there's always the reliable way of falling back on price as the decisive factor.

ASUS is one of these vendors who have chosen to issue a silent, passively cooled version of the GeForce 8600 GT - the ASUS EN8600GT Silent. Equipped with a custom heatpipe based cooler, ASUS claims this card runs cooler than generic boards by an average of seven degrees Celsius. Our first though was this: a passively cooled graphics card running cooler than a fan-based one? Now that's something we have to see for ourselves, though we aren't too sure if the generic boards that ASUS is referring to here are the reference models or an equivalent passively cooled card. Does it live up to the marketing? Well, we'll show you how it does after the usual specifications below, which show that this ASUS is a standard clocked GeForce 8600 GT with 256MB of DDR3 memory.

Computex Taipei 2007

The HWZ online team flew down to cover the world's second largest IT show - Computex 2007. The event was so grand; it featured 30,000 overseas buyers and 130,000 visitors and generated about US$12.5 billion. Find out which product made the cut for Best Choice of Computex Taipei 2007 Award and meet our silent-but-deadly online team, while you?re at it.

Sapphire Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB GDDR4

Much has already been said and written regarding ATI's new mainstream DirectX 10 graphics cards, the Radeon HD 2600 and 2400 series. To sum up our outlook on these products so far - if you are hoping that these cards will be the saviors that some ATI fans have been fervently praying for, look away. Despite the initial optimism generated by news that these cards were using 65nm cores, 3D performance has turned out to be rather disappointing. Instead, what these cards bring to the table are other, less talked about, though perhaps equally important aspects of a modern graphics card, like its dedicated universal video decoder (UVD) engine and significantly lower numbers for noise, heat and power consumption compared to previous ATI GPUs. Whether that is enough for consumers remains to be seen.

Together with competitive prices that place these Radeon HD cards into lower price brackets compared with NVIDIA's corresponding products (though it could be argued that there is no longer any direct comparison between the two since the ATI cards have looked to be slower in benchmarks), ATI could yet do reasonably well in the mainstream segment where 3DMark scores are not the most important criteria. Since we have already looked at the budget Radeon HD 2400 XT and an overclocked Radeon HD 2600 PRO , it was about time to give some attention to the top model of ATI's new mainstream contingent, the Radeon HD 2600 XT.

As the highest clocked member of the Radeon HD 2600 family, the XT comes with GDDR3 or GDDR4 flavored memory with a maximum rated speed of 2200MHz DDR. The GDDR4 version we're taking a look today comes with Samsung chips that are rated at 0.9ns that allow them to handle the high speeds and at the same time be more power efficient. Meanwhile, the same RV630 core present on all the Radeon HD 2600 cards, along with the exact same number of stream processors, texture units and other graphics hardware, are all found on this card. In short, everything should be identical to the Radeon HD 2600 PRO that we had covered previously, but with vastly higher clock speeds and the use of GDDR4 memory. How would this leading Radeon HD 2600 card stack up against NVIDIA's GeForce 8600 series?

Xbox 360 Elite coming to Japan in October

TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) -- Microsoft Corp. said on Thursday it would launch the advanced version of its Xbox 360 game console, Xbox 360 Elite, on October 11 in Japan, a country where sales of its game gear trail far behind rival machines from Nintendo Co. Ltd. and Sony Corp.

The Elite's 120-gigabyte hard drive, six times bigger than the regular Xbox 360's hard drive and twice as big as that of Sony's PlayStation 3 console, can store thousands of songs as well as a library of high-definition TV shows, movies and arcade games.
It will sell for 47,800 yen ($390), compared with 29,800 yen for the most basic version of the Xbox 360.
Although popular in the United States, the Xbox 360 has seen slow sales in Japan. Microsoft sold 122,565 of the consoles in the first half of this year in Japan, the home turf of Sony and Nintendo, according to data from game magazine publisher Enterbrain.

