Hubby tears apart the wrapping of a gift, then carefully opens the box. The gadget will be handled lovingly, plugged in, and then this pensive look appears on his face. Where would I be during all this? You got it – leafing through the thick manual, because I know that at some point, I will be asked a question or two about what to do because something’s not right.

That’s exactly what the survey found out (data courtesy of BBC):

• The service found that 64% of its male callers and 24% of its female callers had not read the instruction manual before ringing up.
• 12% of male and 7% of female customers simply needed to plug in or turn on their appliance.
• Women spent 32% longer on the phone to their helpers than men – but 66% of the helpline staff preferred speaking to them, the survey found.

I could have told you the exact same thing based on observation and experience – minus the figures, of course.

Now you tell me – do you read the manual before you get all frustrated? Do you even KNOW there is a manual included in the box? ;)

Call it sheer geekiness or simply the lack of anything productive to do, but these two guys certainly deserve some credit for working on thees iPhone costumes. You might want to emulate them and create one that you can wear on Halloween. Who knows you might scare away your friends or neighbors who are still using the BlackBerry or Android Phone.

Incidentally, these two were the same guys who did a similar iPhone costume in 2007. So, definitely it was a 1st gen iPhone costume and lacks the current version of the costume’s LCD TVs plus actual car batteries to power-up them up.

And like I said, despite the lack of productive purpose, these two guys still deserve some accolades because those costumes weighs 85 pounds. You can just imagine how burdensome it would be to wear those costumes.

In case you’re wondering, those LCD screens are not touchs enabled. It would been great if they are.

via TUAW

We all know that T3 is one of the most popular gadget and technology sites today; and while you may not be a T3 fan (to be honest, I am not that much of a fan), it would be cool to participate in their awards. The chance to win prizes is even cooler!

Anyhow, some of the categories for the awards are:

-Camera of the Year
-Commuter Gadget
-Computer of the Year
-Drop Dead Gorgeous Gadget
-Gadget of the Year
-Gadget You Can’t Live Without
-Game of the Year
-Green Gadget of the Year
-Home Gadget of the Year

There are several more categories. Browsing the categories, I couldn’t help but think that I would have a hard time choosing one gadget for each. They do present the contenders for each category, though, so you have an idea of what to vote for in case you are overwhelmed by the number of gadgets that you have or want.

Well, what are you waiting for? Head on over to the T3 Gadget Awards 2009 page and cast your votes!

The life-sized Gundam that Bandai had been constructing for the past few months was finally completed this week, and it’s mighty impressive. The RX78 Gundam was built to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Gundam series and stands 18 metres tall. It is currently on display in Odaiba, Japan.

Although there have been some claims of life-sized gundams being built in the past, as far as I know they’ve all just been hoaxes like the one below:

This makes the Odaiba Gundam the first life-sized Gundam in the world. For those of you wondering if it can move, I’m sorry to disappoint but it doesn’t look like it can walk or fly, although the head can move from side to side as seen in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykamCJsKFBI

For all the hardcore Gundam fans out there, I suggest you go visit Odaiba before the Gundam is taken away :)

Odaiba Gundam image courtesy of punynari

Last year, the UK’s Museum of Computing had to close because the University of Bath moved out of a campus in Swindon where the collection was housed.

Now, though, it’s received a new lease of life thanks to Swindon Borough Council which has offered the museum a three-year lease in the heart of the town.

Museum founder Jeremy Holt said that the new venue would be much easier to get to and could encourage more people to visit.

In particular, the staff are thinking of setting up championship league tables and online competitions in the gaming exhibition. Some 80% of the gaming collection is in working order and means it’s possible to trace the history of video gaming around 30 years back.

The venue means there’ll be more room to spread out and house themed exhibitions. It’s sponsored by Intel whose European HQ is also in Swindon.

CellPhones.org has announced a Swine Flu news update service that will broadcast breaking news as it develops. According to Cellphones.org:

Text PIGFLU to 41411 and we will send updates as news develops about the Swine Flu. The only cost is your cost for receiving regular text messages, and there will be no other billing. We are providing this service in the public interest.

Now, what if someone comes up with something like the Segway but still closely resembling the traditional car? That is what the makers of Segway and General Motors were thinking of when they came up with the concept of the PUMA, which is short for Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility. By the way, I love the acronym.

