Chicago (IL) - If there was ever a chance to convince my wife that her Ipod Nano is an over priced, boring music player, then this is it. I got an opportunity to play with Samsung's latest flash audio player that integrates slide-out speakers and there is no doubt that Samsung has created a device with the necessary genes to cause more than just headaches in Cupertino.
Best Buy will expand its mobile computer offering into the gaming segment: Velocity Micro today said that its "NoteMagix L80x Ultra" will be available for about $2000 through the retailer.
Fuji today said that it will ship its Finepix S5 Pro digital SLR camera in early 2007. The camera will be compatible with Nikon F-mount lenses, including the Nikkor AF-D/G and AF-S series.
Samsung Electronics has increased its DRAM output that is using a 0.11-micron process at its 8" fabs to meet growing demand, as it still has issues at its 80nm node, according to market sources.
Although notebook makers noted that news concerning a Vista launch delay would not affect sales this quarter, Microsoft's Vista free upgrade coupon, due to be available in October, will drive more consumers to purchase a PC in the fourth quarter and PC makers expect the hot season effect to last through the first quarter of 2007.
TomTom, a manufacturer of GPS (global positioning system) navigation products, will launch GPS PNDs (portable navigation devices) with a small-size screen of 2.8" - the first time this screen size has been offered under the TomTom brand - according to OEM makers in Taiwan.
Espoo (Finland) - Nokia has struck a deal with Microsoft to embed a mobile version of its Live Search into select Nokia phones. The service will allow users to search for specific items such as stock prices and loval movie show times from their cellphone.
Predominantly available for the Nokia N-series of multimedia smartphone handsets, Live Search will complement the existing Mobile Search platform that comes pre-installed on Nokia's high-end phones. Live Search will also be available on select models on Nokia's line of series 60 phones.
Further strengthening its portfolio of 3G devices, Nokia on Wednesday unveiled the Nokia 6288, a 3G slide phone that features a video playback capability.
Microsoft's plan to launch a Zune-branded phone might hurt sales of its Windows Mobile platform products since it may compete with Windows Mobile-based mobile devices, according to sources at Taiwan handset makers.
Chicago (IL) - Toshiba is the third company to announce major recall of Sony-built notebook batteries within the past five weeks. Following 4.1 million Dell notebooks and 1.8 million Apple computers, Toshiba today said that it is recalling 340,000 notebooks worldwide and 100,000 in the U.S. to replace their battery packs.
Real Networks and Sandisk have partnered up to offer MP3 players with pre-loaded music and Real Networks' Rhapsody music service. A new "Sansa Rhapsody" player, based on the Sansa e200 player, will come with almost 32 hours of music from popular artists. The players will also synchronize purchased songs from Rhapsody into the players.
Virgin Atlantic Airways says it will ban passengers from using Apple and Dell laptops running on battery power for all international flights. Passengers on the U.K.-based airline carrying the laptops can bring them aboard only after removing the battery and storing it in carry-on luggage, according to the company.
Read the complete story here. (Newsfactor)
Los Angeles (CA) - At the CTIA Wireless convention in Los Angeles, Wilson Cellular showed us its mobile phone repeater kit that can add up to 3 watts of power to a phone signal. The kits contain amplifiers, antennas and enough battery power to give 12 hours of talk time. Company representatives showed off the kit in the following video.
Los Angeles (CA) - Lost and stolen electronics are a fact of life for many businesses, but UK-based and aptly named Covert Asset Tracking Systems Ltd (CATSeye) promises to help recover items with itsline of electronic tracking devices. The company makes matchbook-sized transmitters that can be tracked with GPS, GSM phone towers or even radio frequency. Company reps gave us a quick video demo at the Los Angeles CTIA Wireless convention and even claimed to find items down to one-inch accuracy.
Los Angeles (CA) - Optical character recognition, the automatic conversion of typed or written text into digital format, has grown up - or more accurately shrunk down to mobile phones. ABBYY has developed an SDK that converts mobile phone pictures into digital text that can then be automatically entered into the phone's address book.
Los Angeles (CA) - Mobile phones are now able to show smooth, high-quality video thanks to Nvidia's mobile graphics chips. The Nvidia GoForce 5500 chips can decode full-length movies and television shows in H.264 format. At the CTIA Wireless convention in Los Angeles, Nvidia representatives showed us just how good the video can look. See for yourself in the following video.
Los Angeles (CA) - Panasonic has introduced a pair of rugged laptops that are not only stylish, but also light. The sub-four pound Toughbook CF-T5 and CF-W5 have magnesium-alloy cases and can withstand shock, drops and compression. Company representatives showed off the laptops on video and even flipped open the very small optical drive.
Amstelveen (The Netherlands) - Canon is raining down four new cameras just before the huge Photokina photography conference in Germany. The cameras are aimed at consumers and use the new DIGIC III image processing chip. All the cameras shoot from 7.1 to 10.0 Megapixel pictures and take full-motion VGA video.