Nintendo sold 1.78 million units of its Wii and Sony sold 503,554 of its PS3 consoles during the same period.
The basic model of the PS3 sells for 49,980 yen in Japan, while the Wii sells for half that.
The Xbox 360 Elite is already sold in North America for $480

Microsoft's Billion-Dollar Fix

In the quest for supremacy in next-generation gaming consoles, Microsoft (MSFT) had a big advantage by releasing the Xbox 360 a full year ahead of competing devices from Sony (SNE) and Nintendo (NTDOY). But hardware failures on the device are forcing Microsoft to cede some of its hard-won ground.

After months of reports about unusually high hardware failures for the Xbox 360, the Redmond (Wash.) software giant on July 5 said it will take a $1.05 billion to $1.15 billion charge to extend warranty coverage on repairs and replacements. The company said a months-long investigation into an "unacceptable number of repairs" to Xbox 360 consoles has helped it identify several flaws that caused the system to crash—indicated by three flashing red lights on the front dubbed the "Red Ring of Death" by gamers.

Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division, declined in an interview to say what specifically caused the failures or how high the failure rate has been.
But the disclosure follows weeks of online chatter about a high retail return rate for the console. While the normal console return rate is between 3% and 5%, online news site

DailyTech on July 2 said it surveyed retailers and found that the Xbox 360 had a staggeringly high return rate of 33%.

Stalled Momentum
Microsoft will record the expenses in the quarter that ended June 30, compounding losses at a division that has yet to become profitable. Fallout from the admission won't end there. The hardware problems could undermine Microsoft's credibility with the hard-core gamers it has fought hard to court in recent years. The company is belatedly owning up to flaws that reach back to the November, 2005, Xbox 360 launch. Users complained then that the console scratched game discs and rendered them unusable. It took nearly a full year for Microsoft to admit that the original batch of shipments was failing at an unusually high rate. Last September, the company extended its 90-day warranty to a full year. This spring, it offered free shipping on returns.

What's more, Microsoft's pronouncement could further slow the momentum the company had built with its year-long lead over Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii. Since January, the Wii has stolen the spotlight—and gamer dollars—from rival systems. Microsoft shipped 10 million units through 2006, but has sold only 1.6 million additional units since then. The company failed to reach its forecast of shipping 12 million units through June.

In June, the Wii outsold the Xbox 360 by a 2-to-1 margin and it outstripped PlayStation 3 sales nearly 4 to 1, according to product tracker NPD Group. Nintendo President Satoru Iwata predicts the company will sell more than 14 million units in its current fiscal year.

Design Issue
Microsoft said little about the causes of the hardware woes. It relies on two contract manufacturers to make the Xbox 360—Flextronics International (

FLEX) and Celestica (CLS)—both of which make the finished product at plants in southern China. But Bach indicated the issue had nothing to do with the recent spate of tainted or defective Chinese imports. "You should think of it more as a design question," he says. "We had some design issues, and it's a combination of factors that led to the problems." Microsoft said it worked with the contract manufacturers to identify and address the problem, and has taken steps to make sure future shipments do not suffer similar issues.

Despite adding to the continuing losses for the entertainment and devices division, Microsoft executives pointed to a silver lining: "Most customers are going to look at it and say, 'Great, Microsoft stands behind the product,'" Bach says. "Ultimately, it becomes a positive thought in people's minds."

Game Releases Planned
Like other makers of consumer electronics, Microsoft is willing to accept losses on gaming consoles in hopes of recouping revenue through game software. And Microsoft plans to release some blockbusters later this year. Along with others in the games industry, it is expected to showcase many of those products at this month's annual E3 games expo held in Los Angeles. Microsoft is betting its core Halo franchise will give it a boost later this year with the release of Halo 3. The company also has stolen a march on Sony, getting Take-Two Interactive Software (

TTWO) to drop its PlayStation exclusivity for the next installment of its Grand Theft Auto franchise.

