We already know that Asus has partnered up with telecom vendors to offer low price netbook bundles. The bundle will give the Eee PC netbook for very low price with a monthly subscription to wireless access. In UK, Orange has joined Asus and will now offer an Eee PC 900 16GB as a part of “Internet Everywhere” bundle. Users will get the Eee PC netbook, a mobile broadband dongle and mobile broadband service. It will be priced £25 a month on a two-year contract and come with 3GB of data per month limit. The 3GB data limit would be a problem, if user starts using Asus’s Eee Storage and Download services that they will launch later this year in Europe or Eee PC becomes the primary computer for Internet access, VOIP and video chat.

A French Tech website CanardPlus have got their hands on slides from an upcoming Intel presentation. The slide starts off with Nehalem processors, which Intel will ship under Core i7 and Xeon label. The i7 well see Intel’s first big architectural change in two years, new point-to-point bus technology and return of Hyperthreading will be the main features. Intel will discuss the technology in detail at Developer Forum and will ship the processors starting this fall.
From here, the slides go in a territory, about which Intel has never talked in detail before. Intel has talked a lot about its “Tick-Tock” cycle, Tick stands for decrease in size of manufacturing technology like in 2007 Intel introduced 45nm manufacturing technology with Penryn processors. Where as, Tock stands for advancement in processor technology, for example it will introduce new Nehalem architecture in 2008. Intel will continue its tick-tock cycle and will shrink the die size from 45nm to 32nm in 2009 and will introduce Westmere processors based on Nehalem architecture.
 2010 will be a tock year and Intel will launch Sandy Bridge architecture. The Sandy Bridge will introduce support for new programming features known as Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX). AVX will replace today’s 128bits SSE instructions with 256 bits instructions that will support as many as three or four calculations in one instruction. The new extensions should accelerate performance in media encoding, 3D modeling and vector based math functions. The Sandy Bridge chips will be built with the capability to handle at least eight cores on a single chip. The L2 cache will be much less at 512KB, but the decrease in L2 cache will be made up by a large 16MB L3 cache.
In 2011 Intel will shrink the size of manufacturing technology to 22nm (tick) and the new processors will be called Ivy Bridge. Intel will introduce Haswell architecture in 2012 (tock) that will add new memory cache system and a revolutionary power management system. Intel will discuss the upcoming processors in more detail at its Develop Forum that is starting on 19th August.

In past week, complains about iPhone 3G reception and network speed are growing. iPhone customers are reporting that the phone keeps dropping calls, data speed is very slow and call quality is below average. Many tech analysts, journalists and company spokespersons have blamed it on number of issue.
First 3G networks were blamed and few analysts said, as 3G network have shorter reach and requires more bandwidth, the cellphone carriers are not able to meet the demand, put on their networks by sudden jump in 3G devices, because of higher iPhone sales. T-mobile in the Netherlands posted on it blog that the problem is not network related but a hardware / software specific issue of the iPhone itself. Also a Vodafone’s spokeswoman told Sidney Morning Herald that the problems were specific to the iPhone and not their network.
Next, Infineon’s 3G chip that Apple uses in the iPhone was blamed. Richard Windsor, an analyst with Nomura Securities said, “We believe that these issues are typical of an immature chipset and radio protocol stack where we are almost certain Infineon is the 3G supplier.” This didn’t please Infineon and a company spokesman told Business Week “our 3G chips are for example, used in Samsung handsets and we are not aware of such problems there.”
According to Ny Teknik, an analysis for Sweden engineering weekly the test reports, which he obtained from unknown sources, shows adjustments between the antenna and an amplifier, which capture the faint signals received by the antenna, are defective. This makes the phone likely to drop calls and have slower than hoped data speeds.
It was also suggested by an analyst that Apple programmed the Infineon chip to demand a more powerful 3G signal than the iPhone really requires. So if too many people try to make a call or go on the Internet in a given area, some of the devices will decide there’s insufficient power and switch to slower network – even if there is enough 3G bandwidth available. This shows that it a software problem and Apple can resolve it.
There is no information about how widespread the problem is or what is causing the problem. Apple as always has kept quiet about the problem. Analysts have estimated that about 5 percent of the iPhone customers are affected by the problem and according to reports the problem is more widespread in areas with higher number of iPhone users like in San Francisco or New York.
Business Week’s Peter Burrows cites two of his well-placed sources as saying that the problem is related to Infineon chip and it can be solved by software update. Apple will address it via an upcoming software update rather than through a more disruptive step, such as a product recall. Both Apple and Infineon are currently testing the fix, which Apple will issue via a software update by September – if not by end of this month.

