>Google I/O 2011 Coverage: Samsung Chrome OS laptop Series 5

>Subject: Google Stuff !~
By: D.F.Skinner!~

We all knew that there would be a Chrome OS netbook,I mean we’ve all witness and most even have tested the current CR-48  laptop.Whats rather surprising to me is Samsung will lead the way with its ultra-slim 0.79-inch thin netbook.This is the new Samsung Series 5 ChromeBook which will be the start of Goolge’s new standard “ChromeBook” ,the netbooks will come fitted with some pretty decent hardware,dual core Intel Atom processor,(now word on storage capacity) a dual-band 802.11 WiFi,optional global 3G,two 2.0 USB port connectivity,an HD webcam and a click-able trackpad.The body work goes as follows,12.1 inch with an 1280 x 800 nit screen,it will weigh 3.26 pounds.

Good news is that you don’t have to wait long to purchase the Samsung ChromeBook,you’ll be able to order from Amazon or Best Buy beginning June 15th.Price point goes as follow,$429 for the WiFi version and $499 for the worldwide 3G which will include 100MB of free Verizon data a month.

Quick Update: The storage capacity will be 16GB mSATA,still need more details to come.

>Google I/O 2011 Coverage: Ice Cream Sandwich

>Subject: Google Stuff!~
By: D.F.Skinner!~

One of the problems I’ve always had with Google Android is to many devices with different operating systems.It seems like Google has addressed that issue by releasing their new OS codename: Ice Cream Sandwich.This is an ambitious release from Google which will unite Android smartphones and tablets,one operating system will run on two different platforms.Google main intention is to blend its Honeycomb tablet wares and Gingerbread smartphone into one,hence the name,Ice Cream Sandwich.It will be what I would call a “universal OS” that will operate on several Android phones, 10-inch tablets and will adapt to each form factor.Expected features are re-sizable status bar,face-tracking and camera focus shifting based on voice recognition.Google plans to release Ice Cream Sandwich to tablets and smartphones coming in Q4 2011.

>Tekspekz Update: Micrsoft buys out Skype

>Subject: Corporate Take Overs!~
By: D.F.Skinner!~

This news pretty much was circulated last night around the web,in case you been sleeping all night and just waking up,Skype has been purchased by Microsoft for a cool $8.5 billion in cold hard cash.Now as you know by now or,if you don’t know and don’t give a damn about business tech,this isn’t the first time Skype has been sold to a tech titan.A few years back Skype was bought out by eBay for $2.5 billion,in turn sold most of the company to Silver Lake ( Silver Laker is a private company that deals with tech industries) for $2.75 billion.Now present day Microsoft has purchased that company for 2 times that amount.

So why you may ask is Skype the most used video calling software on the planet, its simple, this would allow Microsoft to integrate Skype into a popular ecosystem of products like Kinect,the Xbox,and their Windows Phones.I can see where it would make sense to integrate Skype with the Kinect,the software would indeed take advantage of the brilliantly engineered motion camera system.

Microsoft has stated that this acquisition will indeed not affect that already 25 million subscribe users of the software. 

>The Corsair’s SP2500 2.1 Gaming Audio speakers

>Subject: Desktop Audio!~
By: D.F.Skinner!~

Its not all the time when companies venture off into markets that is totally different from who they are and become successful.Corsair,as everyone knows are among the leaders in storage technology (even manufacture power supplies) so when a company of this reputation venture off into audio market eyes of course are raised.

As you know by now( If you don’t know already) I’m always scouring the Internet for valuable information to attract you readers,I stumbled upon a article that dealt with Corsair and how it just unveiled gaming desktop computer speakers to the market. The Corsair Gaming Audio Series SP2500 2.1 speakers are the focus here and these speakers here look rather sleek,very big,in fact you would probably need a very big desk and floor space to accommodate these awesome looking computer accessory.

The Corsair SP2500 comes with two audio speakers and a 18” x 10″ x 11″ subwoofer,which is little over a cubic foot,like I mention in the past paragraph you need a nice spacey floor space to accommodate these subwoofers.

