PowerColor HD5970 Eyefinity 12 makes six screens yesterday's news

Alright, so your six-screen Eyefinity rig may not be obsolete just yet, but it's definitely just been knocked down a few notches on the jaw drop-o-meter. What you're looking at above is a prototype of PowerColor's HD5970 Eyefinity 12, which -- you guessed it -- packs twelve Mini DisplayPorts, along with a full 4GB of DDR5 memory. Unfortunately, there's no images or video of an actual twelve-screen rig in action just yet -- PowerColor is saving that for Computex in June

Mozilla working on new Firefox Add-ons Manager

Mozilla is working on an overhauled Firefox Add-ons Manager that should rollout with v3.7. Rather than opening as a tiny window separate from the rest of the browser, the revamped manager launches as a new tab. In addition to being in the Tools menu, you can also launch the manager by typing "about:addons" in the awesome bar (which inherently means you can create a handy bookmark shortcut).


The tab is home to two panes: one has a sidebar for navigating extensions, themes, plugins and other add-ons, and the other contains a browser, meaning that you can finally find, deploy, and manage add-ons from a single location.

Naturally, since the update isn't finished yet, the end product may have a different look and feel. Nonetheless, you can download the latest build here. It's worth noting that the new Add-ons Manager uses JavaScript, so if you're running NoScript you'll have to whitelist the page.

Acer TimelineX 1830T landing this June,

Acer has finally revealed pricing for the Acer TimelineX 1830T and its band of siblings. According to the company's German branch, the 13.3-inch 1830T will drop sometime this June and should cost €549 (around $731), the 13.3-inch 3820T will be €699 ($931), while the 14-inch 4820T and 15.6-inch 5820T will kick off at €749 ($997). The company didn't mention a release timeframe for other three systems.


Acer has also provided some specs for the 1830T, which mostly just confirm what I've known since last month. It's outfitted with an LED-backlit 1,366x768 display, Intel's Core ix processors, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, a 640GB HDD, 802.11n Wi-Fi, gigabit LAN, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, a webcam, a 5-in-1 card reader, three USB 2.0 ports, HDMI and VGA-out, and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.

Exact specifications for the other TimelineX models aren't yet known, but they will also be powered by Intel's Core i3, i5 and i7

Microsoft axes the dual-screen Courier tablet

Microsoft has announced that it's axed the much-anticipated Courier tablet. The innovative dual-display slate emerged last September, but apparently never made it past incubation. The news comes as a bit of a shock, because the project seemed promising -- especially after a few video demonstrations of the interface turned up online in March.

Redmond's Frank Shaw today confirmed to Gizmodo that the Courier project is no more. Shaw said that Microsoft is constantly looking at new ideas, investigating, testing, and incubating them, and the Courier project is an example of that effort. He noted that while the Courier itself will never come to fruition, its technology might be used in future offerings.


Many saw the Courier as a perfect fit for Microsoft's "three screens and a cloud" vision. It was supposedly powered by an Nvidia Tegra 2 system-on-a-chip, and rumors pegged it for a late 2010 or early 2011 debut. The device was touted as a "digital journal" largely focused on pen-based user input, such as drawing and writing, which was backed by handwriting recognition software

Aluminum-clad Asus Eee PC 1218 surfaces online

An unannounced Asus netbook has won a 2010 reddot design award, and as such, pictures have surfaced online. The Eee PC 1218 hasn't been publicly detailed, and very little information is available, but we like what we see. The brief snippet at AsusDesign.com says the system packs an optimal balance of usability and portability.

It mentions a "unique internal layout," which allows for a full array of ports to be positioned at the rear of the device, making it "easy to carry and visually uncluttered." Visible I/O includes VGA and HDMI-out, three USB ports, as well as Ethernet, headphone, microphone jacks -- nothing out of the ordinary.


The exterior housing is made with all silver or black-painted aluminum, and it has a webcam with a sliding cover to ensure privacy -- possibly useful for kids at the Lower Merion high school. There's no word on pricing or availability, but we're hoping for more information when Computex kicks off in June.

Microsoft may be able to collect royalties on Android

Handset manufacturers may have to dole out hefty royalties for each and every Android-based device sold, BusinessWeek reports. The fees would be paid to Microsoft for licensing prior patent art, although no details are available concerning exactly what those patents may be.

To the detriment of Google and its free Android operating system, the additional cost and legal complexity may chill the adoption of Android. This would also have the effect of making other platforms such as Windows Phone 7 more attractive to manufacturers, especially since many of them already bundle some of their products with Microsoft's mobile OS anyway.

HTC, maker of Google's Nexus One, has reportedly reached a settlement with Microsoft already. Meanwhile, Microsoft has also been "talking" with other manufacturers to form royalty agreements.