A Brazilian website Odontoplam has posted that Dell will officially launch Dell E netbook on August 22nd and it will be called Inspiron 910. The netbook will have a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor, 512MB or 1GB RAM, 1.3-megapixel webcam and flash memory of 4GB/8GB/12GB. The 910 will support WiFi, where as Bluetooth and 3G will be optional. The ports include are three USB, one VGA, multicard reader and Ethernet. The netbook will have choice of Windows XP or Ubuntu and will not have a function key row. In Brazil it will be priced around $740 because of very high local taxes, but in US it should be around $300 mark.

Logitech today announced that they bought the privately held Ultimate Ears a company known for its custom made earpieces. Ultimate Ears has historically focused on in-ear monitors for live musicians, but recently started making in-ear headphones.  Logitech has acquired the company for $34 million in cash and the deal is expected to close this month. Logitech has provided no information about management or employee changes that will take place at Ultimate Ears because of the deal. Buying Ultimate Ears gives Logitech a direct entrance to high-end in-ear headphone market, which is ruled by companies like Shure and where Ultimate Ears had started to build a reputation as one of the best on the market.
[Via Engadget]

The new PSP – 3001 was revealed this week by an FCC filing done by Sony for the device. Engadget is reporting that even though Sony requested confidentiality when filing the papers they got their hand on device information. FCC tested the device on 2.4GHz spectrum for 802.11b WiFi and it looks like Sony is not adding any new wireless technology, as FCC didn’t test for Bluetooth or GPS or any other wireless technology. The picture shows that the PSP – 3001 is almost identical to present PSP model. It is believed that their won’t be many changes made to original design externally, but internally the new PSP will see CPU and graphics engine upgrade. Not much information is available about the device. Sony is expected to announce the PSP – 3001 before holiday season this year.

PhoneNews is reporting that Apple is preparing to release MacBook Air update. The external design will remain unchanged, but the internal components will receive significant boost. Apple is presently using a custom version of Intel Core 2 Duo chip for its laptop that has 17W TDP. The new MacBook Air will use the standard Penryn based Core 2 Duo that will have 20W TDP. This will increase the clock speed to 2.0GHz and beyond, but will also increase the power requirement. To meet the increased power requirements Apple will add a higher capacity battery to the new laptop. PhoneNews confirms that the new MacBook Air will require a 60W power adapter to fully charge. The hard drive version of the Air will get upgraded to 120GB and optional 160GB hard drive will be available. There is no information about whether Apple will use higher capacity 128GB SSD or will stay with the 64GB SSD model. The new MacBook Air might be released as early as next month as retailers are being alerted to be prepared for the upgrade.

Panasonic today announced that its entire 2008 line of 1080p VIERA Plasma HDTVs is rated to last 100,000 hours before reaching half its original brightness. Based upon US average daily viewing time of six and a half hours, Panasonic 1080p Plasma HDTVs could take more than 42 ears to reach half of their original brightness level.
"There has been a lot of misinformation circulating about Plasma HDTVs and longevity, and we're happy to once again set the record straight on the durability of Panasonic Plasma," said Robert Perry, Senior Vice President, Panasonic Display Products Company. "Quite simply, our Plasma TVs are built to last a very long time - as much as 100,000 hours to half their brightness."
In addition to its 1080p line of VIERA Plasma HDTVs, Panasonic’s current line of two 720p VIERA plasma HDTVs is also rated to last 60,000 hours to half brightness or 25 years at six and a half hours per day use.  The 720p VIERA line in fact matches the life span of LCD HDTVs currently available and the 1080p VIERA line exceeds the life span of 60,000 hours for LCD HDTVs.
[Via PR Newswire]

The upcoming desktop chipset codenamed Ibex Peak that Intel will launch in 2009, for it Nehalem based processors, is expected to feature Intel Remote PC Assist Technology (RPAT). The technology will help PC vendors lower their warranty cost while increasing the operational efficiency.
RPAT will allow PC vendors to access the user computer over the Internet to diagnose and repair consumers PC problem. The technology will provide features like data backup, virus checkup and functions to search for system errors. This will reduce the number of computers that vendors have to ship out to technicians for repair. The Intel Connect Service will be used for transfer of encrypted data for customer protection.
[Via Digi Times]

