Google News Science & Technology

Google has announced a "new approach" in China as it battles with Beijing over censorship.

Until recently, the firm had been redirecting search inquiries in China to its unfiltered site in Hong Kong to get round censorship issues.

Google has said it will now stop this after Beijing warned it could lose its licence to operate in the country.

Users will instead be directed to a "landing page" on its Chinese site with a link to access the Hong Kong page.

Google said it was hopeful that this would allow it to continue operating in China.

However, BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones said there was no guarantee the Chinese authorities would accept the new arrangement.

Google announced the changes one day before its Internet Content Provider (ICP) licence - necessary to operate in the country - was due to expire.

"Without an ICP licence, we can't operate a commercial website like Google.cn—so Google would effectively go dark in China," said David Drummond of the firm in a blog post.

"That's a prospect dreaded by many of our Chinese users, who have been vocal about their desire to keep Google.cn alive."

A spokesperson for the firm said Google was about to submit its new ICP application to the government and had made the changes in an effort to continue operating in the country.

It has already begun to channel some Chinese web users to the new page.

"Over the next few days we'll end the redirect entirely, taking all our Chinese users to our new landing page—and today we re-submitted our ICP licence renewal application based on this approach," said Mr Drummond.

Google has had a long history of run-ins with the Chinese authorities.

However, these escalated in January when the search firm announced that it was considering withdrawing from China altogether following a "sophisticated" cyber attack originating from the country.

The attacks targeted the e-mail accounts of Chinese human rights activists, along with the computers and infrastructure of Google and several other US firms.

The firm eventually decided to stay in the country, but offer Chinese users unfiltered results through its Hong Kong servers.

The latest move was part of the firm's ambition to "make information available to users everywhere," said Mr Drummond.

"This new approach is consistent with our commitment not to self censor and, we believe, with local law. We are therefore hopeful that our licence will be renewed."

While Google is the world's most popular search engine, it is a distant number two in the Chinese market, which is dominated by Baidu.

The government hopes that nearly half the population will have access to the internet within five years. That figure is nearly 30% at the moment.

Losing business in the country could harm Google's future growth prospects because of the size and rate of growth of China's internet population.

Source http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/10444936.stm

Following the global launch of Mac Mini previous year, Apple is launching its recent collection to Indian shores. These two models are well fitted with the modern technologies. The Mac mini is built using a unibodily aluminum design and comes with a Max OS X Snow Leopard that has been pre-installed on a standard version. On the flip side, the server version is known for its OS X Snow Leopard Server operating system. Both of these versions come with an in-built HDMI output that can be used directly for connecting to your HDTV while there are four USB ports, one SD card slot, FireWire 800 port, and a MiniDisplay port.

The influence of iPad is something different that Mac needs to remember till time immemorial.

Source http://www.shuttervoice.com/5029/mac-mini-and-iphone-do-you-really-think-something-is-related.html

India has added another distinction to its credit in the field of astronomy with it becoming part of the prestigious (Thirty Metre Telescope) TMT project. Though India has been granted observer status initially it is entitled to become a full fledged partner in the long run.

An artist's impression of the TMT.

Three leading astronomical institutes namely the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, (IUCAA) Pune, the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) Bangalore and Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational-Sciences (ARIES), Nainital, have been instrumental in pushing the Indian initiative with respect to the project, which aims to unlock the secrets of the universe by studying various aspects of black holes, galaxies, stars and other celestial bodies.

The project, based at Mauna Kea, Hawaii has recently completed a $77 million design development phase. The project is expected to advance to the onsite construction phase sometime in 2011.

The TMT project is being implemented under both private and public partnership and besides Indian observatories, the Chinese Academy of Sciences has also been accorded observer status since 2009.

An observer status provides scientists access to the telescope which will be operated by Caltech.

The current partners of the TMT include the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and the Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy.

Source http://www.domain-b.com/technology/2010/20100628_astronomy.html

Being the current version, Mac OS X Snow Leopard comes with improved performance and greater efficiency.

Snow Leopard server makes it easy to communicate and share information’s. It’s the best for those who have never run server, due to its easy nature.