It should be worth noting that Microsoft is not known for litigious patent abuse, only having proactively launched two patent lawsuits in the last three years. This news comes about two months after Apple announced a duel with HTC over the use of their intellectual property as well.

Maingear intros Vybe PC with AMD's six-core processors

If you're dying to get your mitts on a machine powered by one of AMD's new six-core processors but can't be bothered to build your own rig, Maingear might have something up your alley. The boutique PC maker has announced its "limited edition" Vybe gaming system, which can be equipped with the Phenom II X6 1055T or 1090T.

The limited edition Vybe is currently available through Maingear's website in two base configurations: one for $999, another for $1,299. The cheaper unit is outfitted with a Phenom II X6 1055T 2.8GHz, a Radeon HD 5670, 4GB of DDR3 1333MHz RAM, 640GB of storage, a DVD burner, and 802.11 Wi-Fi. The pricier setup upgrades that to a 3.2GHz Phenom II X6 1090T, a Radeon HD 5830, and 6GB of RAM.


Both can also be configured with a Radeon HD 5850, 5870, and dual 5670s, 5770s, or 5850s, as much as 8GB of RAM, up to two 2TB mechanical drives or 256GB solid-state drives, a Blu-ray reader or writer, as well as Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate x64. Systems ordered today have an estimated shipping date of May 11 and are backed by a one-year warranty.

Upcoming Atoms appear in new HP, Toshiba netbooks

In addition to a system by Asus, Intel's forthcoming DDR3-compatible Atom processors will appear in product refreshes from HP and Toshiba. The new chips are supposedly due this summer, but few, if any official details are currently available about their features, price or availability. Nonetheless, machines with the processors are appearing online worldwide.

A German Amazon listing reveals a new version of HP's Mini 210, which carries the 1.6GHz Atom N455, GMA 3150 graphics, 1GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, a 10.1-inch display, Windows 7 Starter and is priced at €349 (around $464).


Similarly, a new netbook briefly appeared on Toshiba's French website before the company pulled it. SlashGear reports that the NB305-10F is mostly identical to existing models such as the NB305, except it has an Atom N455 with 1GB of DDR3 1066MHz RAM. It too will cost around €350.

Nokia N8 goes official boasts beefy Specs, revamped Symbian 3 OS.

Nokia announced on Tuesday its latest smartphone, the multimedia-heavy N8, featuring a 12-megapixel camera and HD video recording. Its hardware specs could make any iPhone user jealous, but as the first phone to feature the latest iteration of the Symbian OS, the N8 will have to prove that Nokia's software is a worthy competitor, too.


Available in the third quarter of 2010, Nokia says the N8 will cost just under $500 for an unlocked carrier-independent model (i.e. no carrier subsidy announced yet), and would be able to work on AT&T and T-Mobile's US networks.

The Nokia N8 can take photos with its 12-megapixel camera (with flash) and shoots HD videos (720p). It also has a secondary video camera on the front for video calling. You can view your recordings on the phone's 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen or connect it to your home cinema system via the built-in HDMI port.

Connectivity-wise, the N8 features Wi-Fi (b, g, and the speedy n standard), in addition to Bluetooth 2.1. You also get GPS and A-GPS positioning systems, with Nokia's free and complete navigation solution, Ovi Maps. The N8 comes with 16GB of on-board storage (expandable via microSD cards up to 32GB) and also features an FM receiver and transmitter (which will eliminate the need for cables to listen to music from the phone in your car).


Nokia's real gamble though, is not with the N8 hardware, but with the operating system delivered on the device. The Symbian OS has been widely criticized for being sluggish, and lagging behind competitors like the iPhone or Google's Android OS.

But with the N8, Nokia is putting out its first phone featuring the revamped Symbian 3 OS, which includes several new features, such as multi-touch, flick scrolling, and pinch-to-zoom. Symbian 3 adds several other features found on competing smartphone platforms, like multiple home screens and home screen widgets (similar to Android) for Facebook and Twitter, among others.

TomTom Go Live 1000 to offer capacitive touchscreen, WebKit-based UI

TomTom has just outed its new flagship PND, the Go Live 1000, and wouldn't you know it, it's the first of the company's stable to offer a capacitive touchscreen. This comes mere days after Garmin updated its lineup with capacitive options. The 1000 is a little slimmer than its predecessors, but its major feature is "instant" route planning and re-planning once it has a satellite lock -- the industry's fastest. Achieved using a custom-built Broadcom GPS module, that capability is backed up by a 500MHz ARM11 CPU (yawn), 4GB of storage, 128MB of RAM, a new WebKit-based UI, and 12 months of free TomTom Live services. Beginning in June, this suite of services will be rolled out to 33 countries across Europe, featuring local information about petrol prices, services and weather, while its headline HD Traffic -- which tracks congestion on secondary roads as well as motorways -- and safety camera alert features will come to only 16 nations. It's a decent year-long freebie to have and TomTom promises it'll cost less than €50 ($67) per annum thereafter. That's more reasonable than the previous $9.95 monthly cost, but still not price-competitive with Google and Nokia's offerings. There's also a SIM card slot, but don't expect to be developing new modes of sidetalking, it's most likely there purely to facilitate all those data transactions. Check out the new UI in the gallery below and expect the TomTom Go 1000 Live to show up in Europe some time this summer.