Apple today announced that movies from major film studios including 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM), Sony Pictures Television International and Lionsgate are now available on the iTunes Store in Australia and in New Zealand. The iTunes Store in Australia and New Zealand feature over 700 films for rent or purchase.
iTunes movies in Australia start at A$9.99 for catalog title purchases, A$17.99 for recent releases and A$24.99 for new releases. iTunes Movie Rentals are A$3.99 for library title rentals and A$5.99 for new releases, and high definition versions are priced at just one dollar more. iTunes movies in New Zealand start at NZ$9.99 for catalog title purchases, NZ$17.99 for recent releases and NZ$24.99 for new releases. iTunes Movie Rentals are NZ$4.99 for library title rentals and NZ$6.99 for new releases, and high definition versions are priced at just one dollar more.

AMD showcased practical applications of Cinema 2.0 technology at an event in New York.  The new graphics technology promises to bring photorealistic graphics to movies and interactive media. AMD demoed a photorealistic human model, graphically created by rapid high-definition photography from all angles in a globe shaped room. These cameras capture very detailed images. They operate so quickly that to the naked eye, they appear as solid lights, when in fact they are flashing on and off at fractions of a second to capture images. The information captured by these cameras is used to construct a 3D model.
AMD says that the technology is available now, as its new graphics cards will be able to support the Cinema 2.0. Developers from Splash Damage, Crytek, Rebellion, Remedy and Blizzard have partnered with AMD to use the technology. Now the main question, when will we see games based on Cinema 2.0 technology. Well the answer is, not for few years to come. But the latest development in 3D technology is inspiring and we will definitely see games and movies with more life like images soon.
[Via Joystiq]

Jabra today introduced Bluetooth headset BT530. The Bluetooth headset is the smallest offered by the company and it weighs only 0.35 ounces. The headset comes with eight different sizes of “Eargel” to give a comfortable fit for different ear shapes and the ear hook on the headset can also be removed. The Jabra headset can pair with multiple desk and mobile phones for easy switching.
The BT530 is Jabra’s first headset to use new “Noise Blackout” technology. The headset uses two microphones allowing the DSP chip to sort and filter background sound for better noise cancellation. The headset supports Bluetooth 2.0 standard with Enhanced Data Rate. The battery life of the headset is 5.5 hours for talk and 250 hours for standby. The BT530 will ship in September for $99.

Even though, Nokia is not using AMOLED display in any of its phones in current lineup. Handset panel suppliers have revealed that the company has set the capability of AMOLED development and volume production, as criteria for selection of its panel suppliers. Nokia expects AMOLED to play a major role in the handset market in future.
AU Optronics and TPO Display, two main panel suppliers to Nokia are working on development of AMOLED displays. AUO has revealed that it is planning to reopen the AMOLED manufacturing line, which it closed two years ago because of high material cost. AUO will unveil new AMOLED products by end of this year. The other panel supplier TPO said it has a team developing AMOLED, and the company also runs a small test line for the segment. It will start volume production when the technology matures.
Right now, only Samsung and Chi Mei EL do mass production of small size AMOLED panels. But it is believed that the technology will play a major role in future because of it higher contrast ratio, better color reproduction and lower power requirement compared to other display technologies.

HSBC, the multi-national banking giant is considering to deploy 200,000 Apple iPhones across its global workforce. This would be a big blow to RIM, as they are the mobile supplier to HSBC. RIM’s BlackBerry has been the handset of choice for HSBC since 2006.
Brenton Hush, HSBC’s Chief Information Office for Australia and New Zealand said, “We are actually reviewing iPhones from a HSBC Group perspective … and when I say that, I mean globally.”
HSBC has around 300,000 employees internationally and if one of the biggest multi-national banks adopts iPhone as their standardize mobile platform that will give a big boost to Apple’s enterprise ambition.