Anyhow, this car cum Segway weighs only 300 pounds, and can carry two people. It is similar to the Segway in that it follows the same two-wheel principle. With regard to its power source, it is fully electric, and can travel 35 miles on a single charge. The speed? It can go as fast as 35 miles per hour.

I can now just imagine New York city – where the PUMA was unveiled, by the way – teeming with countless little cars. Needless to say, if the PUMA takes off, it will solve a lot of problems. Since it is electric, there would be less emissions. It will also lessen the tedious process of finding a parking space. Last, but perhaps one of the most important, it will mean less traffic on the streets. (That is if other cars are taken off the streets.)

However, since everything is still at the prototype stage, we have no ideas about the full capabilities of the PUMA as well as its price.

Probably not as often as you would want, huh? With Radio Shack’s most recent program, you just might be able to afford upgrading your gadgets more often. They have this trade in program wherein customers can bring in any electronic product and receive a gift certificate in exchange. A Radio Shack representative will appraise your gadget and then give you that value in the form of the certificate. While you will definitely not get the brand new amount, it is much better than having to buy a new gadget without getting any discounts, right?

One requirement is that you have to show proper identification and proof of your current address. This is to ensure that the gadgets that are being traded in really belong to you. You never know, there are many unscrupulous individuals out there who might be trading in “hot” goods.

There are other stores which have the same program but Radio Shack’s is unique since they accept large electronics such as LCD TVs and laptops. More so, you need not worry that you might be buying refurbished products that have been traded in – the store is not selling these products, according to a representative.

Is this good news or what?

Amazon UK has made a move that just might spark a “war” between online music stores. Yesterday, Amazon UK slashed its pricing on songs! We all know that one of the most popular online music stores is iTunes. In fact, I don’t think I have ever bought music from Amazon. That is why a lot of people are saying that this move by Amazon is actually a bid to attract some customers from iTunes.

With their current promo, Amazon is selling some of its top music downloads for a mere 29p! Compared to iTunes, you can make up to 70p savings on one song. Add that savings up if you buy lots of songs, and you make really considerable savings! Imagine having to pay only 3GBP for an album. Now isn’t that really cheap???

This move is really making waves everywhere. The Guardian even ran a feature on the promo, which by the way, is running indefinitely. Here are some of the tracks that you can get for 29p:

…Lily Allen’s The Fear and Lady GaGa’s Poker Face – to 29p.

On the bargain list, which spans pop, hip-hop, rock, classical and jazz, music fans can also find older tracks such as Oasis’s Wonderwall, the Dambusters March played by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Neil Young’s Rockin’ in the Free World.

I guess I am outta here – have to check the other tracks!

Oh… rumors have said that this service will be available in a few hours… so watch out for it!

Pocket Lint listed the top 8 most wanted film gadgets (with a smattering of my thoughts thrown in):

1. Click remote control (23%) - Nice. I distinctly remember wishing that I had this remote control so many times in the past several months. Tough day at work? Click! Reliving memories of my recent vacation? Click! We never learn, do we? Considering that the remote control brought about disastrous results in the movie, I wonder why we still want this!

2. Back to the Future car/M.I.B. memory eraser (16%) - Memory eraser, definitely. I can’t even begin to count the situations wherein I can use this!

3. James Bond’s car (11%) - Um, it is cool but I would rather have James Bond. ;)

4. Lightsaber from Star Wars (9%) – Not really.

5. Batman’s Batmobile (8%) - I’ll pass.

6. James Bond’s watch (with laser-cutting function) (6%) – Ah, yes. It can do more than tell the time. It should be useful when I find myself alone in the city streets at night.

7. Batman’s utility belt (5%) – Pass again.

8. Inspector Gadget’s Go-Go gadget arms (4%) – I am sure I can find a use for one of the arms.

So how about you, what would your gadget of choice be?

Rumors about this streaming only package circulated last week, and I guess it was put to rest when the company CFO Barry McArthy said last Wednesday that they’re most likely to do that in the foreseeable future.

I think this is a great move and one that prepares for streaming savvy video watchers created by Hulu, Youtube and others. With internet speed and access becoming too fast and too cheap it makes sense to some (like me) to watch movies online. I’ve started watching my favorite TV shows online a year ago.