Bach says there's another reason to cheer: Company surveys show 90% of current Xbox 360 customers would recommend the console to a friend. As all three console makers turn up the heat on their battle for supremacy, Microsoft will need as much of that word-of-mouth support as it can get.

Canon SELPHY ES-1 Photo Printer "Printing Photos the Easy Way"

We are a generation that grew up with cameras; most of us probably have tons of albums at home, waiting to be shared with relatives and guests. And while technology now allows us to take hundreds of photos effortlessly, not everyone bothers to have these photos developed. Instead, one probably stores them on the PC, only burning it onto a blank disc when the hard drive is full. This is what Canon is planning to change with its new portable SELPHY ES-1 printer, which aims to bring the photo lab to every home and make printing photos a breeze.


Portable Developing Lab
The first thing you'll notice about the SELPHY ES-1 is its form factor. This printer is not only compact, but is also sleek with a white and silver finish and has a backlit SELPHY logo. Another notable feature of the SELPHY is the 2.5-inch LCD that can be tilted up and can be used for editing photos or for displaying important information. The menus and buttons are quite intuitive, making it easy for anyone to use the unit without having to read the manual. What makes SELPHY unique from other printers out there is the fact that both the paper and inks come in one cartridge, thanks to its dye-sublimation print technology. The ink runs out as soon as the paper in the tray runs out, saving the need to purchase separate inks. Moreover, with the optional accessories available, the SELPHY can be further improved to be a truly wireless printer. For instance, with a Bluetooth adaptor, users can print photos from mobile phones and other Bluetooth compliant devices.
If that's not enough, an optional battery pack can be purchased so that you can bring your SELPHY anywhere and instantly print photos on the spot. Of course, the SELPHY ES-1 can also be connected to a PC for photo adjustments with Canon's software utilities, making this a well-rounded photo printer.

The Perfect Photo Output 24/7
Providing quality photos is what the Canon SELPHY ES-1 is all about, thanks to its DIGIC II processor. With this technology, it is now possible to reproduce the color qualities that are found on compact cameras and DSLRs without the aid of a PC. What's more, the SELPHY can also correct the ever annoying red eye and exposure problems in the captured photos. During our tests, we found the ES-1 to produce excellent prints that were slightly darker than the original. The preset options like vivid and vivid red/green/blue allow a user to adjust the color settings, but these adjustments obviously pale in comparison to dedicated photo editing software. Furthermore, the SELPHY also has preset creative menus to create albums, calendars, multi-layout prints and even speech bubbles.

Final Thoughts
The Canon SELPHY ES-1 does a great job with the printouts displaying consistent color and saturation throughout the tests, with printing speeds averaging around 73 seconds for a 4R print. Not only that, the SELPHY also comes with various preset options and intuitive menus, making the SELPHY ES-1 a fun and easy photo printer for those captivating moments.

Product Specifications
-Print Technology: Dye-sublimation thermal transfer (with overcoating)
-Resolution: 300 x 600 dpi, 300 x 300 dpi
-Gradation: 128 gradations/color (300 x 600 dpi), 256 gradations/color (300 x 300 dpi)
-Supported Paper Sizes: Postcard size (100 x 148mm), L size (89 x 119mm),
-Card size (54 x 86mm) Supported Memory Cards: SD, SDHC, CompactFlash (CF), Microdrive, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, Multimedia Card Interface: USB,
-Infra-red (IrDA), wireless LAN (when connected with via a PictBridge compatible wireless LAN adapter),
-Bluetooth (when connected via a Bluetooth Unit BU-20, sold separately) Dimensions: 199 x 176.7 x 113.3mm
-Weight: 2055g.

Canon’s new PowerShot S5 IS offers superior features found mainly in high-end PowerShot cameras

Singapore, – Canon offers photo enthusiasts a high performance mini SLR with powerful SLR-like functions, high zoom and full fledge movie-recording functions with the launch of the PowerShot S5 IS digital camera. The new model adds a dash of technical advancements including optical image stabalisation, face detection technology, in-camera red eye correction and 8-megapixel resolution to ensure that those precious memories and moments are vibrantly and vividly saved for years to come.