In a box it comes with Mac mini, HDMI to DVI adapter, power cord, install/restore DVD’s, printed and electronic documentation

The device is designed to be a server with 500GB 7200-rpm hard drives with 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 GB RAM and NVIDIA Ge-force 320M graphics.

It comes at a price of Rs 64,900.52(including levy and VAT).The software installed will help the users save time and excess effort. It is has an easy set up and run process.

Mac mini with Mac OS X Snow Leopard is server friendly fulfilling the basic needs of workgroup or small business including email, calendar, file serving, Time Machine backup, Wiki Server, Podcast Producer and more using less than 11W of power at idle.

So if you are new in this business, Mac OS X Snow Leopard will be the best option..

Source http://gizmopassion.com/?p=3868

But the researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab have developed a small plastic device which will change its Orkut or Facebook status.

Cell phones are available everywhere, so most people would just require the low cost plastic device.

The software in it can determine a person’s vision prescription on the spot by using a small plastic lens that clips to a cell phone screen.

The patient needs to attach the plastic to the screen of a cell phone and look into a small lens. Press the arrow keys of the phone until the set of parallel green and red lines overlap.

This needs to be repeated 8 times at different angles for each eye. It takes less then two minutes of your time and the loaded software provides you with the prescription data.

According to the researchers it currently costs around $2 to get manufactured now, but can get down to pennies when manufactured on large scale. They have decided to test the device in Boston this summer.

They have already applied for the open public inspection (patent) called Near-Eye Tool for Refractive Assessment (NETRA) and are planning to manufacture it on a large scale.

I’m sure this will create a new record and be a great help for the people in remote areas.

Source http://gizmopassion.com/?p=3858

Adobe's Flash 10.1 requires version 2.2 of the Android OS, and that just won't be ready for the Droid's launch. Instead, it will be part of an upgrade later this summer. Here's Verizon's official word on the issue:

"DROID X will ship with Android 2.1 and consumers can expect to receive an upgrade to Android 2.2 in late summer via an over-the-air upgrade. We work closely with Google™ and our carrier partners to ensure a seamless device experience. Android 2.2 and Adobe Flash Player 10.1 Beta were announced in May, and DROID X will receive an over-the-air upgrade to Android 2.2 late this summer, once we have fully tested it to ensure an optimized experience."

The good news is, original Motorola Droid owners will also get a 2.2 update with Flash at the same time, execs said at the Droid X launch. We're checking to see if there's any word on when the HTC Droid Incredible, Verizon's other top smartphone, will get the upgrades.

Source http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2365612,00.asp

If the Earth’s shadow partially or completely covers the moon it is known as a lunar eclipse.

The ‘Korean Astronomy and Space Science Institute’ on Wednesday announced that the partial eclipse will start and end at 5:55 p.m. and 11:21 p.m. respectively, and that when the eclipse peaks at 8:38 p.m., 54 percent of the lunar surface will be overshadowed by the earth. Lunar fanatics are in for a pleasant experience on Saturday as the partial eclipse will be in full view in the Philippines; the eclipse will leave the moon looking red!

The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) also confirmed that the moon will be red in color during the eclipse.

The eclipse starts at 4:55 p.m.(LMT Philippine) with the eclipse peaking at 8:38 and ending at 10:21 p.m.

PAGASA Administrator Prisco Nilo cleared some air around the eclipse and said that “Lunar eclipses are safe to watch and observers need not use any kind of protective filters for the eyes. A pair of binoculars will help magnify the view and will make the red coloration of the moon brighter,”

Prof. Bam Gabriana from the Rizal Technological University (RTU) Department of Astronomy explained that the moon would be red in color due to the phenomenon of refraction caused by the atmosphere of the Earth. He also added that it will not be a deep shade of red and that the moon will only have a light tinge of red.

He suggested to interested observers to turn to the eastern skies to catch a glimpse of the moon.

He explains that the eclipse will commence a few minutes after the sun sets.

This should be a beautiful spectacle so don’t miss it if you are in the vicinity!