Of course it’s a bug, but you wouldn’t think a company would take such offence. One rep did, though:

jason!

you’re an idiot and a liar!! fact is!

you’ve opened one session then another and requested a page meant for a different session, you are so stupid you dont even know how you did it! you dont get a free flight, there is no dynamic data to render which is prob why you got 0.00. what self respecting developer uses a crappy CMS such as word press anyway AND puts they’re mobile ph number online, i suppose even a prank call is better than nothing on a lonely sat evening!!

Sheesh! Didn’t even bother with the punctuation, grammar or spell check. What’s amusing and pathetic at the same time is that, while the original post is fairly matter-of-fact (”this is what I did, and this happened”) the response is an attack on both blogger and WordPress.

That wasn’t enough, though. “Customer relations” obviously decided that Jason hadn’t had enough schoolyard reprimanding:

Website is not perfect, Life is not perfect…

If you would work in your pathetic life on a such big project in a such busy environment with so little resources, you would know that the most important is to have usual user behavior scenarios working rather than spending time on improbable and harmless things.

We very well know about these anomalies and unless it is not critical we are not going to sacrifice time to this.

If you would be a serious programmer you would know these things and would not post any of this on the web if you would think it can cause us troubles, but you would report to us directly.

Even you did not discover anything major you are still trying to benefit from this.

If I would be you I would think of consequences this can have.

If you would be a serious developer you would work out your About page as well. Or is this really about you? What is that bunch of links there? I could give my review of those websites and it would not be positive probably, but really I don’t know if you actually worked on them or what exactly you did and how big influence you had to make changes there. So keep working on yourself and don’t post bollocks.

Maybe if Ryanair wants to be a “serious airline” they should work on how their staff respond to online criticism. Of course, it could all be a hoax, or a wind-up, as there’s no way of knowing if all of these comments are from Ryanair staff. Some are. Still funny.

Jason retorts:

Ryanair UK staff – “report to us directly” .. sure, give me your direct phone number and name and ill report issues to you directly. Stop hiding behind your anonymity and office network. Low blows about me personally isn’t going to help your situation.

“If I would be you I would think of consequences this can have.” – That sounds quite threatening a tone to take from an employee on a company network. I have stated factual information, nothing else.

The next retort is pure ironic class:

Many of ordinary computer users/customers did find a way to report to us directly…
I am not entitled to deal with public nor have time…
It’s not about me, it’s about you…

It’s not a threat, its advice for you to present yourself better… but of course you think of threat straightaway, because that fits you better.

Defensive aggression of Ryanair stuff is less than offensive aggression of customers and each stuff member gains this gradually.

Offensive aggression of customers depends on customer’s ignorance, Ryanair restrictions, Ryanair policy, strictness and low prices as lower the prices are more people are traveling with bigger intellectual diversity.

OK, seriously, WTF?

To round it all off, Stephen McNamara from Ryanair has been quoted as saying:

“Ryanair can confirm that a Ryanair staff member did engage in a blog discussion.

“It is Ryanair policy not to waste time and energy corresponding with idiot bloggers and Ryanair can confirm that it won’t be happening again.

“Lunatic bloggers can have the blog sphere all to themselves as our people are far too busy driving down the cost of air travel”.

Honestly, this stuff makes me laugh almost as much as FAILBlog.

It’s not entirely clear whether Ryanair’s stance is that all bloggers are idiots (or, indeed, lunatics), or just some.

So, if you’re a blogger and want to correspond with Ryanair, my advice is not to bother. They don’t want to know. End of.

Right, I’m back off out in to the blog sphere where I’m free from lunatic travel companies.

(Via The Register)

I found out soon enough when I tried to send the minutes of the meeting through my Google Apps e-mail. At first I thought that the error I was getting was because of our Internet connection – it does become funky at times. Then I realized that everyone was experiencing the same thing. Pretty soon, I saw proof of the worldwide “blackout” on the Web – Tweets about Gmail were all over the place.

So what happens when Gmail goes down? The world comes to a standstill!

If you haven’t noticed, or you haven’t been keeping track, this is actually the 6th downtime in 8 months! That’s almost once a month of outage! For personal e-mails, I suppose that that is not such a big deal but if your work e-mail is on the line, then such a frequent occurrence is not a very good thing. Google has no explanation for the latest glitch as of yet but it has already been dubbed as “The Great Gmail Outage of 2009.” And great it was indeed – I lost about 2 hours of work time yesterday. What were you doing when it happened? How did you deal with it?