Intel will be updating its CPU lineup this month. They will start by adding a 45nm quad core processor – Core 2 Quad Q8200 that will have 2.33GHz clock speed and will be priced $224. Intel will drop the price of this processor to $203 in October when it starts shipping processors based on Nehalem architecture. The company will also add a new dual-core Pentium E5200 CPU with clock speed of 2.5GHz for $84. The third CPU that Intel will add will be 65nm Conroe based Celeron 450 with 2.2GHz clock speed and a price tag of $53.
Intel will offer a price drop in mid October for the following CPUs Core 2 Quad Q6600 from $193 to $183, Core 2 Duo E7300 from $133 to $113, Pentium E2220 from $84 to $ 74 and Pentium E2200 from $74 to $64.
The price drop will be a result of Intel launching Core i7 processors (Nehalem) in October. The lineup will include a 3.2GHz extreme processor for $999, a 2.93GHz performance level processor for $562 and a mainstream 2.66GHz processor for $284.
[Via Digi Time]

Best Buy today announced that it will start selling the iPhone 3G at 970 Best Buy stores nationwide beginning September 7th.  Brian J. Dunn, president and chief operation officer, Best Buy said in the press release:
“The iPhone has changed the way people think about their mobile phones, and we are delighted to help more customers get their hands on this revolutionary product. Our Best Buy Mobile employee have the training and expertise to deliver the best experience possible for our customers – from the initial purchase through the life of their iPhones.”
UBS Equity Research has released a new report claiming that the impact of iPhones being sold in Best Buy locations will be minimal. UBS says that it will have positive effect but the increase will in fact be fairly insignificant.
In my opinion, this will be huge, because in Best Buy stores customers, who are not planning to buy an iPhone, will be able to compare the iPhone next to other phone like Verizon’s LG Voyager/Dare or Sprint’s Samsung Instinct. And like most reviewers, who have compared the iPhones with other phones, customers will clearly see that iPhone is not just a smartphone but its a complete platform and that would increase the iPhone sales further.

Soundmatters, inc., is now shipping SLIMstage40 a single-speaker 5.1-surround sound system. SLIMstage40 features 170 Watts from eight internal amplifiers, yet it measures 3.3” x 3.4” x 39”. It has four Linear Magnetic Drive main/satellite speakers in its compact console, along with 170 watts of class-D amplification. Bass extension is achieved without an external subwoofer by way of nine bass drivers, including three down-firing Extreme Energy subs assisted by six mass radiators, with reproduction down to 45Hz. In total the speaker has 13-driver array for creating complete sound field. 
SLIMstage uses EuphonyHD a virtual surround technology developed through a joint effort with DiMAGIC. The technology not only recreates Dolby Digital and DTS imaging, but it creates a realistic 5.1 sound field from 2 channel signals as well. The ports on the system include three digital audio inputs, three analog inputs and a virtual surround headphone output jack. The SLIMstage40 includes a high-contrast LED backlit panel for easy viewing and a user-friendly IR remote. It is available now for $899 or $1199 when bundled with SUBstage 100 subwoofer.

AMD today launched two dual GPU graphics cards, Radeon HD 4850 X2 and 4870 X2. AMD claims that these new cards will increase performance by up to 80 percent over the single GPU counterparts. The HD 4870 X2 has 750MHz core clock speed and 900MHz GDDR-5 memory interface speed. While the 4850 X2 has 625MHz core clock speed and 900MHz GDDR-3 memory interface speed. Both the cards have 1600 stream processors and 2GB of video memory.
AMD claims that ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 is the world’s fastest graphics card with 2.4 TFLOPs of computing power in a single card and 230GB per second memory bandwidth. The card is available now for $549.
AMD also claims that 4850 X2 is the best performing graphics card under $400. The card performs at 2.0 TFLOPSs and has memory bandwidth of 128GB per second. This card will ship in September for $399.
Extreme Tech has done a complete review and comparison of the new Radeon HD 4870 X2 with NVIDIA high end GeForce GTX 280 card. The website concludes:

Lenovo today joined HP in the mobile quad-core race with its new 17-inch ThinkPad W700. The new laptop will come with Intel 2.53GHz Core 2 Extreme processor, NVIDIA Quadro FX 3700M 1GB graphics card, 2GB Intel Turbo Memory and up to 8GB memory. The laptop will be the first laptop ever to feature Wacom digitizer and built-in automatic color calibrator. The W700 has an integrated Wacom digitizer next to the trackpad that would allow graphic artists, CAD/CAM workers and other digital content creators to use a special pen for image editing.
The other industry first feature on the laptop is built-in color calibrator that can be used by running the included software, then closing the lid and in about one minute the screen would be automatically adjusted to standardized level. The W700 has an option of selecting a UWUXGA (1920 x 1200) screen with 400-nit display brightness and 72 percent color gamut.
ThinkPad W700 will come with dual hard drives that can be set to RAID 0 or 1 configuration. For the drive bay, you will have an option of selecting DVD writer, Blu-ray drive or third hard drive to increase the storage to 1TB. There are three video out ports DVI, DisplayPort and VGA. The configuration of the laptop will also include 7-in-1 card reader, five USB ports, WiFi, Bluetooth, UWM and optional WiMAX. Lenovo has yet not announced the pricing for the laptop. But they plan to ship this mobile workstation in October. To see video of the digitizer and color calibration working click the link below

ThinkPad W700 digitizer

ThinkPad W700 color calibration

[Via Slash Gear]

Fujifilm today launched three new digital cameras S2000HD, F60fd and J150w. The first in the lineup S2000HD is an update to the older ultrazoom S1000fd. It features 10-megapixel sensor, 15x optical zoom, 720p video capture capability and 16:9 still shots. It can take stills at 6.8FPS at 5-megapixel or 13.5FPS at 3-megapixel. The S2000HD will ship in September for $299.
The second camera in the lineup is F60fd a 12-megapixel camera with 3x optical zoom. The camera has full scene recognition to automatically tune color balance and all other settings for true point-and-shoot pleasure. It also features image stabilization and improved face detection system that will optionally remove red eye from shots taken with flash. This camera will carry the same shipping date and price as S2000HD, September and $299.
The last in the lineup is the budget J150w a 10-megapixel camera with wide-angle lens. It features a large 3-inch LCD screen, 5x optical zoom, face detection system and high ISO for better images. This camera will also ship in September for $199.

NikonRumors has posted an email and its attachment of D90 inventory screenshot that was send to them by a Circuit City employee. The email is as follows:

This confirms that Nikon D90 is no longer a rumor and we will see the real product very soon.

Intel is planning to announce a second mobile quad-core processor at its Developer Forum next week. The company has already announced that it will ship quad-core 2.53GHz Core 2 Extreme processor in Q3 2008 for high-end systems and HP has also shown notebooks based on that processor at SIGGRAPH Expo. The second quad-core processor will be aimed at more mainstream system under Core 2 Quad name. The model number for the processor will be Q9100 and it will have clock speed of 2.26Ghz, 12MB level 2 Cache and 1,066MHz front side bus. There is no word on whether the processor will have the same 45 watts TDP of Core 2 Extreme or it will be 35 watts TDP. The chip will be price higher than top-end Core 2 Duo chip but less than Core 2 Extreme chip.
[Via Electronista]

One Google engineer David Signleton, who used iPhone, wasn’t happy with how Google Translate page worked on it and decided to create a new iPhone-specific version of the site. Another engineer Allen Hutchison joined forces with David to develop a better site. The new Google Translate site is optimized for speed and supports translations in all of the languages that the regular site does. The website uses Google’s Language API which gives it the ability to automatically show any new languages. The site will store all of the old translations on your phone for quicker reference.
According to Ars Technica there are few problem when using the Translate site like Arabic characters are not properly displayed in Safari and iPhone users are automatically redirected to iPhone version and hence it’s more difficult to translate a full site.

Apple iPhone brought many revolutionary features when it was launched last year.  One of those features was Visual Voice Mail and it made you think, why no cellphone maker/carrier thought about this before. Now every carrier that doesn’t have the iPhone wants to compete with it. One of the ways they are doing this is by adding Visual Voice Mail to their phones. Sprint started supporting Visual Voice Mail for Samsung Instinct few months ago and today, Verizon officially launched their Visual Voice Mail service. The service is similar to the iPhone’s Visual Voice Mail, but adds new features like ability to add an unknown caller as a contact, forward messages, or store permanent copies to the phone.
The service also offers up to 40 messages stored on the server for 40 days and users can have 10 different custom greetings. The service will be first launched for LG Voyager – an iPhone like touchscreen phone. Verizon will introduce the service for other phones later. The new LG Voyager phones will come preloaded with the necessary software for Visual Voice Mail, while the existing users can bring their phones to retail shop for a software patch. Verizon customers will be charged $3 per month and also data fees, if you don’t have a data plan for Visual Voice Mail.