You want power,how about having 232W of maximum output power which is suppose let you use the entire volume range.The speakers have two satellite 3″ inch mid-range drivers as well as a “silk-domed,ferrofluid-cooled tweeters.The satellite speakers are “bi-amplified” to prevent audio signal bleed.The subwoofer 120W which has a high efficient power supply unit.To put all this in a simplistic formula,the speaker set puts out good sound.

The SP2500 Gaming speakers assures you great sound when playing your favorite video games,or,listen your music.Note the speaker set are not surround sound in case you need to ask.The Corsair SP2500 Gaming Audio speakers go for $250,rather pricey I might add,but speakers of this magnitude are in a reasonable price range.Anyone springing $250 for this particular PC setup would definitely need to purchase a good sound card to get high stereo quality output.You can purchase a decent sound card for about $30 on any online computer outlet.

Currently these gaming speakers are listed on “New Eggs” website ready for sell.

Note: These speakers was unveiled at CES 2011 this past January. 

Credit Source: The Tech Report.

>Whats on my iPhone: ESPN Radio 3.0

>Subject: Mobile Apps!~

I know,its been awhile since I posted this weeks “Whats on my iPhone” without going into explanations as to why no posts lets get to it.This week we profile ESPN Radio 3.0 app, I’ve had this app for a good 6 months now and I got to say as a avid sports fan this application not only is a must have,but very convenient.This application allows you to stream ESPN Rasdio from your iPhone using of course broadband data,even stream ESPN radio from your cities market,example ESPN NY, ESPN Dallas etc.

 The one drawback from using ESPN Radio 3.0 is of course you are streaming radio which leads to heavy usage of your iPhones battery power. As you well know streaming video or radio uses large amounts of data.Also if you don’t have good data reception (5 bars displayed on the iPhone) the radio stream has a tendency to come in and out.Now the application is not free,in fact its priced at $2.99,rather pricey but worth it.

>Intel announces 3D tri-gate technology

>Subject: Silicon Chips!~
By: D.F.Skinner!~

Intel t made a big announce today that it will implement a major technology shift,a move that will fundamentally change how the company builds its transistors within their processor.Beginning with the next generation processor Ivy Bridge,Intel will adopt what it calls Tri-Gate (3D) transistors.

This type of technology will allow transistors within the processor to use 50 percent less power consumption and 37 percent more speed thanks to vertical fins of the silicon which would stick up through the other layers.The Intel processors today uses a 2D layers,the tri-gate technology would add 2 to 3 percent cost to an already existing silicon wafer.Intel states that the new technology will be used on its 22nm Ivy Bridge processor,mass production of these new chips is set to begin the second half of this year and also plans to add a 14nm chips in 2013 and 10nm chips in 2015.Eventually you’ll see 3D transistor technology spill over to mobile platforms.

So to put it simply for readers who aren’t well verse in processing technology is you will have processors compute tasks at high speeds without sacrificing so much power.

Credit Source: Engadget and Hothardware

>News Update: Apples iMacs get a refresh

>Subject: Mac Update!~
By: D.F.Skinner!~

Today unsurprisingly Apple revealed its updated iMac line,Apple did exactly what it did with its MacBook Pro refresh update and thats update its hardware.The newly refreshed iMacs get Sandy Bridge processors,the newly implemented much talked about Thunderbolt connections,an HD FaceTime camera.There is of course no major changes with the iMacs exterior.Like the refreshed MacBooks you have several options in hardware.The new version comes in the same dimensions 21.5″ inch and 27″ inch display.The 27″ inch iMac comes with a bonus a second Thunderbolt port.Having two speedy ports makes for a fast data transfer ability.