There’s plenty of scope for updating the type of information displayed on it, though. Take Kim Bost’s business card design which simply provides space for a “status update”.

In case you think that font looks familiar, it’s fittingly the same one used by Facebook ? Klavika from Process Type Foundry according to Ben Pieratt.

It’s a cool concept, though perhaps not the most ideal if you actually want to contact Kim again in the future. Perhaps there’s details on the back – at very least a web site and a Twitter name.

If you had this business card, would you always write an honest status on it, knowing that it could sit around on someone’s desk for months?

(Via Swiss Miss)

You’ve heard the line “don’t leave your electronics out in the sun, specially in your car on a bright sunny day… otherwise, it’ll just “fry” up”.  With the recent announcement of Samsung’s “Blue Earth” the line is now “make sure you leave your phone in the sun to charge up! :)

It’s not a flip or fold-up phone… though it does look like it right? What’s great is that it’s a full touch phone… yup, following the bandwagon, but with the beautiful twist of “green” through and through.  

Samsung reinforced its commitment to protect the environment through the design of eco-friendly products and a programme of activities for its customers. It will be showcased at Mobile World Congress 2009 for the first time.

Designed to symbolize a flat and well rounded shiny pebble, Blue Earth is the first solar powered full-touch screen phone. By charging with the solar panel located on the back of the phone, users can generate enough electronic power to call anytime anywhere.

Something good has come from Google this week, Google Latitude. It’s paired with the Google Maps application allowing you to find your friends on the map at any given time. Scary… well, maybe. But don’t worry, as we know Google, this will be safe.

Google Latitude uses Google Maps My Location service that combines cell tower triangulation and GPS. Ah, too much tech to handle… well, in a snip, if you have a cellphone AND you allow friends to locate you, you can be found. There has been tests, that I’ve personally seen, on the CBS show and I must say it’s a 50/50 accuracy hit, at least for now. They tested Google Latitude on a family on a particularly busy and mobile day. Results were not so good, but brings a promise of improvement!

Oh yeah… this will work IF your cellphones can access Google Earth by the way. It will show you an actual map with a few pins on where your friends are (at least those you’re tracking). Cool eh?

In what can only be called another example of its power, China has launched its own High Definition standard, HD NVD, thus escaping any licensing fees.

The HD NVD standard has been realized with support from exclusively Chinese companies and the Chinese Government. Technically HD NVD will offer discs up to 12GB and still make use of the more classic red lasers. Because red lasers, known from CD players and DVD players, are used manufacturing will be possible in existing factories thus reducing production costs massively.

Biggest problem with this new standard will be the movie studios. Will they allow their content to be released on this platform in China? Then again, they might as well collaborate with the Chinese Government because otherwise they will find their products on the black market. But are they _that_ smart already?

Via Numerama (French).

The Internet has changed the way we work, the way we interact and the way we learn. Here I’ve put together a list of five ways I see the Internet having re-invented the learning process.

1. Information about everything and anything, readily available
The two biggest contributors to information access are Wikipedia and Google. While both receive plenty of criticism for inaccuracies or for rewarding bad information, there is no doubting that on balance, they both do a good job of making authoritative information easily accessible. This makes the initial stages of research go much more quickly and can be a spring board to find the sources to go in more depth. Plus, with Google, we now literally have access to thousands if not millions of living experts in various fields.

2. Free software makes work more efficient and productive
With the Internet, there are now boatloads of free or open source software for students to help with research, collaboration, communication and everything in between. Free software gives us the opportunity to learn new skills, and get hands on with our projects. The best software helps people do things that weren’t even possible in the past. Plus, it makes jobs that were hard in the past, accessible to everyone.

3. Online learning tools customize the learning experience
New, more dynamic learning tools are available online then ever before. Everyone has a different method of learning, and different tools tap into different learning styles. Plus, learning has never been more engaging and interactive. Sure, sifting through the good ones from the bad ones is a chore, but that becomes much easier thanks to lists like this one from MakeUseOf.