Source http://www.stockwatch.in/india-catch-glimpse-lunar-eclipse-26th-27422

Nokia has decided that that their next-gen smartphones expected in 2011 will be equipped with NFC. Just in case you’re not very well versed with mobile jargon, NFC stands for Near Field Communication. You can take that in a literal sense as that’s pretty much what it means. Smartphones equipped with smartcards will be able to read data off of anything equipped with NFC transmitters.

Imagine if you will, you’re in a supermarket and you’re looking for cereal and as usual, there’s no attendant to help you, NFC transmitters could be placed strategically around the store for you to simply place your smartphone near to get data. The data could not only contain info about which isle the cereals are but also the kinds of cereal in stock as well as what’s good for you.

If you’re traveling abroad and a Map or information counter contains an NFC transmitter, you could capture the data onto your handset about places to see, local transport details, schedules of the same and more. The limitation of NFC, if you can even call it that, is that you’ll be required to place your device within 4 inches of the transmitter. The good thing is data can be transmitted within this short range extremely fast so there’s no standing around waiting like with Bluetooth, as fast as that is.

The technology is still a work in progress. Bar Code Scanners and such have already made it to the mobile segment and these apps allow your device to read data off of a barcode on a product that can provide description, pricing, company contact information etc. about said product.

As of now devices with this technology are few and far between. Nokia had plans to launch their 6216 Classic this year that was NFC compliant however they had apparently canceled the launch for whatever reason and now they’ve done a complete about face with the announcement that their 2011 product list would include NFC enabled devices. Go figure. The 6216 was announced way back in April of 2009 and then again in 2009, but it didn’t quite seem to make it out, in one piece anyways. Perhaps third times a charm.

Source http://tech2.in.com/india/news/smart-mobile-phones/nokia-does-an-about-face-nfc-phones-to-be-available-in-2011/128892/0

Samsung adds another Galaxy to its smartphone universe.

Built around the appeal of creating and sharing personal content, the Apollo comes complete with an aptly titled ‘Social Hub,’ which provides users with quick, one-stop access to the likes of Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Picasa and micro-blogging service Twitter.

In terms of technical specifications and related handset features, the Apollo will arrive with a 3.2-inch touch-screen display, 3G connectivity (HSDPA 3.6Mbps), a 3.0 mega-pixel camera with Auto Focus, 8.5 hours of talk time (on 3G), and Google’s increasingly popular Android operating system (v2.1).

“The Samsung Galaxy Apollo extends our portfolio of Android-powered devices and underlines Samsung’s commitment to offering a Smartphone for every lifestyle,” commented Simon Stanford, Head of Mobile at Samsung UK & Ireland, in an official statement.

“The Samsung Galaxy Apollo offers a compelling mix of social networking and rich media experiences which will appeal to consumers who want a Smartphone device at an affordable price,” he added. “We are sure that Orange customers will enjoy being the first to own and experience the Galaxy Apollo.”

Other contributing elements include the Touch Wiz user interface, 1GB of internal memory, up to 32GBs of external memory, Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n), an onboard multimedia player, Bluetooth 2.1, USB 2.0, A-GPS, an accelerometer, and a proximity sensor.

While Samsung is holding the Apollo aloft as something of a cheaper alternative to, say, the Galaxy S, it has not yet divulged the new handset’s price point or its street date.

Source http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/201024/5752/Samsung-goes-Orange-for-socially-slanted-Apollo-smartphone

AT&T halts iPhone pre-orders after glitch

The two new phones in question are the rather weirdly named Yendo and the somewhat more sublime Cedar. Let's take a brief look at both the phones now. We start with the Yendo first.

The Yendo is most likely to be the first ever Walkman branded Android phone from Sony Ericsson. Earlier, it was thought that the Xperia X8 or the Shakira would vie for that honour. Note that the news regarding the Yendo being an Android phone is just a rumor. This is not yet confirmed.

There is no information regarding the specs of the Yendo and these renderings are the only ones that have been leaked now. From what we see, the phone is a decent looker with design cues from both the brands Xperia and Walkman finding their way in. It would be interesting to find out the detailed specifications of this device.