The infamous Thunderbolt port

 Onto the hardware,on the storage side of things,you have a 500GB-2TB hard drive option,you now also have a 256GB SSD option now.The memory still starts at 4GB,upgradeable to 8GB on the 21.5″ model, 16GB on the 27 inch model,the new iMacs will have the next generation Sandy Bridge processors,2.5GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor for the 21.5 inch,3.1GHz quad core Core i7 processor.The graphics also get a bump up in upgrade,21.5 inch with a 512MB of AMD Radeon HD 6750 graphics,1GB of AMD Radeon HD 6970M graphics for 27″ inch.The new iMacs still have the same price point,$1,199 for the 21.5″ inch,$1,999 for the 27″ inch.The iMac as of now is ready for order.

>WebCams: What to look for

>Subject: Image Peripherals!~
By: D.F.Skinner!~

Webcams,lets talk about it,long time ago (more like 4 years ago) webcams was a must have accessory,but sadly these webcams produced poor quality pictures.Often at times the images from your webcam were grainy,dark,and ghostly.Even purchasing an expensive webcam gave you the same results.Webcams today have come a long way,even your lower to mid-level priced webcams produce nice clear HD images.With the emergence of  Skype, Vimeo,Youtube,and other video sharing tools,the importance of a good image peripheral is a must.

What to expect from a good webcam!~

Resolution Most webcams today ( a good quality webcam) capture images in 720p (1280 x 720) , there are cams even capable of recording video at a much higher resolution at 1080p.

Built-in-Microphones In the age of the YouTube era it is imperative that you have a webcam that records good quality sound.A good quality webcam with a built-in-mic should be able to include auto features like stereo recording and noise cancellation.

Compatibility All webcams today should all be USB 2.0 compatibility.Most of popular brand webcams such as Logitech should be able work to with Macs and Linux systems.

Software Every manufacturer include their webcam with software that bundles all sorts of utilities thats included with the webcam.This allows you to tweak your settings on your webcam to capture video and still images.

 Auto-Focus ability Webcams should have innate ability to have good optics,the ability to autofocus without depleting the image.All manufacturers all tweak its autofocus feature to adapt to certain lighting conditions.

Heres my top three highly recommended webcams

 1: Microsoft LifeCam Studio

 2: Logitech HD Webcam C510

3:Logitech HD Pro Webcam C910
 

 

 

>Dropbox the free MobileMe alternative

>Subject: Cloud Syncing!~
By: D.F.Skinner!~

I can’t express enough displeasures with MobileMe,the technology is indeed great but I’m some what annoyed at the pricing which is the sum of about $99.In comes Dropbox,which is by far my favorite software.What is Dropbox,its a web-based file hosting service that uses “cloud based computing” where users can store and folders and files with others on the Web by using file synchronization.
 
What I love about Dropbox is you get up to 8GB of free on-line storage,another great thing about Dropbox its a cross platform software which includes Windows,Mac OS X, and Linux ,as well as crossing mobile devices such as Android,iPhone,iPad, and BlackBerry.

Dropbox is pretty much a straight forward service,clients can enable any users to drop files into a folder that is synced with Dropbox Internet service or to any of the user’s computer and mobile device that has a Dropbox client.For an example,I can drop a MP3 file into a Dropbox folder on my computer,go to a mobile Dropbox client on my iPhone and listen to that same MP3 file.Also unique is this,other Dropbox users can share or view your files simply by enabling a share feature thats within your software,this allows you to collaborate with users,when someone joins shared folder,that very same folder appears inside their Dropbox.

 Dropbox has over 25 million users and counting which pretty much sums up the services popularity.If you haven’t used Dropbox yet give it a shot tell me what you think.

>The White iPhone is here should you care

>Subject: White mobile devices!~
By: D.F.Skinner!~

The once evasive white iPhone has finally come upon us,in fact if you vist Apple’s website there it is the  starring right in your face.As you well know Apple today finally released the White iPhone4 to the masses today,Thursday April 28th.The question I’ve ask a numerous amount of times since Apple made their White iPhone4 announcement is this,do you really care? Especially after we are a year into the  Black iPhone4 and also there are strong rumors of a iPhone5 coming upon us later this fall.My gut felling is people will buy the White iPhone anyway just because they can.