Toshiba Mobile Display touts 21-inch glasses-free 3D HDTV

Toshiba Mobile Display (and others) have been working on bringing the 3D to TV-sized panels. Employing a "multi-parallax" technique, the latest from the Toshiba spinoff firm promises "significant reduction in eye fatigue" as well as approximately a 30 degree horizontal viewing angle. The latter might be peanuts compared to a quality 2D display, but let's not begrudge being offered at least some positional flexibility. Other specs include a 1280 x 800 effective resolution and 480 nits of brightness, which are notable achievements when you consider that the 9-parallax implementation requires the generation of 9 separate images and therefore could be achieved with only an "ultra-high definition LCD module." We've sadly no info about this panel's potential for retail availability, but judging by the bezel-free picture we've been given, that might be a good way off from now.

Core i7 hits 100C on MacBook Pro,

Earlier this month Apple finally updated its MacBook Pro notebook line with Intel's latest chips and several other improvements across the board. But while there were noticeable performance improvements, and slightly better battery life, apparently the good didn't come without a few problems on the side. According to tests run by PC Authority, Apple's new notebook was found to climb over 100 degrees Celsius when pushed to the max.


Specifically, the site claims the 2.66 GHz Core i7 620M inside Apple's laptop reached 84 degrees in the Dwarf Fortress graphics benchmark and 100 degrees in the Cinebench 3D rendering benchmark. The processor generated so much heat that some of the tests started to run slow, and PC Authority actually had to run the MacBook Pro on its side so more air could go through the vents. The aluminum shell proved ineffective at dissipating the heat as well as the similarly equipped Fujitsu Lifebook SH760, which was able to finish the Cinebench 3D test at 81 degrees.

CTL launches 2go Convertible Classmate PC NL2

Samsung has updated its range of external hard drives with a new USB 3.0-ready version, aptly called STORY Station 3.0. Featuring ten-times the theoretical transfer speed of a conventional USB 2.0 drive, with a maximum transfer rate of 5Gbps compared to the 480Mbps of its predecessor, the STORY Station 3.0 has "been built for advanced users who demand fast transfer speed and data security without sacrificing design."


Of course, we don't expect to see such a speed burst over USB 2.0 in real world scenarios. StorageReview has put both models to the test and recorded maximum sequential read and write rates of 114MB/s and 106MB/s, respectively, with the USB 3.0 version compared to 35MB/s and 30MB/s on the USB2.0-equipped STORY Station. Performance on the newer drive varied quite a bit, though, dropping to around 53MB/s on occasions while the USB 2.0 remained constant.

Random 512K reads and writes also saw a twofold improvement with the newer interface, but the benefits of USB 3.0 began to dwindle when working with smaller files. Overall, the performance advantage of the STORY Station 3.0 over its older sibling was quite noticeable though.

The drive is available in 1, 1.5 and 2TB capacities, with suggested retail pricing of $154.99, $194.99 and $269.99 respectively. All models feature a three year warranty as well as three energy saving modes (idle, sleep and suspend) so that users can leave it on for extended periods without significant power draw.CTL has announced the launch of its new 2go Convertible Classmate PC NL2, which seems to be derived from the Classmate teased by Intel in March and is a successor to the "wildly popular" NL1. The ruggedized 10.1-inch netbook has a 1024x600 touchscreen and is powered by Intel's 1.66GHz Atom N450 processor.

Along with added screen real estate and processing power, the NL2 features up to 2GB of RAM, a shock mounted 160GB hard drive, a protective rubberized surface, rounded reinforced corners, a retractable carrying handle, and a water resistant, antimicrobial keyboard for sticky-handed youngsters. Other niceties include a 1.3-megapixel webcam that rotates up to 235 degrees.


The NL2 ships with either Windows XP or 7, and CTL offers an "education software stack" for academic individuals. Systems are currently available for preorder through CTL and authorized resellers with a base price of $499.

Samsung updates external storage with USB 3.0

Samsung has updated its range of external hard drives with a new USB 3.0-ready version, aptly called STORY Station 3.0. Featuring ten-times the theoretical transfer speed of a conventional USB 2.0 drive, with a maximum transfer rate of 5Gbps compared to the 480Mbps of its predecessor, the STORY Station 3.0 has "been built for advanced users who demand fast transfer speed and data security without sacrificing design."