Next in line is the Sony Ericsson Cedar. This happens to be an addition to their existing Greenheart series of phones which currently includes the Elm. The phone is a rather simple device with no flashy design cues. Like in the case of the Yendo, there is no word regarding the features the Cedar will come packed with.

Source http://www.techtree.com/India/News/Two_New_Sony_Ericsson_Phones_Leaked/551-111827-893.html

One day prior to the E3 Expo 2010, Microsoft announced the updated version of the Xbox 360 console. Simply called the Xbox 360 250GB, the new console features a number of changes, including smaller design, larger internal hard drive and Wi-Fi 802.11n support, among others.

For the new design, Microsoft has gone for a more angular look compared to the curvy design of the previous model. The new Xbox 360 250GB features a glossy all black design, which reminds us of the first generation PlayStation 3. It is now significantly smaller than the older version. Other aspects of the design are the presence of touch sensitive buttons instead of the mechanical buttons for the power and disc eject functions. Microsoft has also gone for a single larger fan design instead of the two smaller fans for lower noise during gameplay. Those who witnessed the console first hand noted that the new model is significantly quieter than the older one. For those who don't know, the older Xbox 360 was criticized for its higher noise levels during operation.




The new Xbox 360 250GB features a lot more connectivity options than before. You get five USB 2.0 ports, two of which are up front under the sliding panel and three are on the back. There is an AUX port for connecting accessories such as the Xbox 360 Kinect. An HDMI port is standard and so are the optical audio out and the proprietary AV connector found on the older consoles. And finally there is Wi-Fi 802.11n (the PlayStation 3 has 802.11b/g) built right in.

The new Xbox 360 250GB comes with a much smaller power brick compared to the older model. It is also much lighter than before and uses a new connector to connect to the console. Still, we would have preferred an internal power supply unit as on the PlayStation 3.



True to its name, the new Xbox 360 250GB comes with a 250GB HDD inside it. It is incompatible with the older hard drive though and it seems you cannot just use any laptop hard drive as you can on the PlayStation 3. You also cannot use older memory cards of the Xbox 360 with the new console. To transfer data from the old console to the new one, you can use a 16GB flash drive or the hard drive transfer cable (sold separately for $20).

The new Xbox 360 250GB has already gone on sale in U.S. and is available for $299. The older Xbox 360 is also on sale for $199 but may get an update. We hope the new console arrives in India soon.

Source http://www.techtree.com/India/News/Microsoft_announces_New_Xbox_360_250GB/551-111780-585.html

Nokia Oyj, the world’s largest mobile handset company, on Monday launched a slew of smartphones to check its declining share in this growing segment of the market, where it faces stiff competition from Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android-based devices.

The Finland-based company is still the market leader in the smartphones segment with a 41 per cent share, but is under pressure to hold on to the title.

It today launched its N8 model in the Asia-Pacific region to fend off its competitors. N8 is the first phone to be launched with Nokia’s improved Symbian 3 operating system. The phone will be available globally, including India, from September onward and is priced at 370 euros (Rs 21,019).

The industry sees the N8 as an attempt by Nokia to win back customers moving on to a host of phones from Taiwan’s HTC — whose phones are based on Android systems — Apple’s iPhone 4, and Blackberry. The N8 offers 8 of GB memory, faster access to social networking sites like FaceBook and Twitter and high quality video recording.

“Nokia N8 is a great device for people who want to create content, connect to their preferred networking site,” Nokia Senior Vice President, Smartphones, Jo Harlow said.

The world’s largest mobile phone-maker is also trying to lure developers to write content and make applications for its devices. Better content and improved software are the major reasons for increasing sale of iPhones and Android devices, whereas Nokia seems to have lagged behind.

Nokia launched two other models today. One of them, the X6, has 8 GB of memory and is targeted at entertainment seekers with services like unlimited music downloads, social networking, chat and games. The other, the Nokia X5, has 2 GB of memory (expandable to 32 GB) and offers music and networking services.

These phones will also be available from September. The Nokia X6 is prices at 225 euros (Rs 12,790), while the X5 will cost 165 euros (Rs 9,370), exclusive of taxes and subsidy.