4. You can get educated from the comfort of your home
First of all, there is self-study. People use the Internet all the time to listen to free lectures, read free books, take free classes and everything in between. But now, more than ever, people are actually doing their full college education online. As more reputable colleges enter the online fray, more employees will see online degrees as legitimate, and more students will avoid the hassle of commuting or paying room & board. Online learning adds an amazing amount of efficiency to the education system by removing various inefficiencies like traffic jams, walking between classes, and accommodating the lowest common denominator. Plus, you get to customize the amount of time you put into learning based on your own learning patterns.

5. Plagiarism and laziness
A list about how the Internet changed education couldn’t be complete without reference to the negatives. In my experience, the biggest negatives about the Internet are that it removes structure from the learning process and encourages laziness. Obviously, a self-motivated person can overcome these obstacles and reap all the rewards that the Internet provides. However, on average, I suspect that most people are like me and inclined to the principle of least action. The Internet provides so much information about any topic that we might be inclined to not take the time to understand what we are researching. Even worse, we might be tempted to simply copy someone else’s ideas. This isn’t bad just in principle. It’s bad for the learning process. Why? Because learning requires understanding, and understanding requires engagement. Plagiarism is a short cut that undermines the process of learning.

Ryan is the co-founder of The Firewall Blog.

I used to own a Thinkpad T-series before I got my Macbook. Being a former Thinkpad user I’d say it was one of the most solid mobile-PC platform I’ve used in my short 20-year career as a computer geek. Now browsing across Engadget I found out that Thinkpad has recently developed a dual-screen laptop in the Thinkpad W700. That to me is great news.

Good news because they’re positioning the product to a much wider user base. These days, almost everyone has a second or third display. I’ve seen people un-cluttering their workspaces to put order in whatever they do. Trust me, it also contributes to the sanity level in my cubicle here! LOL.

Oh, Thinkpad W700 has an integrated WACOM palm rest digitizer and pen. How’s that for icing on the cake!

Let me share with you the specs right here:

The ThinkPad W700 is the first mobile workstation to deliver:
- Intel Core 2 Extreme processors
- High-capacity RAID HDDs
- Integrated color calibration
- Onboard digitizer and pen

What’s new
- Intel Core 2 Quad Core Q9100 processors
- 10.6-in diagonal second display panel
- Intel Turbo memory 4 GB support
- 4 GB memory DIMM

System features
- RAID DASD high-speed storage
- Integrated color calibration
- Integrated WACOM palm rest digitizer and pen

Displays
- 17-in WUXGA with CCFL backlight and 1920 x 1200 resolution
- 10.6-in WXGA with white LED backlight second display and 768 x 1280 resolution

High-performance features:
- NVIDIA Quadro FX 2700M, 512 MB dedicated video memory
- NVIDIA Quadro FX 3700M, 1 GB dedicated video memory
- Intel Centrino® 2 with vPro and Core 2 Extreme technologies
- Intel PM45 Express chip set
- PC3-8500 double data rate 3 (DDR3) SDRAM 1067 MHz SODIMM high-speed memory
- Intel Active Management Technology 4.0
- WLAN: Intel WiFi Link 5300 AGN (3 x 3)1
- 64 GB solid state drive (SSD) for fast, reliable, lightweight, energy-efficient storage
- DisplayPort
- Dual Link DVI
- Integrated camera
- Intel Turbo memory

ThinkPad layered security: Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip, ThinkVantage Client Security, hardware-based HDD encryption, and fingerprint reader

I’ve been really wondering for several months now why I am STILL not able to access the Google Earth website as easily as I could using my PC. I’ve been pouring into my Mac lately that I didn’t have time to look back to PC for my Google Earth needs. Thank goodness someone had the bright idea at Google to make the website compatible to Mac users too… thanks a Macmillion guys.

It’s official: The Google Earth website can now be accessed using your Mac browsers.

What’s the next step? Well Mac guys… head on over right here and download the Google Earth plug-in. Just be prepared for a little wait time because the plugin size is about 47MB. The size is large because Google provided a universal binary file that runs on both PowerPC-based and Intel-based Macs.

So thank you guys for finally making this available. I know demand for it may be a little less, but hey, thanks for looking after those small peeking demands that make an ordinary guy (like me) happy.