Of course, we don't expect to see such a speed burst over USB 2.0 in real world scenarios. StorageReview has put both models to the test and recorded maximum sequential read and write rates of 114MB/s and 106MB/s, respectively, with the USB 3.0 version compared to 35MB/s and 30MB/s on the USB2.0-equipped STORY Station. Performance on the newer drive varied quite a bit, though, dropping to around 53MB/s on occasions while the USB 2.0 remained constant.

Random 512K reads and writes also saw a twofold improvement with the newer interface, but the benefits of USB 3.0 began to dwindle when working with smaller files. Overall, the performance advantage of the STORY Station 3.0 over its older sibling was quite noticeable though.

The drive is available in 1, 1.5 and 2TB capacities, with suggested retail pricing of $154.99, $194.99 and $269.99 respectively. All models feature a three year warranty as well as three energy saving modes (idle, sleep and suspend) so that users can leave it on for extended periods without significant power draw.

Sony prepares to stop manufacturing floppy disks

With another nail hammered into its coffin, the venerable floppy diskette continues its creeping but inexorable end as Sony announces the company will no longer sell the 28 year old digital storage medium in Japan.

Since their peak of 47 million units sold in 2002, Sony’s floppy disk business has dwindled steadily. Japan is one of the few remaining markets where Sony still sells floppies, where it accounts for roughly 70% of all sales. The company is not jumping ship yet though, as it plans to continue selling the 3.5 inchers domestically until March 2011.

Sony has been involved with many digital storage devices over the years, but few have been as pervasive as the floppy diskette. IBM created the original floppy disk which measured a whopping 8 inches wide. Many iterations of the device followed as companies came up with smaller and faster designs. As one of these companies, Sony introduced their own 90mm diskette in 1982, but it never took off; 5.25 inch floppies were too firmly entrenched within the industry. Despite the apparent failure of Sony’s form factor, a group of companies used it as the basis for what would become the 3.5 inch floppy, eventually ending the “five and quarter’s” reign.


As consumers' needs became more complex, the need for capacity increased and floppies were simply unable to meet that demand. Despite this crucial inadequacy, many technologies which aimed to supplant the aging medium such as Zip disks, Super Disks and recordable CDs failed to replace it entirely.

Eventually, it took the ubiquitous adoption of USB flash drives to serve as the death knell for mainstream floppy usage. However, with over 12 million disks sold in 2009 by Sony alone, it would seem floppies may be around for some time come

Steam, Direct2Drive offer massive game discounts

Steam has slashed a mighty 50% off Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Game of the Year Edition, the blockbuster shooter that gave rise to Infinity Ward's immensely popular Modern Warfare 2. If you're new to the series, now's a cheap opportunity to see what all the fuss is about.

The minimum system requirements include a 2.4GHz Pentium 4 or AMD 64 2800+, 512MB of RAM on XP or 768MB on Vista, a GeForce 6600 or Radeon 9800Pro or better, and 8GB of free storage space. In other words, the game is mellow enough that any remotely modern mid-range PC should be fine.


Trine, a puzzle platformer by Finnish developer Frozenbyte, is also steeply discounted on Steam at the moment. The title is $5 (75% off) and has recently been updated with a new level. We'd be remiss not to mention Direct2Drive's spring sale, which has loads of greatly reduced titles.

Grand Theft Auto IV and Supreme Commander Gold are $7.50 each (75% off), Manhunt 2 is $4.95, the Guild Wars Trilogy is $19.95, the Total War Collection is $44.95, and more. Get 'em while they're hot.

Halo: Reach available in two special edition packages

Microsoft and Bungie have announced that, along with the standard $60 offering, Halo: Reach will ship in two pricier special edition packages -- depending on how loyal of a fan you are.

First up is the $80 Limited Edition, which is housed in a recovered ONI "black box." It also includes an exclusive in-game Elite armor set for multiplayer modes and an artifact bag with Dr. Halsey's personal journal as well as "other classified documents and effects that unravel long-held secrets from the Halo universe."


For $150, you'll receive the Legendary Edition, which is comprised of the aforementioned goodies in addition to a 10 inch tall, 10 pound Noble Team statue designed by McFarlane Toys, UNSC-themed packaging, and an exclusive multiplayer Spartan armor effect.

Halo: Reach is due for release this fall and all of the mentioned versions are currently available for preorder at participating stores.

YouTube quietly rolls out video rental service

After dabbling with the idea earlier this year, it seems YouTube is finally entering the online video rental market with a decent selection of movies and TV shows priced between 99 cents and $3.99. For now the Google-owned service features mostly independent and foreign films, but there are also a few Oscar contenders like Precious and The Cove and other mainstream options including 3:10 to Yuma and Saw III.