KDDI, one of the big four of Japanese mobile business saw its growth impeded in July by iPhone 3G launch. The company added just 17,000 new customers and it was for the first time in company’s history that numbers of cancellations were more than number of new subscriptions. SoftBank the iPhone carrier saw a spike of 52,000 new customers for the same month as iPhone was launched on 11th July. For the year starting in July 2007 and ending in July 2008, SoftBank was the top carrier with 215,400 new subscriptions, followed by NTT DoCoMo 94,200 and Emobile 65,000. In fact, one fourth of SoftBank’s new customers were added in last 20 days of July 2008.
KDDI’s spokesperson acknowledged the iPhone effect by saying, “We are accepting the fact, considering that our handsets weren’t attractive enough.” The cancellations numbers temporarily increased after iPhone was released said the spokesperson.
SoftBank’s PR department said, “We believe our large net growth was an iPhone effect.” The company said that it expects this growth to continue for coming months as the iPhone demand is still very high and the devices are hard to find.
Though, the other two carriers NTT DoCoMo and Emobile have yet not said whether they were affected by iPhone launch, but it is largely believed that they also saw their growth slowed and lost customers in July because of the iPhone launch.
[Via Tech On]

Details about Motorola’s upcoming touchscreen handset have been leaked by BGR. The new handset has striking similarity to upcoming Motorola Alexander, but no QWERTY keyboard. The Atila will have 2.8” QVGA (240 x320) touch screen, Quad-band GSM, Tri-band UMTS/HSPA, WiFi b/g and Bluetooth A2DP. The Windows Mobile 6.1 professional phone will measure 3.14” x 4.29” x 0.54” and have an 1130mAh battery. No information about pricing or release date is available now, but like most mobile handset makers Motorola will be aiming for iPhone with these touchscreen handset, so it should be less than $199 with carrier subsidiaries. 

HP today showed the first laptop based on Intel’s upcoming quad-core mobile processor at SIGGRAPH expo. The new 17-inch EliteBook 8730w will have option of 2.53GHz Core 2 Extreme processor with 12MB level 2 Cache. As the processor is designed for laptops and is not a desktop part, the battery life and size (thickness) of the laptop will not be affected. The 8730w will be based on new Centrino 2 platform and will support up to 8GB memory. The laptop will have a choice of NVIDIA Quadro FX video chipset with 1GB of memory to improve its 3D and video performance. HP says that the 8730W will also be the first laptop to use true high-color display "DreamColor" with full 16 million colors versus the 260,000 offered by most existing notebooks, further improving its video and 3D capabilities.
The EliteBook 8730w will ship by end of this month for a starting price of $1,699. HP also launched two 15.4-inch laptops, the EliteBook 8530p and 8530w; both the laptops will have an option of quad-core processor and will support memory up to 8GB. The two 15.4-inch laptops will ship in September for a starting price of $1,499.
[Via MacNN]

Update: Slash gear has posted complete specifications and a photo showing the difference between HP's DreamColor display and standard display.

Analyst Michael Cote claims that Apple has already shipped over three million iPhone 3G units since launch. If the number is accurate, Apple sold 3 million handsets in less than a month, far exceeding Wall Street predication of 3 million in one quarter. This would also me that it took iPhone 3G one month to sell almost half the number of units original iPhone sold in one year. As always Apple has not commented on the statistics, but said that iPhone 3G is far exceeding company’s own expectations.
This raise in iPhone sales is only going to go upwards, as Apple will launch iPhone in 20 more countries on August 22nd. The list of countries includes India the second largest mobile phone market in world after China. In India, if iPhone becomes half as successful as it is in US, in first year alone, Apple would sell more than 10 million iPhone in India. Apple plans to expand iPhone reach to 70 countries by end of 2008 and if the demand continues like this Apple might struggle to satisfy the iPhone market.