The company has also made a late entry into the dual SIM handset segment with the launch of its C2 and C1 models, which are priced in the range of 30 euros to 45 euros. Other mobile handset-makers in the Indian market had introduced dual SIM handsets, where two SIM cards can be used, a long time ago.

Nokia also introduced two low cost, low memory phones in the price range of 35-39 euros (Rs 1,998-Rs 2,215).

There is a plethora of smartphones from international companies like LG, Samsung and Sony Ericsson flooding the Indian market. In addition, local companies like Videocon, Fly, Zen and many others are entering the growing segment. The resulting competition could bring down smartphone prices.

Source http://beta.thehindu.com/business/companies/article455073.ece?homepage=true

The devices to be promoted by Kapil Dev will include OliveFrvrOn – India’s first dual power hybrid phone and OliveWiz- India’s first triple sim QWERTY keypad phone.

Olive is excited to have Kapil Dev as its goodwill ambassador. The company is hoping to boost the sales of its products under Kapil's brand name.

Source http://www.breakingnewsonline.net/technology/2355-kapil-dev-appointed-goodwill-ambassador-for-olive.html

In this post we will be using a free software called Iphonia to jailbreak your iPhone 3.1.3. Please note that jailbreaking voids our warranty, and we are not responsible for anything that happens to your iPhone as a result of following this tutorial.

Warning:Use This Steps To Jailbreak & Unlock Iphone 3G/3Gs 3.1.3 – Iphonia Website

Jailbreak iPhone, iPhone 3G, or iPhone 3GS

1. Click the Downloads button and click on the Download Iphonia RC3 link to download it.

2. Connect your iPhone to your computer and open the Iphonia application.

Iphonia unlock iphone 3G/3gS 3.1.3
3. Click unlock iphone 3G/3gS 3.1.3 button.

Iphonia recovery mode

4. Iphonia will now put your iPhone in recovery mode and display the above image of our website. While in recovery mode, Iphonia will jailbreak your iPhone.

Iphonia screen

5. Once Iphonia is done jailbreaking, your iPhone will reboot and you should see the Iphonia icon on your iPhone screen.

Iphonia iPhone app

6. Tap the unlock iphone 3G/3gS 3.1.3 icon to open it. You have the option of installing either Cydia, Icy, or Rock. Select the applications you would like to install and then click the Install button to install them.

Slide to power of iPhone

7. Once you’ve installed the applications, restart your iPhone. To do that, just hold down the top button until the Slide to power off message appears. Slide the button, and wait for your device to turn off. Turn on your device and you should now see the applications you selected on your iPhone.
What now?

Iphone 3G/3Gs 3.1.3 succsessfully jailbroken

Congratulations, you have successfully jailbroken your iPhone, give yourself a pat on the back! Now you have access to a lot more applications and modifications that you will never see in the App Store. We will be covering a lot of cool jailbreak apps in future posts, please subscribe to our newsletter if you found this tutorial helpful. If you liked this, feel free to pass on this information to people you know!

Source http://www.latestmoviescentral.com/2010/06/11/unlock-iphone-3g3gs-3-1-3-fast-with-a-jailbreak-tool-recently-released/

Samsung star 3G (GT-S5603) another affordable 3G ready touch screen mobile phone from Samsung. In recent years Samsung gets huge popularity in India because of its affordable; feature rich touch screen mobile phones. Samsung Star and Samsung Corby series and Guru Series in non-touch class are the most selling series of Samsung. Company continuously adds new models in Indian market with tons of features and at attractive price tag.

Recently Samsung introduced another touch model in Star series, Samsung Star 3G.The phone features with 3.2 MP camera with LED flash and smile shot, 3G video calling, 2.8 inch touch screen and the most important and must have feature of today’s generation- social networking and mobile blogging.

