June 15th, 2008

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Best of CRAFT

Here are some of my favorite posts from the CRAFT blog this week:

Microsoft Origami Experience 2.0

Microsoft Origami Experience 2.0 combines four programs that make your ultra-Mobile PC (UMPC) running Windows Vista even easier to use. Origami Experience 2.0 is available as a free download to UMPC owners. Back in January, Origami Experience 2.0 was released to OEMs for potential inclusion in their units and the HTC Shift is probably the only device shipped with it. You can grab it now if you have a UMPC running Microsoft Windows Vista; just like the original, devices running XP are out of luck.

origamiexperience2

Included in the Origami Experience 2.0 software is Picture Password, which is handy for devices without fingerprint sensors, Weather, RSS functionality, e-mail and calendar items and various media and web features. It is recommended that you at least download and try Origami Experience 2.0 and see for yourself if you like it — if you have a compatible device. There are some nice, features… most are generally already available in Vista already, but they’re not as touch-friendly as what you’ll find here. Customizing various tiles in Origami Now is pretty nifty, almost like Sidebar Gadgets.

Upgrade your UMPC to Windows Vista, and then install Origami Experience 2.0. [Via jkOnTheRun]

Overview: Microsoft Origami Experience 2.0 contains these four programs for an ultra-Mobile PC (UMPC) running Windows Vista:

Origami Central
Central gives you instant access to all your media, programs, and the Internet, with the touch of a finger.

Origami Now
Now gives you one-touch access to the most important information at any given time and place.

Origami Picture Password
With a Picture Password, you can log on to Windows and unlock your computer by tapping a sequence of targets on a picture, instead of typing a password.

Touch Settings
Touch Settings combines several settings in Windows Vista into one place to make it easier to customize a touch screen.
System Requirements

Supported Operating Systems: Windows Vista Business; Windows Vista Enterprise; Windows Vista Home Premium; Windows Vista Ultimate

Microsoft Origami Experience 2.0 is designed for ultra-mobile PCs (UMPCs).

A UMPC with the following specifications:

Minimum 100 MB of available hard disk space
Minimum 1 GB of system memory
Touch panel display (required for Origami Picture Password)

The UMPC must have the following software installed: -

Windows Internet Explorer 7. Origami Experience 2.0 requires Internet Explorer 7 for its RSS platform.
Windows Media Player 11. Origami Central requires Windows Media Player 11 in order to manage and play media.
Microsoft Office Outlook 2007. The calendar tile in Origami Now works only with Office Outlook 2007 Calendar. The mail tile in Origami Now works with Office Outlook 2007 Mail and Windows Mail.
The Windows update available here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932406 . This update is highly recommended if you use the mail tile in Origami Now with Microsoft Office Outlook 2007.

Microsoft Origami Experience 2.0 is distributed in nine languages. Each language version can be installed only on the corresponding language version of Windows Vista. For example, the French language version of Origami Experience 2.0 must be installed on the French language version of Windows Vista. However, any language version of Origami Experience 2.0 can be installed on the English language version of Windows Vista.

Relevant Entries on SlashGear

Written by Vincent Nguyen on June 15th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Microsoft and Software and UMPC and archive and ultraportable.

A Makers DIY gift guide for Dad….

Make 668-1
Happy Father's day from MAKE! Don't forget to check out the MAKE DIY guide on fun gifts to make, buy, and give this Father's Day...

Written by Phillip Torrone on June 15th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Announcements.

Lumeneo Smera Electric Compact Car Concept

One of the approaches to making a highly efficient electric car is to basically add a body and other car-like amenities to an electric scooter. You end up with something like the ultra-thin Smera concept from Lumeneo which looks more like a 4-wheeled motorcycle than a traditional automobile. At 8 feet long and just over 31 inches wide the Smera can only accommodate a single passenger with limited luggage, but it can reach a top speed of 80mph and will run for about 93 miles on a single charge.

