Tech Wizard

Intel and others plan to release a new version of the ubiquitous Universal Serial Bus technology in the first half of 2008. This would be a revamp that the chipmaker said will make data transfer rates more than 10 times as fast. The new revision will be adding fiber-optic links alongside the traditional copper wires to increase the transfer rates. Intel is working with fellow USB 3.0 Promoters Group members Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Texas Instruments, NEC and NXP Semiconductors to release the USB 3.0 specification in the first half of 2008, said Pat Gelsinger, general manager of Intel’s Digital Enterprise Group, in a speech here at the Intel Developer Forum.

In an interview after the speech, Gelsinger said there’s typically a one- to two-year lag between the release of the specification and the availability of the technology. USB 3.0 products should likely arrive in 2009 or 2010. A prototype shown at the speech is working now, and USB 3.0 will have optical and copper connections “from day one,” he added.

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ViewSonic takes a tilt toward practicality with its PC/TV hybrid LCD displays, packing a passel of inputs into its Diamani DUO 19-inch NX1932w and 22-inch NX2232w screens.

It makes sense: You have all this resolution floating around, why not tack an HDMI port on board, add an ATSC HD tuner and 10-watt speaker system, and then have a dual use display? Good idea in theory, but the execution falls short.

First of all, that HDTV tuner just captures over-the-air signals, and that’ll be good for only about 5% of the viewing public that watches their HDTV that way. Plus there’s no 1080p, because the highest resolution of the largest screen—the 22 inch—is only 1680×1050. That doesn’t quite cut it.

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You win some and then lose some. Often it may be better to put your foot in the mouth than putting them in the hands of the gamers. They probably know better than to take you seriously anyway! Particularly, when you call force feedback as something of a “last generation feature”.

Enter Playstation 3 DUALSHOCK wireless controller. Announced in Tokyo yesterday as a standalone accessory in November in Japan and by Spring 2008 in the North America and Europe. Welcome back force feedback, we sure did miss ya.

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Hewlett Packard (HP) has announced a new line of high end desktops that’s squarely addressed to the gaming segment.

These have been named Blackbird and are developed by the company using the expertise of VoodooPC, the company it acquired some time back.

Blackbird is a cool stylish machine. For easy maintainability it’s been designed such that major parts can be removed or added without using any tools. Hard drives just snap in into a pull-out tray, saving time on connecting cables and removing screws and putting them back again.

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Acer has unveiled new, revamped models in both the Aspire and the Ferrari lines. The Aspire models sport a reworked Gemstone styling. The 7720G will have Santa Rosa Core 2 Duo at 2.2 GHz, up to 4 GB of main memory, 200 GB HDD, a 17 inch screen at 1440×900 resolution, ATI Radeon HD2300 graphics card with up to 1 GB of HyperMemory, dual layer DVD burner and a TV tuner. 7720G will retail at $2,988.

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Mail, Weather, Google Maps or Stocks are not included in the new iPod Touch! You might be wondering why, but the answer seems to be they are coming. In all probability Apple may not be supplying them but third parties would. It is a little curious, iPhone and the Touch are practically the same platform, runs the same Mac OS X. unofficial word from inside Apple iPod touch runs exactly the same applications, “they use the same damn binaries”! With a curious twist decision to maintain differentiation Apple did not include the four applications mentioned. iPod Touch is entertainment oriented while the iPhone is obviously into communication hub personal productivity area. Kind of a forced differentiation, considering they use the same core OS and programming framework. User interface elements differ slightly, of course.

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GUI version of iUnlock has just been released by the iPhone development team. An Installer.app version is coming soon that will let you download the file over any EDGE or Wi-Fi network into your phone and run it. Look for most recent version on the development team’s wiki, but here’s our mirror site anyway. Here’s hoping that the next firmware update on the iPhone won’t bork the iunlock. As always, there are no guarantees though your iPhone won’t get gummed up!

Download from Tech Wizard (v1.01) or iPhone Dev Team

UPDATE : Apple claims this may result in “Permanently Inoperable i-Phone”

Read Here

If you thought action figures and walkie-talkies are too expensive to give to kids, these Spiderman III walkie-talkies may still make you feel good about being a decent parent. The walkie-talkies are shaped like Spiderman and Venom and like in the movie they raise a racket squawking when they get close.

Now what are you waiting for !

Be a good parent get one for your kid and if you don’t have any, remember Cool Wizard is a kid too.

The new iPod Touch sounds fantastic for people who want all of the iPhone features sans the calling set. PC Magazine got their hands on a early piece and found it to be as good as the iPhone in terms of most everything. There’s a new feature on the iPod Touch though, double clicking the home button brings up the music related controls no matter where you are currently on the menu tree.

All in all, if you have a iPhone, there’s no reason to rush out and get one of these. But if you don’t own a iPhone and want the touch-screen facility then this is for you.

Our Take : Just like the iPhone, a shade better as a music player.

The $100 laptop—which was already up to a hefty $175, has gotten yet another price bump to $188. A spokesman says they’re committed to keeping the price from rising above $190, and probably below $200 if at all possible. It’s very strange that the price keeps rising, seeing as it’s been, what, two years since the project was announced, plus they’ve gotten more orders from companies so they can ramp up bulk production. Shouldn’t hardware prices have dropped instead of risen ?

[via Yahoo News]