It appears Lion's Gate is a major player in YouTube's streaming service. Google doesn't seem to have deals in place with most major studios -- Paramount, Fox, Sony Pictures, Universal Studios, Warner Bros, MGM -- but it's been long rumored to be courting a few these hoping they'll jump aboard. Their current partner list includes the likes of Image Entertainment, Sony-owned Crackle.com, Bollywood, and Screen Media -- among others.

Rental periods are from 24 to 72 hours and payments are processed through Google Checkout. The YouTube store (US-only) should go up against other online rental venues like Apple's iTunes and Amazon's Video On Demand.

Velocity Micro's sub-$300 Android 2.1 'Cruz' tablets surface

Yet another tablet product line has been unearthed, this time from custom PC maker Velocity Micro. The slates, called Cruz, are poised to take on both e-readers and tablets, and will reportedly appear over the coming months in two configurations: 4 x 3 and 16 x 9.

The upper-crust model will feature Android 2.1, a 7-inch color capacitive multitouch display, an 800MHz processor, expandable storage via SD card and USB, and a Web browser with Flash support. The company hasn't specifically mentioned the Android Market, but the tablets will have access to an open content portal through the "Cruz Market" and there's talk of apps for eBooks, magazines, video, music and games.


Velocity Micro is marketing its slates as the "world's first family of affordable touch screen ereaders and tablets," and although an official price hasn't been disclosed, Engadget reports that the series will be sub-$300. Cruz tablets are pegged for a July debut.

Apple iPhone hacked to run Google's Android

David Wang, a hacker from the well-known iPhone Dev Team group, has posted a video of Android running on his iPhone 2G. This feat is most certainly a big step in the ongoing battle to free iPhone users from the clutches of Apple.

The blog post shows Android in action and if the video itself is any indication, the project looks very promising. A number of features are shown off during the demo, including a custom boot loader, the entire boot process, wireless Internet access, playing music and of course receiving a call. However, despite its very functional appearance, David describes it as "slightly buggy" and "alpha quality". This is most likely not something you'll see on your iPhone any time soon.

According to the commentary, the demonstration runs a little slow because a debug version of Android is being used. Having used a 2G for the video, David also informs us that porting the project over to the 3G should be pretty simple, but the 3GS will represent a greater challenge. Despite the polish needed, it will be very interesting to see where this leads in the future -- Could this represent the next level of jailbreaking?

Microsoft Office 2010 RTM ready for download

About a week after Office 2010 went gold, Technet and MSDN subscribers are now able to download Office 2010 Professional Plus in ISO format for both 32-bit and 64-bit platforms. For those of you who would rather avoid the notoriously slow download speeds of MSDN and choose to utilize less official channels, the SHA checksum is: 0E1840BF1AA81077692AF651BEFB75648CD9FAA7. Microsoft has also made available Sharepoint 2010, which is a complimentary enterprise solution for Office collaboration.

Office 2010 aims to bring a more socially-aware and polished experience to the industry-standard office suite. Some of the new features include live collaboration which supports multiple users editing documents simultaneously, integrated video and image editing tools in PowerPoint, the ability to export virtually any document to a web browser, inherent ODF support for Open Office documents and a cleaner, more consistent ribbon bar experience across all Office applications.


Two days ago, Microsoft also went live with its free, cloud-based companion to Office 2010 -- docs.com. It seems to be a slick competitor to Google Docs has been released under the “beta” label. Interestingly, only Facebook users are allowed exclusive access and there isn’t word on a definite release date for the rest of the world.

If you are not an MSDN or Technet subscriber, you will have to wait until Office 2010 hits store shelves. Retail pricing should be $149 for Home & Student, $279 for Home & Business and $499 for Professional. As an added incentive to buy Office now, those who choose to buy Office 2007 in the meantime will be able to upgrade to 2010 for free.

Microsoft makes Windows 7 Touch Pack a free download

Microsoft has finally followed through on its plans to make the Windows 7 Touch Pack publicly, and freely available. First introduced last May, the Touch Pack was only available to OEMs for use on new Windows 7 computers with touch-capable displays. The bundle contains six touch-friendly programs: three games, and three Microsoft Surface applications.

The games, while very simple, are probably worth the price of admission if you have kids around. Microsoft Blackboard is described as a "puzzle game of physics," in which you use gestures to manipulate gears, fans, seesaws and more to direct balloons and balls toward a target.


Microsoft Rebound requires you to "propel a ball and annihilate your opponent" -- be it the AI or a friend -- and Microsoft Garden Pond tasks you with maneuvering origami creations on a pond by making ripples in the water. Non-game applications include Microsoft Surface Globe, a multi-touch 3D globe with information about regions, 3D cities and more, Microsoft Surface Collage, and Microsoft Surface Lagoon.