Here’s a little snippet from Google’s press release:

“Today, we’re excited to announce the release of the Google Earth Browser Plugin for Mac OS X 10.4+ (PowerPC and Intel). The Mac plugin is supported on Safari 3.1+ and Firefox 3.0+. The download link should now be available to all users from any Earth API-powered site. We also released a game, Puzzler, in honor of the new Mac plugin. It is, of course, playable on a PC as well. We think you’ll like it. And as usual, it’s open source, so you’re free to adopt the code.”

Yes, you read it right. Just when you thought good deals are losing foot these days, surprise surprise. The Zunes just got cheaper. Across the board their price cuts from about $20-$30 for their 8 and 16 GB models. Good news for parents who would want MP3 players as gifts for their kids this Christmas. I hope Apple and other manufacturers follow this. The big capacity Zunes, however, same price.

Here’s a quick brush of the Zune prices:

Zune 4GB – $99.99
Zune 8GB – $139.99
Zune 16GB – $179.99

Aside from the Zunes, accessories for Zunes also got a price cut. Check out the Zune Dock Pack and the Zune Car Pack at Amazon.com.

Zune also announced a new firmware upgrade that comes with four free games. Zune firmware 3.1 comes with checkers, Sudoku, Space Battle and the multi-player version of Texas Hold ‘Em. The firmware also updates Zune’s GUI making it a little easy to navigate. A better Zune stability and performance is what this new firmware upgrade is about, thanks Microsoft.

In case you haven’t noticed, I believe that touch screen phones are the “in” thing today. Thanks to Apple we have a market that is currently buzzing with mostly touch phones! While there has still yet to be a solid effort against the iPhone, we here at ForEverGeek.com are well, just letting everyone pass with a quick “oh and here’s a new touch phone” jab… just to keep you guys updated.

Here’s one now.

LG has announced a new touch phone (for US customers only), called the Incite. The phone has partnered with “the fastest 3G provider” AT&T.

Seems that this phone comes with all the touch phone standards. I love how they have squeezed in a 3MP camera in there. A built-in FM radio is nice too, thanks LG.

It’s sold at the AT&T website for $199.99 after mail in rebate. A no-commitment contract sells the phone for about $499.99. Yeah, it’s more expensive than the iPhone… not really sure if there will be anyone lining up for this. But… OK LG. OK.

Not too sure if you know about this already, but something worth your attention is waving at Gmail.com. Gmail now offers themes… yes, themes! Well I know know it was there for a long time through third-party aps, but now Gmail has ported the theme function from their very own.

Getting your theme is as easy as clicking the theme’s tab when you log into your Gmail account.

Now to some of you this is a GREAT step towards making Gmail work a little livelier. I could imagine those who work using their Gmail accounts every day. I know how bland and bleh Gmail can be at times. But hey, Google heard yah, so here are themes.

According to Annie Chen on the Gmail Blog, the Gmail team wanted to “go beyond simple color customization” so “there’s a shiny theme with chrome styling, another one that turns your inbox into a retro notepad, nature themes that change scenery over time, weather driven themes that can rain on your mailbox, and fun characters to keep you in good company.”

I really love it when technology pushes itself up and up the style scale. Thanks to a lot of consumer reviews and focus groups, it seems like LG is improving both in form and function. THe LG Prada was a little less than a parade, good start though. But the LG Prada II… now that’s more like it. Check out the features as LG Prada II specs will include:

- Quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900). WCDMA 900/2100, 7.2 Mbps HSDPA connectivity
- 3″ WQVGA 400×240 px TFT touchscreen
- 5 megapixel camera
- front camera for video calls
- Wi-Fi b/g connectivity
- USB 2.0, Bluetooth
- Full HTML browsing
- FM-Radio
- TV-out
- microSDHC memory card slot (up to 8GB)
- slide-out QWERTY keyboard

Quite a catch eh? 5MP camera dudes! A lot of these features aren’t available on the iPhone even. There’s a catch though, the price (!) is $816… ouch! Let’s seen, what else could I buy for $816… a dining set, a good comfy couch, new set of tires… LG, c’mon, be practical. We love what you put in it, but if we can’t afford it… bleh…

Mighty fine design we got here, eh? The ASUS Eee Top all-in-one PC is set to launch in the USA real soon. It looks like it’s positioning to be a competitor to Apple’s iMac. Wireless keyboard and mouse, glossy screen white, ah, all that’s missing is the male model saying “I’m a mac”. :) It sure does look and feel like it.