Hitachi today unveiled DZ-BD10HA three-format hybrid camcorder with Blu-ray support. The camcorder can record full HD, 1920 x 1080 resolution videos on Blu-ray disc or 30GB in-built hard drive or on a SDHC card via SDHC card slot. On the hard drive it can store 4 hours and 20 minutes of 1080p video or 8 hours and 40 minutes of 1440 x1080 video. The camera also offers a dubbing function that allows video to be transferred from hard drive or SDHC card to Blu-ray drive. The DZ-BD10HA uses a 7-megapixel CMOS sensor that capture HD video with minimum distortion and artifacts for clear and vibrant high definition picture. The camcorder has face detection feature that automatically detects and focuses on the face and optical image stabilization that automatically detects and cancels camera shake. The DZ-BD10HA is available now in Japan and will ship in North America in September for $999.
[Via Business Wire]

In an interview with Wall Street Journal, Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs revealed that more than 60 million applications have been download from the App Store since it was launched on 11th July. While most of those applications were free, Apple sold an average of $1 million a day in applications for a total of about $30 million in sales over the month. At the current pace Apple will sell $360 million worth of application in a year. It is very likely that the pace will increase, as Apple will launch the iPhone in around 50 more countries this year.
“This thing’s going to crest a half a billion soon,” jobs said. “Who knows, maybe it will be a $1 billion marketplace at some point in time. I’ve never seen anything like this in my career for software.”
Apple sees the App Store as a tool to differentiate its iPhone from other mobile phones offered. The company believes, applications will sell more iPhone and wireless-enabled iPod touch devices, enhancing the appeal of the products in the same way music sold through iTunes has made iPod more desirable.
Jim Goldman of CNBC summarizes what Apple has achieved by App Store, “Once again, Apple has seen the future, built a bridge to it, and is taking consumers along for the journey. It’s extraordinary that the company has once again seized on another electronic ecosystem, in much the same way iTunes didn’t so much as invent downloaded digital entertainment as it did re-invent it. And iPhone is the direct beneficiary of this ingenuity, proving once again that the deice isn’t merely a ‘smartphone,’ but Apple’s next-generation ‘platform.’”

Intel on Sundry officially announced that the next generation Nehalem architecture based processors would be called Core i7. The present generation of Intel processors lineup is called Core 2 Solo/Duo/Quad. Nehalem is Intel’s seventh major architecture since the introduction of 8086 in 1990s. The first chips to use the Core i7 name will be the Nehalem based mainstream desktop processors that will have speeds up to 3.2GHz. The mainstream processors will use the regular blue logo. The Extreme Edition processors, known for their extra features like speed multiplier and overclocking will use the darker black/gray logo. Intel will start shipping the Core i7 processors for desktop in fall of 2008; mobile processer will ship in first quarter of 2009. Workstation and sever chips will continue using the Xeon logo.

Fujitsu has also joined the netbook race with their new LifeBook U2010 UMPC for Asia-Pacific region. The small netbook / UMPC comes with superb 5.6-inch WXGA touchscreen with 1280 x 800 resolution, 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor and a choice of 60GB HDD or 64GB SSD. The LifeBook also has very impressive battery life of 8 hours on a single charge. It is available in five colors gold, silver, red, blue or black.
The U2010 comes with Microsoft’s Origami 2.0 interface and includes features like 1.3 megapixel webcam, FM transmitter, fingerprint scanner, digital microphone, Bluetooth and WiFi. Fujitsu has yet not announced the price but this netbook will be costlier than others available on market, as Fujitsu is aiming for higher end of netbook market with this LifeBook U2010.

Lenovo the official provide of computers and computing hardware for Olympic games, has released four limited editions Olympic themed flash drives. The first drive is inspired by Olympic torch and features the swirly red clouds and Olympic logo present on the torch. The casing of the drive is made of same materials used for creating the Olympic torch. This 4GB limited edition thumb drive goes for $980. The next in line is the Mascot –series thumb drives, it has six 4GB drive models, five models are painted with Fuwa image and one with the Beijing Olympic logo. The Mascot drives are price $199. The third series is Medallions. These drives are in medallion shape with Fuwa image in the center. Don’t worry about price or capacity, as these limited edition drives are already sold out. The last in the Olympic collection are the extremely limited five 1GB titanium drive. The drives are made using titanium and have Olympic mascots inscribed in the center. Again don’t worry about the price because Lenovo only produced ten thumb drives and only the most prestigious persons will become the proud owner of these drives.
[Via Everything USB]