Other key advancements include a larger, higher resolution 2.5” vari-angle LCD, additional shooting modes and extended video recording. The compact design also incorporates a new hot shoe that provides compatibility with selected Canon EX Speedlite external flashes, adding to an accessory list that includes Wide, Tele and Close up converter lenses.

“The PowerShot S5 IS digital camera meets the demands of active family photographers who enjoy the convenience of both movie recording and still image shooting in a camera.” says Andrew Koh, Director and General Manager of the Consumer Imaging and Information Division at Canon Singapore. “With a broad range of features and a powerful ultra-zoom lens, the PowerShot S5 IS evokes the sense of a lightweight SLR and will also cater to professional photographers who demand a powerful, reliable camera as a back-up camera.”

HP Photosmart R937 digital camera flaunts its 3.6-inch touchscreen

HP has just unveiled nine new digital cameras for the summer season, with the pick of the bunch being the Photosmart R937. It's an eight-megapixel cam with 3x optical zoom and a whopping 3.6-inch touchscreen.
The screen is important, too. HP says its size means you can easily edit and organise your photos on the camera, without needing to transfer them to a PC for tweaking. The idea is that you can then stroll into a shop with your memory card to get prints (or print them off on an HP printer, of course)

There's also a pop-up virtual keyboard on the screen that can be used to add email addresses and tags to photos. There's a couple of leftfield editing features too. Pet-eye fix removes the red eyes that make your dog look Satanic in photographs (unless he really is the devil's hellhound, in which case you're stuck with 'em). Meanwhile, the slimming feature claims to make your subjects look more svelte.
There's 32MB of internal memory too, so you can start snapping away before even putting a memory card in. The R937 goes on sale in the US this August at an expected price of $299.99 (about £150).
HP website

iPhones almost sold out; Smash AT&T's, Motorola's RAZR records

How did the iPhone do over the weekend? We stand corrected; not 500,000 but 700,000 iPhones have been sold over the weekend. Phenomenal sums it up in one word. They ran out of supplies in more than half the stores across U.S. In the 10 states, 95 of 164 stores claim that they are sold out of the stocks. Apple's stores in Hawaii, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Utah and Washington have no phones left in their stocks to sell to the AT&T customers!

The overwhelming response has toppled the records set by Motorola's RAZR, which sold as many phones in a month that this one has sold in just three days! Unbelievable but true!

Most Wanted: Top 5 mobile phones coming later in 2007

It's all about the upgrades, innit. Your mum might still be clinging on to the mobile phone she bought six years ago, but if you're a proper geek like us, you'll get itchy fingers when your phone's approaching its first birthday.
With that in mind two-inch widescreen display, two-megapixel camera and Bluetooth audio only add to its appeal., here's a guide to seven of the most keenly-anticipated mobiles coming our way later in the year (obviously, for anyone outside the US, Apple's iPhone is the eighth). Which one will be giving your credit-card a bashing?

1. LG's Chocolate Google phone Or, as it's known to its retailers, the KU-580. There are two things to know about this phone. First, it's basically the next generation of LG's iconic Chocolate handset. But secondly, it's the first to benefit from a deal with Google that means Google Search, Gmail and Google Maps will all be preloaded on it. The two-inch widescreen display, two-megapixel camera and Bluetooth audio only add to its appeal.

2. O2 Cocoon. A sleek white clamshell phone that's due out in August, it's aimed firmly at music fans, with 2GB of memory to store tracks, plus the ability to play DRM-free iTunes Plus files, and an FM tuner. Londoners get an extra bonus too – if you walk into The O2 Arena venue for a gig, Cocoon will automatically detect the location and offer up all manner of content.