Both of the front wheels on the Smera have their own 20hp electric motor which have a life expectancy of around 200,000 km. Those electric motors, as well as the rest of the vehicle, are all powered by a 144 volt lithium ion battery which weighs in at 180lbs. At the moment the Smera pictured above is just a concept, but the company hopes to have them ready for sale at the Paris Motor Show in October of this year for about $30,000 to $46,000. Good luck with that.

From www.ohgizmo.com

Written by jounxp on June 15th, 2008 with no comments.
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Review of GSM-handset Nokia 3600 Slide

Mobile-review have posted their review of the Nokia 3600 Slide. Here is their final impression.

As far as reception quality goes, the 3600 Slide is pretty good – overall it’s no different from other Nokia-branded solutions. The loudspeaker’s volume is average, even lower than that of some other Nokia’s offerings, and occasionally it falls flat in really noisy environments (but, it really depends what tune you currently use for your ring tone). The 3600 Slide’s vibro alert, on the contrary, is nothing to complain about.

The 3600 Slide is Nokia’s first device to enjoy an ambient noise suppression technology – whenever you’ll find yourself talking in a noisy environment, the phone will try to cut a portion of this unwanted interference, so that people on the other end won’t hear it. We took this feat on a test-drive at a really loud party, to have a reference point we also grabbed the Nokia 6500 Slide – so, the difference, as our contact told us, wasn’t all that striking, however he admitted that this technology actually did manage to cut some noise off and our voice sounded clearer overall.

The 3600 Slide’s launch date is scheduled for late summer, when it will arrive with the price tag of 175 Euro, which is a bit too much for this phone, since there is the Nokia 6500 Slide – same class, metallic casing, similar camera and a tad better sales package go for 260-270 Euro these days, so when it will get down to the 220-230 Euro level (which doesn’t seem impossible at all), the gap between the 3600 Slide and 6500 Slide will be pretty marginal. Apparently, the senior model will be withdrawn from the market later this year, but during the first months of its sales, the Nokia 3600 Slide will find a rival in it.

On the other hand, the difference between them isn’t overly tiny, so these two won’t collide directly. People in the know won’t have to make a choice – to them the Nokia 6500 Slide will be the obvious pick; however the average consumer will be more interested in a more affordable and not-so-durable Nokia 3600 Slide. If the 3600 Slide’s price falls down a fair amount, it will have every making of the most popular Nokia-branded slider ever, second to none, bar the Nokia 2680 Slide.

Written by Maximus on June 15th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Nokia.

Review of GSM-handset Sony Ericsson W350i

Mobile-review have posted their review of the Sony Ericsson W350. Here is their final impression.

The W350i’s ring tones volume was average or a tad lower than that – actually it was our primary niggle with it, since it wasn’t loud enough for some environments. The reception quality was nothing to complain about, thoughOur only gripe is with the phone’s vibro alert, which occasionally proves to be on the weak side.

The W350i is not the most affordable solution we’ve seen to date at 150 Euro, however it’s not vastly overpriced either. Its target audience, those who do know exactly what they want from their phones and don’t demand bells and whistles, will be pleased by what the W350i can do. It’s pretty eye-candy too, although some might think that shelling out extra dollars for this design is an overkill. But all you need to do is put it face to face with the Nokia 5310 to see what sets the W350i apart from the rest of the pack.

It’s a niche solution, but with a unique face. It deserves a place on your shortlist, as it doesn’t have many notable glitches, probably the most serious of them being the keypad that you will have to get used to. As far as alternatives go, I can think only of the LG KM380 that looks exactly like the Sony Ericsson W350i and it seems someone copied the ideas of someone here. Surprisingly, the KM380 is a music playing solution too, offering a comparable feature set, but it won’t be widely available on most markets.

Written by Maximus on June 15th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Sony Ericsson and Walkman.