Samsung star 3G features and specifications:

• 2.8 inch QVGA LCD with 262K colors
• Measurement: 102.8 x 54.8 x 12.9 mm
• Versatile, intuitive and easy-to-use TouchWiz v1.0 user interface
• Auto rotating display – Accelerometer sensor and Gesture lock
• Gesture Lock / Wide Idle Screen
• 3.2 Megapixel Camera with Power LED flash and smile shot
• Secondary camera for video calling
• Music player with MP3/AAC/AAC+/e-AAC+/WMA/WAV format support
• FM Radio with RDS
• 80 MB internal memory and expandable up to 16GB via microSD
• Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP
• DNSe (Digital Natural Sound Engine) technology in speaker phone
• Mobile widgets – clock, scheduler, and other useful apps
• Online widgets – stock updates, weather forecasts, BBC news flashes, etc.
• Mobile Blogging.
• Battery: Li-Ion 1000 mAh – up to 300 hrs standby and up to 3 hrs talktime.

Samsung Star 3G is priced at Rs.10,000 in India.

Source http://www.indian-tech-news.com/samsung-star-3g-specifications-and-price-in-india/1470/

The VAIO E series notebooks are included in the EA series with 14-inch models while EB series comprise of 15.5-inch models.

Masaru Tamagawa, managing director, Sony India, said, ''The E-series with vibrant and colourful looks are perfect for everyday browsing.''

The company will launch a 'Go Vivid' brand campaign starring Kareena Kapoor who is the brand ambassador of Sony Vaio. Sony will spend Rs20 crores towards ATL and BTL activities involving print and electronic media, online, outdoor and shop-front for its Vaio series.

''The message 'Go Vivid' befits the vibrant laptops and helps connect with youngsters.

Our brand ambassador, Kareena is a cool youth-icon who exudes a tremendous sense of style that resonates well with brand Vaio.'' Tamagawa added.

The notebooks are powered by Core i3 and Core i5 microprocessors. The models come pre loaded with Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium OS and have upto 4GB RAM and up to 500GB HDD storage.

The laptops will be available in classic shades black and white with the matte finishing along with vivid shades blue, pink, green, black and white with dot gradation. The 14-inch VAIO EA and EB series notebooks will have a starting price of Rs. 34,990.

Sony holds a market share of 12 per cent in consumer notebook market in India and is aiming to increase it to 20 per cent by the year 2010.

Source http://www.stockwatch.in/sony-launches-vaio-e-series-laptops-india-26812

The rocket was launched after a one-day delay due to malfunctioning firefighting equipment near the launchpad at the coastal Naro space center in Goheung, 290 miles (465 kilometers) south of Seoul.

The rocket lifted off sucessfully Thursday, loaded with an observation satellite for studying global warming and climate change, but aerospace officials lost contact with the rocket 137 seconds later, the state-run Korea Aerospace Research Institute said.

"We will seek ways to find the satellite," Lee Joo-jin, head of the space agency told reporters, without elaborating.

The blastoff at the coastal Naro space center in Goheung, 290 miles (465 kilometers) south of Seoul, was the country's second launch of a rocket from its own territory. In the first attempt last August, the satellite failed to go into orbit because one of its two covers apparently failed to come off after liftoff.

Since 1992, South Korea has launched 11 satellites from overseas sites, all on foreign-made rockets.

The first stage of the two-stage Naro rocket was designed and built by Russia and the second by South Korea.

Source http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hLzFJde99mlaJ8EGJn-JGF3Plp-QD9G8AII80

The recent press statement from Vodafone revealed that the network carrier is all set to bring the iPhone 4 to the Indian market in the coming months.

Vodafone is said to bring the iPhone 4 to India wrapped up with a slim look. The iPhone displays a 3.5-inch Retina display with a 960 x 640 resolution that enables users to watch quality videos within a click.

At 9.3mm which makes it sleek and easy to handle. The phone runs on iOS4 which enables the device to run at a faster pace. The operating system is complemented with 100 fresh features and about 1500 new APIs for creative developers.

The iPhone 4 offers an A4 processor and a 3-axis gyro that allows up to 40percentage extended talk time. The display produces clear texts, images and videos for enhanced viewing. The FaceTime characteristic of the phone helps users to dial a video call from a Wi-Fi area.