LG to triple OLED production by next year

LG plans to invest millions in OLED displays as it prepares to triple its production capacity of screens that use the technology. The company intends to spend 250 billion won ($225.7 million) on a new manufacturing facility that should be complete by the third quarter of this year and will gradually ramp up production levels from 4,000 glass sheets per month to 12,000 by the latter half of next year.

In addition to e-paper and solar cells, the Korean electronic-maker describes OLED displays as one of its "new growth engines." The company recently introduced a 15-inch OLED TV, which should hit shelves in the US this summer for around $2,725 -- but that's just the start. LG intends to ship a 30-inch television with the technology as early as mid-2011. Previous reports suggested 40-inch OLED panels should arrive in 2012.


LG's OLED screens may also be coming to future-generation Apple iPod, iPhone or iPad products, as Cupertino has reportedly increased its contract from $500 million to $800 million.

Docs.com brings Office document sharing to Facebook

Facebook and Microsoft have teamed up on a new online document-sharing service that will seamlessly integrate with the popular social networking site. Dubbed Docs.com, the beta site allows users to log in with their Facebook credentials, create Office documents -- Word, Excel and Powerpoint files -- and add friends as either viewers or document editors. New documents will show up in a user's news feed, just like status updates or pictures.


The service is based on Microsoft's upcoming Office 2010 Web Apps suite and tapping into Facebook's large user base might get it off to a good start in the inevitable competition with Google Docs. The question is if collaborating on documents is an activity Facebook users are interested in -- you know the site's not particularly known for boosting productivity at work, right?

Docs.com is currently in a limited beta phase, so anyone can view documents, but in order to edit or create new ones you'll have to join a wait list. Google has also been making a big push around online-document sharing, with a recent slew of updates to its free services and their paid Google Apps for Businesses offering becoming an increasingly popular alternative to desktop suites.

Hulu mulling $10 per month subscription service?

Hulu is reportedly on the verge of announcing a subscription plan for its streaming video service that would give users access to a greater range of content. Under the plan, the five most recent episodes of newer shows will remain free (ad-supported), but anyone who wants to access older episodes would have to pony up $10 per month for "Hulu Plus".

It's unclear whether the $10 subscription will let you watch an unlimited number of episodes from the site, and if advertising would still be displayed on the back catalogue episodes. The move to a subscription model isn't at all unexpected, but they'll probably have to offer something more than five-week old episodes for this to catch on. If you're able to stay on top of your favorite shows in a timely manner then you don't really need to sign up.

There are also rumors that Hulu might tie its subscription service with a new iPad application, but as Peter Kafka at MediaMemo notes their subscription aspirations could be significantly devalued by a free streaming video application from ABC already available on the App Store.

New Dell super phone leaks.

If you've been tingling with anticipation over the forthcoming Windows Phone 7 handsets, Engadget just caught wind of a very promising Dell device. The phone, dubbed Lightning, is a portrait slider with a spec sheet to back up its name.

According to the leaked documents, Dell's Lightning boasts a 4.1-inch WVGA (800x480) OLED display, a 1GHz QSD8250 Snapdragon processor, 1GB of Flash memory with 512 MB of RAM and 8GB of storage via microSD (presumably built-in).


It also has a full QWERTY keyboard, a five-megapixel autofocus camera (possibly with flash), 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 EDR, GPS, an accelerometer, a compass, FM radio, as well as support for Flash, Silverlight, and various popular audio and video formats.

The Dell Lightning is destined for AT&T and T-Mobile, and is expected to arrive in the fourth quarter of this year along with a volley of other Windows Phone 7 devices.

HP intros new all-in-one, revamped TouchSmart, more

HP today introduced a pair of new desktop computers in addition to refreshing its existing TouchSmart system. Intended for use in a kitchen, family room or bedroom, HP says its All-in-One 200 PC crams the performance of a traditional desktop into a space-saving package. Configurations start at $700 with many hardware choices.

The system offers a 21.5-inch 1080p display, a range of Pentium Dual-Core and Core 2 Duo processors, up to 4GB of RAM, and 500GB to 750GB of storage. It also carries Intel GMA X4500 HD graphics, a DVD burner, a 6-in-1 card reader, and covers the typical array of ports and connectors. There's also talk of a mercury-free screen and reduced amounts of BFR and PVC throughout.


HP's second new addition is the corporate-bound, AMD-based Compaq 6005 Pro Ultra-slim. With measurements comparable to a ream of paper, it's quite a compact machine. Features include Sempron through Phenom II X4 processors, integrated Radeon HD 4200 graphics, up to 8GB of RAM, and just about every significant release of Windows XP, Vista and 7, as well as SUSE and FreeDOS.