The EeeTop PCs come in two versions the ET1603 and the ET1602 versions. Both have the 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor, run Windows XP and have ASUS’ own finger-friendly interface; the ET1603 adds ATI HD3450 graphics and a battery for mobile use. Mobile use… hmmmm…

Other features would be: the standard 160GB hard-drive, 1GB of RAM, WiFi b/g/n and a 1.3-megapixel webcam. There’s also two 4W speakers, a bevy of USB 2.0 ports and audio input/outputs.

There are no initial pricing info just yet, but rumors revolve around US$500 a piece.

Well, looks like waiting for something better (at least for me) than the E71 has paid off. Coolest Gadgets reports that the Nokia E63 is coming about this quarter. I once thought of replacing my Nokia E61i with a Nokia E71 but held off because I felt that the E71 is just like a mini-me of the E61i. I wanted it on a different color, like maybe dark blue or something that won’t just shout out “I’m a business phone” but can also say “I’m fun too”.

2 months ago, I settled for a Nokia E51 which I am still using to this very day. But I think I’d let go of it for the E71. Sure call me a phone shark… my weakness. I just gotta have that new Nokia Phone.

Here’s that Nokia press release for the E63.

The Nokia E63 has been positioned as a messaging device that caters to both one’s professional and personal aspects of life, letting you update your social network or browse through a personal email account just about anywhere (watch those pay-per-use data plans though, they could end up costing you an arm and a leg). Available in two new colors, the E63 will feature Wi-Fi connectivity to help you stay connected in public places, while Mail for Exchange support keeps you up to date with the latest digital-based office chit-chat. Dedicated keys to contacts, calendar and email allow you to gain quick access to those functions without having to fumble through an unwieldy user interface. -from Coolest Gadgets blog

Not long ago Yahoo ended one of its supposedly relationship with a tech giant (Microsoft). Well, now Yahoo has yet again ended another one, now with Google. I was listening to Loaded with Natalie del Conte and found out that Yahoo and Google ended their ad sharing contract. You have to applaud Yahoo for trying its best to make strong partnerships, unfortunately these just didn’t work out. What’s fortunate though is that Yahoo hasn’t dug deep (I think) to invest in deals with Microsoft and Google. Yes, potential revenue was lost, but better than losing what you have now… right? So try again Yahoo… maybe Apple? Creative? Sony? Toshiba? You’ll hit a homerun or at least first base soon.

The contract started June 2008 but was held off for about 3-4 months to give ad regulators a chance to review it, making sure fair is fair… but after the agreed season hold-off, they just decided to part ways. Google has given a good statement on their blog, right here. And Yahoo!’s statement… right here.

Well I think these giants just have to rule their own turfs… good or bad? I’d say both, but it seems that status quo is what both Google and Yahoo wants now, at least.

Square Enix has announced that it will enter into a strategic partnership with Gas Powered Games that will lead to the creation of Supreme Commander 2, the sequel to Gas Powered Games’ large-scale real-time strategy game. The details are still sketchy about the partnership so we don’t know what role Square Enix will play in the creation of the game, the platforms it will be in, the game release date or even new features of the game.

I think this is unusual because we know that Square Enix deals with a vastly different set of game genres compared to Gas Powered Games. I know that Square Enix, just like other Japanese game makers are trying to create bigger presence in the Western market but this is still quite an unorthodox strategy. But it’s also quite interesting. I’d love to see how Supreme Commander 2 will look like — maybe we get to see Bahamut as an ultimate weapon.

Just heard that MySpace has released Profile 2.0. If you’re a MySpace user, a majority would shout “Yeee haaaa” because true it was a bit cumbersome to make a decent looking profile page on MySpace thru Profile 1.0. I’ve seen some just resign to “live with it”. The minority would I guess be a huge fan of the status quo, saying that it was all good. That it made MySpace a little edgy because of it. Well… ok.

MySpace took notice of these two sets of users and has said in their blog that Profile 2.0 is an option. If you want it, go for it… if you’d like to stay on 1.0 then it’ll be there for you for a long long time. And you can switch profile versions any time. How’s that for convenience.

You can’t expect to grab some of Profile 2.0 features to Profile 1.0 though… it’s all or nothing.

Check it out… I’ve heard raves about the ready templates available.