3. Sony Ericsson W960 Is it an iPhone killer? Well, it has a touch-screen, 8GB of internal memory, and promises up to 27 hours of battery life for music. What it's got above Apple's handset is 3G, of course, while the built-in Wi-Fi will also come in handy for high-speed surfing. All this, plus a 3.2-megapixel camera and Bluetooth audio.

4. BlackBerry Pearl 2 RIM got some of its mojo back with the BlackBerry Pearl, so it's no surprise the follow-up is hotly anticipated. Sadly, most of the buzz around its features is highly made up speculative – apparently it'll have a 3.2-megapixel camera, Flash, 6x digital zoom, a 3.5mm headset jack, Wi-Fi and stereo Bluetooth. Oh, and you can email on it. Obviously.

5. Motorola RAZR 2 The original RAZR phone was a huge attention-grabber – so much so that Motorola proceeded to run with the design for several other handsets. Now the proper sequel is here, and it's even slimmer (albeit by just 2mm), has a bunch of music features and a two-megapixel camera. In truth, the specs aren't super-impressive, but it's the design that'll tempt the millions of RAZR owners thinking about an upgrade.

Panasonic to launch DMC-FX100 12.2 Megapixel wide-angle compact digital camera

Panasonic has announced their DMC-FX100, the latest addition to their Lumix range of compact digital cameras.
It boasts a 12.2 megapixel CCD and is equipped with a specially designed 28mm wide-angle LEICA DC VARIO ELMARIT lens featuring f/2.8 brightness and a 3.6x optical zoom. It features seven elements in six groups, including an extra-high refractive index aspherical lens. and four lenses with five aspherical surfaces to generate high optical performance.
The zoom ratio can be extended up to 7x in 3-megapixel resolution mode with minimal deterioration thanks to the Extra Optical Zoom.

The 12.2 megapixel sensor means that images up to A2 size can be printed.
Like Panasonic's other Lumix offerings, the camera features Intelligent Image Stabilisation, intelligent ISO control, and the Venus Engine III advanced image-processing engine.
The DMC-FX100 features a 0.009 second shutter release time lag, and shutter interval as short as 0.9 seconds. It can also shoot at two frames per second in burst mode. It can also be used to shoot 1280 x 720 high definition content at 15fps.
Unusually for a compact, it features some advanced auto-focus metering, including 1-point, 3-point, 9-point, and spot.
It comes with 27MB of built-in memory, a 2.5 inch LCD, styled in either silver or black.
The camera will be launched from July, price to be confirmed.
It will be interesting to see how well this camera performs with all those extra megapixels, because simply upping that count doesn't necessarily produce a better camera, and while some of the specs sound good on paper, I've a feeling consumers who merely look at that big "12 megapixels" label on the camera's shiny body could be disappointed.

Creative Releases National Day-themed ZEN Stone

Singapore National Day is coming up soon and we have the latest tech gadgets that will fit right in our nation’s colourful celebrations. The Creative ZEN Stone Plus and Creative ZEN Stone MP3 players! Look out for our special National Day promotions!
Creative ZEN Stone Plus, a feature-rich MP3 player comes with a vibrant screen, FM radio, clock, stopwatch, voice recording and holds up to 1,000 songs with a 2GB memory and is available at the suggested retail price of S$99.00.

Creative ZEN Stone, a superior quality MP3 player, is so simple to use. Just skip through tracks or albums containing favourite artists or playlists while on the go or simply play all the songs randomly in the shuffle mode. It holds up to 500 songs with a 1GB memory and is available at the suggested retail price of S$69.00.
Upping the fun quotient are the cool accessories like colourful skins with clips, sporty armbands with skins and fashionable keychains with cases that make great companions for the players.
The Creative ZEN Stone series come in six high-gloss colours including our national colours of Red and White, and you can match them with the cute Creative TravelSound ZEN Stone speaker system (in Black or White) for a blast!