Finally, the company has added a few new CPUs to its TouchSmart 600 all-in-one PC. While the previous Core 2 Duo model is still available, the TouchSmart can now be purchased with your choice of Core i3 and i7 processors. Additionally, HP has also added new touch-based applications to the line, including Beats Audio, CinemaNow, and Corel Paint It.

MSI launches new 15-inch gaming laptop, GX640

MSI has announced its new GX640 gaming notebook, which is already on the virtual shelves of Amazon for $1,099 and it should reach Newegg later this month. The system features a 15.4-inch 1680x1050 display, a 2.26GHz dual-core Intel Core i5-430M processor, an ATI Radeon HD5850 graphics chip with 1GB of VRAM, 4GB of DDR3 1066MHz RAM, and a 500GB 7200RPM HDD.


The GX640 is also equipped with a DVD burner, a webcam, a chiclet keyboard, a 4-in-1 card reader, 802.11a/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Ethernet, HDMI and D-Sub connectors, two USB 2.0 ports as well as one eSATA combo, Firewire, and headphone/mic jacks. It ships with a nine-cell battery, weighs around 6.3lbs, runs Windows 7 Home Premium x64, and is backed by a three-year warranty.

Low energy Bluetooth 4.0 spec 'almost' ready to roll

Even though the vast majority of Bluetooth enabled devices are still toting version 2.1 of the short-range wireless standard, it seems we're moving closer to the fourth major release. Announcing the near-completion of Bluetooth 4.0 at a meeting in Seattle on Tuesday, the Bluetooth SIG is touting the spec for its ability to work with low-energy devices, such as watches and health sensors, while supporting longer ranges and higher transfer speeds.

Bluetooth 4.0 is actually composed of three different specifications: classic Bluetooth, high-speed Bluetooth, and Bluetooth low energy. Their attributes can be combined in different ways to suit the product they're used in. For instance, a sensor in a pedometer will use just the low energy tech, while a watch will combine that with classic Bluetooth when communicating with your PC, and a Bluetooth-equipped laptop could combine all three.

Devices relying on Bluetooth low energy are expected to offer battery lives measured in years, but for other devices supporting the widest range of uses, like smartphones and laptops, the improvement is not expected to be so drastic. On the improved range claim, the Bluetooth SIG said manufacturers can tweak this when designing Bluetooth 4.0 devices so that it will be extended to a distance of 200 feet and beyond.

The full Bluetooth 4 specification is expected to be completed before June 30, with devices featuring the technology first hitting the market in late 2010 or early 2011.

Adobe halts further iPhone development, focuses on Android

Adobe has announced it will be ceasing its efforts to bring Flash-based applications to the iPhone. The move came after Apple put out a new draft of its iPhone developer program license, which banned developers from using cross-platform compilers like the one Adobe just so happened to introduce in Creative Suite 5, and instead required apps to be written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine.

Although this was largely interpreted as a shot directly across Adobe's bow, it could also affect other middleware tools such as Titanium, MonoTouch, or Unity -- not to mention that being forced to use tools that target a single platform makes life harder for developers who want to leverage as many platforms as possible to justify costs and increase margins. Adobe believes that Apple may selectively enforce the terms and let a few non-abiding apps trickle to their store, but speculates it will likely enforce them to select content created with Flash CS5 to send a clear message.

This is just the latest in the escalating confrontation between Apple and Adobe. The Cupertino-based company has repeatedly claimed that letting Flash on its iPhone platform would degrade battery life and performance.

Adobe will still provide the ability to target the iPhone and iPad in Flash CS5, but warns that they are not currently planning any additional investments in that feature, and that developers should be prepared to have their apps rejected. In a blog post yesterday, Adobe principal product manager Mike Chambers also criticized Apple's somewhat haphazard policies regarding applications and said they are now focusing on Google's Android platform.

Asus Eee Keyboard appears on Amazon for $600 preorder

First appearing at CES 2009, the oft-delayed, netbook-infused keyboard has popped up on the radar once again -- and this time you can actually whip out your MasterCard.

Amazon is now accepting preorders for the device, which is priced at $600. That said, no launch information is given, only "You may pre-order it now and we will deliver it to you when it arrives." Considering the Eee Keyboard's near-vaporware status, we would be a little weary about forking over cash at this point -- at least not until it's officially being shipped.


According to Amazon's product page, the system packs an Intel Atom N270 (last-gen), 1GB of DDR2 RAM, a 16GB SSD, Ultra Wide Band built-in transmitter and external receiver, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, gigabit Ethernet, HDMI, VGA, and three USB 2.0 ports. Alongside the keyboard is a 5-inch 800x480 LED multitouch display, and Windows XP Home is preinstalled.