Here’s a snippet from their dev blog:

At midnight we launched Profile 2.0. (You’ll see the link for it on your Edit Profile page and in the profile menu drop down ‘Customize Profile’.) Almost everything we add to MySpace comes from the feedback I receive from users. The new profile 2.0 is based on requests I’ve received for several years about what users want. We did beta test launches of 2.0 to smaller groups around the world. Now it’s ready for everyone!

One of my favorite tech stores, Circuit City, has filed for bankruptcy. While the Christmas season is coming in a breath the industry, like me, was surprised why it took this time to say “I’m out”. A sad note, but I guess it takes the “big pill” to keep the struggling company temporarily floating.

Chapter 11 allows a company to hold off creditors while it attempts to restructure its finances. Circuit City said Monday that it has has negotiated a commitment for a $1.1 billion debtor-in-possession revolving credit facility to supplement its working capital. – from CNet News

The company has said it will begin shutting down about 155 stores and lay-off around 17 percent of its workforce. Circuit City has over 45,000 employees, 17-20 percent laid off is a big 4,500+ sad faces. Is there hope? The company looks forward to its finance restructuring, but no promises are made.

“We appreciate the support we have received from our lenders in the midst of such a tight credit market,” acting CEO and vice chairman James A. Marcum said. “With this support, we believe we have the opportunity to leverage our market position and the strength of our brand to restore Circuit City to solid financial footing.”

It’s a widely known fact that graphic designers use a tablet to do their magic and spells, great art work. Known fact too that most graphic designers would prefer to use Macs over PCs. I’ve used both, and am not a real pro to notice the difference but them that are (!) use Macs. At least those I know. :)

Mod company Axiotron was focused on GeekBrief.tv today, and it’s about their work on the Macbook.

The Axiotron Modbook® is a revolutionary slate-style tablet Mac that enables users to draw and write directly on the screen – available now through Axiotron Authorized Resellers or by transforming your existing computer using Axiotron Modservice™.

Their process involves integrating the Apple Macbook with state-of-the-art Wacom® pen-enabled digitizer technology PLUS Axiotron’s own proprietary hardware and software components into a complete tablet solution, the Axiotron Modbook.

The price for transforming your Macbooks to this wonder is US$2,199.

The Axiotron Modbook operates on the Mac OS® X platform. It has 2.1GHz-plus of processing speed, 1GB-plus of memory, and the full-range of Apple MacBook connectivity via Ethernet, USB, FireWire®, Bluetooth and AirPort®.
Every Modbook also comes equipped with a built-in iSight® camera, optical drive and Global Positioning System (GPS).

Good news today, Google Earth has just released its iPhone and iPod touch versions. Google Earth is Google’s map software that let’s people scan the entire globe and zero in on a point of interest getting detailed roadmaps for some areas or terrain snapshots.

The iPhone version brings the PC experience to your palms and great to note that this is also the first time that Google Earth is being made available for a mobile phone. With the iPhone’s multi-touch and gesture features, I think it will be much easier to use than the original PC versions.

The only difference I see is that the iPhone version has limited information layers vs. it’s PC versions. But don’t worry, I’ve hopped into the Google Earth download page and saw tons of raves about this software.

This software is FREE by the way. And you can download it right here, from the Apple store website.

This from BusinessWire:

Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile) today announced the installation of 22 charging stations at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP). Out of the 22 charging stations, 18 of the 8-1/2-foot-tall stations have been installed inside Lindbergh Terminal Concourses A, B, C, D, E and F, along with four additional stations located in the Humphrey Terminal.

Boy it sure does look like Samsung is gearing up to be a friendly icon in terminals. With the holidays coming, and alongside with it frequent air travelers coming back home to family and friends, it’s no wonder that the big boys are making sure they’re visible where it matters.

This is exactly the kind of market engineering I’d like to see more of. Be there when people need you and they’d surely remember who was that product and what was that service too.

Tech blogs worldwide are getting news of this and aside from the raves… a few boos I’m also echoing. Charging Kiosk design, poor. I’d hope that there was a lever adjustment for table height or something… specially for the physically handicapped.

But hey, in summary I’d give the Samsung guys a thumbs up. I hope more would follow your awesome pulse to serve! :)

Not everyone will be able to see the said ads though. Only gamers from the ten swing states are targeted by Obama’s campaign strategy.