The iPhone 4 has a 5MP camera with a digital 5x zoom for better photography. The phone exhibits capturing images with a backside illuminated sensor with a LED flash. The phone provides seven hours of talk time on 3G networks, up to 10 hours of browsing on Wi-Fi 802.11n and up to six hours on 3G, and up to 10 hours of video playback and up to 40 hours of audio playback. The phone also acquaints with Quad-band HSUPA to provide its user’s 7.2Mbps downlink and 5.8Mbps uplink capability.

Source http://www.mobiletor.com/2010/06/09/vodafone-to-offer-iphone-4-in-indian-market/

We're confused by Sony's press release announcing its new J Series all-in-one PCs. It mentions that pricing starts around $900, but of the two models available for preorder, the most affordable comes in at $1,099.

That $1,549, 21.5-inch model will be tough for consumers to stomach with the 27-inch iMac available for $150 more, and 23-inch Windows all-in-ones available for less than $1,000. The lower-end model is more palatable. All-in-one base touch input isn't too exciting, and a new Apple Genius-style Media Gallery app will be redundant if you use iTunes, but a decent-looking, reasonably fast all-in-one with a Blu-ray drive and a 1080p screen could appeal to the dorm crowd.

Sony's announcement is one of the first for the back-to-school season, and the company has taken a fairly conservative approach. We'll be interested to see if other vendors take more risks when their new announcements hit over the next few weeks.

Source http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20007065-1.html

"This is drop-dead simple," Baker said.

However, there are limitations. For now, FaceTime only works over a Wi-Fi connection and on the iPhone 4, which is powered by the Apple-designed A4 processor found in the larger iPad tablet-style computer released in April. Apple announced that it would make FaceTime available for licensing by other handset makers, but details on how that would be done were not disclosed.

Apple didn't announce integration between FaceTime and iChat videoconferencing on the Mac, apparently focusing on using the feature to drive more sales of the handset. In addition, by offering Wi-Fi-only videoconferencing, Apple is placing pressure on wireless carriers to work faster at increasing bandwidth to support more advanced features.

"They're throwing down the gauntlet," Baker said of Apple.

AT&T, the exclusive carrier for the iPhone in the United States, plans to deploy its 4G network based on Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology next year. Rival Verizon Wireless plans to launch its LTE network in 25 to 30 urban areas later this year.

Apple has been rumored for some time to be talking with Verizon about letting the carrier sell the iPhone. However, no announcement has been made.

IPhone 4 hardware support for videoconferencing includes a 5-megapixel camera on the front of the device, as well as one on the back. Also complementing the feature is a new display. Called Retina, the 3.5-inch screen is 960 x 640 pixels, or four times that of the iPhone 3GS. With a density of 326 pixels per inch, the screen makes text, images and video look much sharper and smoother than older iPhones.

Retina was good news for iPhone application developers. "People will want to spend more time on the device," Antti Hermunen, software planner for Finnish contract developer MK&C, said.

If people use the iPhone more, then it's more likely they will use applications and click on advertising, Hermunen told InformationWeek.

During his keynote, Jobs announced that Apple's iAd mobile advertising network for the iPhone and iPad would debut July 1 with 17 advertisers, including AT&T, Best Buy, Campbell Soup Co., Chanel, Citi, DirecTV, GEICO, GE, JCPenney, Liberty Mutual Group, Nissan, Sears, State Farm, Target, Turner Broadcasting System, Unilever and The Walt Disney Studios.

Jobs said the advertisers had committed to spend $60 million in advertising in the second half of the year, which represents half of the total U.S. mobile ad spend forecasted by JP Morgan for that time period, according to Apple. Developers who include ads in their iPhone or iPad applications keep 60% of the revenue.

The iPhone 4 is scheduled to go on sale June 24. The device is a quarter thinner than the current iPhone, has a glass front and back, and will be available in black or white. The 16GB model will cost $199 and the 32 GB version will cost $299 with a two-year data plan. The smartphone will launch first in the United States, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Japan. Apple plans to roll out the iPhone 4 to 83 more countries by the end of September.

Source http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/handheld/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=225402213&subSection=All+Stories