Asus reportedly plans to release the Eee Keyboard sometime this month, but the end is drawing near and we've heard the same song and dance many times since January 2009.

Steam UI update officially rolling out next week

After two months of beta testing and several updates, Valve has announced that the so-called "UI Update" for their Steam client will finally roll out to all users on Monday. Far from being just a visual overhaul, the update ditches Steam's Internet Explorer-based core for a new WebKit-based rending engine, and will bring a few new features like syndicated gaming news feeds, a new in-game overlay with more context sensitive information, and customizable games libraries.


If you are just now finding out about the beta and don't want to wait until Monday, all you need to do is head over to File>Settings, click "change" under Beta participation, and then choose UI Update. The beta should download automatically and will be available after restarting the client.

Valve is also readying a Mac client of Steam, which will offer native Mac OS X versions of Left 4 Dead, L4D2, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, Portal and the Half-Life series when it launches before the end of April. However, this is expected to come in separate update, so Apple users might still have to wait just a bit longer.

Intel Arrandale shortages leading to premium prices, potential product delays

Now this might explain Apple's curious choice to not upgrade the 13-inch MacBook Pro to a Core 2010 CPU. Yahoo! News is reporting shortages of the more budget-minded Core i3 and i5 laptop processors launched by Intel this January, which has led to chip buyers outbidding each other to the point of paying 20 percent premiums on contract prices. That's according to US chip distributor Converge, while research firm CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets estimates that product rollouts could be delayed by up to three months as a result.

"We don't comment on speculation, what I can say is that we are pleased with the strong product demand for our laptop platforms."

Well sure, you get paid more on a per-CPU basis, why wouldn't you be pleased? On a more serious note, during Intel's latest earnings call both Paul Otellini and CFO Stacy Smith expressed their surprise at the vast demand for their 32nm products, with Smith noting that their production of 32nm chips is the fastest ramping process in the company's history. So there's not really any villainy afoot here, just good old demand catching supply napping.

Sirius XM app for Android 'coming soon'

iPhone and iPod touch users may have had a Sirius XM app for close to a year now, but it looks like Android users will soon finally be able to get in on some mobile streaming as well. While there's still no specific launch date, the app is apparently "coming soon," and looks to be mostly identical to its iPhone OS counterpart, complete with support for streaming over both WiFi and 3G. Somewhat curiously, however, Sirius XM seems to be saying that the app will only be available for the Droid and Nexus One, although that's a bit puzzling considering they're not the only Android 2.1-ready phones with fast processors (if those are indeed the only requirements).

Updated Windows Phone 7 videos show Office doing awesome things

As much as Microsoft has revealed about Windows Phone 7 thus far in the past two months, one critical, differentiating element that it's going to be able to lord over its competitors -- true Office support -- has been a bit of a black box. We're starting to see a little bit more about the Office team's next-gen mobile product now, though, thanks to a pair of new videos that have been published this week. The first focuses on the email and calendar experience, but we do see one pretty awesome trick when the demo opens a PowerPoint file inline from the email client, edits it, and sends it back to the original sender. The second video dives deeper on the actual Office hub, where we get a quick look at the Word editor -- and as you might expect, it's squeaky-clean and nearly UI-free, just like pretty much everything else in the platform. Peep the videos after the break.

Panasonic prices, dates full 3D plasma lineup -- 65-inches for $4,299

Panasonic kicked off its 2010 3DTV run with an extremely limited, Best Buy only launch of the 50-inch VT20 package, but for those looking to upgrade -- especially in size -- with a new TV this year finally have some info to work off of. This year's sets have more than just the extra dimension to offer, with improved black levels (especially over time), plus upgraded VIERA Cast networked features with Skype. The general launch kicks off the week of May 3 with the 50-inch TC-P50VT25 for $2,599, and closes with the largest TC-P65VT25 model in June for $4,299. Those MSRPs place them a couple of hundred bucks north of last year's models, but a rep for great 3D and 2D performance should help anyone struggling over the upgrade -- check for the rest of the prices in the press release after the break.

Steam for Mac beta reveals possible Linux compatibility in the pipeline, penguins rejoice

Gaming on Linux? That's not something we hear every day just yet, but it looks like the good folks at Valve might be considering a penguin revolution. In one of the latest beta releases of Steam for Mac, Phoronix spotted a mention of the open-source platform in the launcher script, and we were also able to verify this code ourselves. Furthermore, the eagle-eyed Linux blog has previously seen a handful of evidence hinting Linux compatibility for Valve's Source gaming engine. We're probably still a ways off from any announcement (if ever) so for now, let's just leave the guys alone -- we don't want to distract them from bringing the Portal goodness to our Macs now, do we?