Touchscreen will be for everyone

ESPOO, Finland - It's no secret that Nokia's working on touchscreen devices. Having done the N800 and N810, there are more in the works. Now, as much as we'd like to tell you when new models will be making an appearance, we genuinely don't know – so can't say. That said, we've been given a bit of a clearer picture of what might happen thanks to Anssi Vanjoki, VP of Nokia Markets.

Touchscreens won't just be for high end devices, according to Anssi, but for everyone.

"We will introduce products from the very low segment to the highest one featuring this type of functionality."

Talking about the current market (and no doubt making an indirect reference to a particularly well known device) Anssi said

"Currently, the market for touchscreen products is a niche market. We always aim for a situation where we can cover all the segments with all the options"

This sounds like good news for everyone. We've seen plenty of examples with Nokia products where high-end tech filters down to low and mid range models and it appears the next generation of touchscreen devices won't be an exception. We can't wait to get our mitts on one, but like you, we'll have to just wait and see when that's likely to happen.

source

Written by Maximus on June 15th, 2008 with no comments.
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SlashGear Week in Review - June 15th

Unsurprisingly the iPhone 3G has overshadowed just about all other news this week, with Steve Jobs taking to the Keynote stage at WWDC 2008 on Monday and announcing Apple’s updated cellphone. Packing 3G, GPS, improved software and more into an only slightly thicker (and curvier) chassis, the iPhone 3G is destined to make waves when it launches on July 11th, especially given the lower price of $199 (for the 8GB model). We live-blogged the Keynote and many of you were good enough to join us; check out our coverage here, and click over to iPhone Buzz for more up-to-the-minute iPhone news.

Apple iPhone 3G

Still, the big news out of Cupertino didn’t stop Voodoo from making a try for gamers’ hearts with their two new super-systems. The Envy - a MacBook Air-rivalling ultraportable notebook - and the Omen - a monolithic custom-designed desktop - caused waves with their superlative performance and stupefying price-tags.

Less expensive, but no less surprising, ASUS revealed pricing for the Eee PC 901, 1000 and 1000H. Ostensibly “budget” ultraportables, the notebooks will actually cost you a minimum of $599 (for the 901). The good news is that real-world performance of, say, the 901 versus its predecessor the 900 is much improved; the bad news (for ASUS at least) is that there are plenty of other new “normal” notebooks that will quite likely undercut the Eee numbers. HP alone announced 16 new notebook and tablet models this week.

Gigabyte M528 MID

It’s not just standard notebooks, either; Gigabyte announced pricing for their M528 Mobile Internet Device, while at the other end of the touchscreen scale (and not something you’d want to carry around with you), HP’s TouchSmart PC got a slick upgrade and arguably manages to outclass the iMac.

If the idea of the TouchSmart being compared with an iMac is too strange for you, things could just get stranger. EFiX is about to launch a USB dongle that will streamline the installation of OS X onto standard (i.e. non-Apple-sanctioned) hardware. Expect histrionics when it hits the streets.

Elsewhere, further details about Dell’s own entry to the ultraportable space emerged, including naming - Dell E and Dell E Slim - and confirmation of not just an 8.9-inch device but a larger, 12.1-inch version. If they can bring them in reasonably cheaper than the larger Eees - and, being Dell, there’s nothing to say that’s unlikely - then the familiar brand name will win them plenty of customers.

In gaming, the “Ouch!” award for trying to save money and have it bite you in the ass goes to Microsoft, for trying to develop their Xbox 360 GPU chips themselves. If all had gone to plan, it would’ve saved them millions of dollars versus contracting the design out; unfortunately the chips caused the infamous Red Ring of Death fault, and cost Microsoft over $1bn in warranty repairs.

As for what the SlashGear team have been looking at this week, aside from eyeing up the new iPhone we’ve had Gateway’s M-152XL notebook in for review, and spent some time with HP to marvel at their CRT-besting DreamColor LCD monitor. If you want to know what animation experts DreamWorks use to create films like Kung Fu Panda, make sure to check out our exclusive videos.

Gateway M-152XL