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Dell announced two new models for its Vostro line-up, the 13.3-inch Vostro 1310 and 15.4-inch Vostro 1510. Both the Vostro 1310 and 1510 will have a thinner and lighter slot load optical drive than their earlier versions. The notebooks will have no trialware installed and will come with 10GB of free Dell DataSafe Online Backup and a free year of Dell’s PC Tune up service. Customers will be given the option to have either Windows XP or Vista installed. For their technical goodies, both 1310 and 1510 come with Intel Core 2 Duo processors, up to 4GB memory, finger print readers and other standard Vostro notebook goodies.

Both the 1310 and 1510 are now available in Europe, the Middle East and Africa with retail prices of $749 and $599 respectively. A US release is set for May 1, while Asia Pacific and Japan will see the release on May 5. In addition to these two models, Dell also has a redesign for the 17-inch Vostro 1710 that is expected to be available in May.

Via [I4U] Product [Dell]

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Good on Cory Doctorow. His ISP, Virgin Media, has just announced that they are pretty much ignoring Net Neutrality and will give 2nd-class priority (or worse) to traffic from websites and services that don’t pay them a premium.

Doctorow says that as far as he’s concerned, they’ve just announced that they’re violating the agreement, and he’s canceling his service. We agree. No doubt this is not the last we’ve heard about this or on the subject of Net Neutrality.

Posted in Networking & Internet

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The Cizmo CX15 notebook is but a desktop replacement model, with Intel’s Centrino 2 platform being the major attraction. Other components found within are :-

• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor (2.26GHz P8400, 2.4GHz P8600, 2.53GHz P9400)
• DDR3 Main Memory
• 32GB or 64GB SSD, eSATA port
• 15.4″ WXGA (1280 × 800) or probably full HD 1920 × 1200 display
• Intel Turbo Memory 2GB or 4GB
• NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTX graphics card
• WiFi 802.11n, Bluetooth connectivity
• Blu-ray Drive
• Windows Vista

The Cizmo CX15 is set to ship from June onwards, with the opening price of $2,390 that goes upwards according to the specifications.

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Now here’s a memory card reader that targets vainpots who are geeks as well, although the two don’t really go down well together in the first place. The $15 USB Mirror Card Reader is foldable and opens up to reveal a mirror inside, ensuring you don’t have anything stuck between your teeth just before you have a big meeting with your boss. Supported memory card types include :-

• M2
• microSD
• MiniSD
• SDHC/SD
• Memory Stick PRO/Memory Stick Duo/Memory Stick Pro Duo
• MMC/MMC-II
• RS MMC/MMC Plus

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Nokia today introduced the Nokia 6212 classic featuring integrated Near Field Communication (NFC).

The Nokia 6212 classic allows you to share content, access services and information as well as conduct payments and ticketing with one tap of the device.
 
The Nokia 6212 classic can be used as a travel ticket or for mobile payments. Travel tickets can be charged over the air, so there is no need to wait at the service counter.

You can store your credit card information on the device and access your account online directly from the handset. Using the Nokia 6212 classic for payment and ticketing purposes requires a service subscription and the installation of an appropriate secure application. Security for transactions is assured as the handset can be set to allow payment only when the user expressly authorizes the transaction via an additional passcode.
 
The sales pack of the Nokia 6212 classic comes with three sticker tags, one of which opens the NFC introduction in the phone.
 
The Nokia 6212 classic comes with an extensive set of features such as a 2 megapixel camera, bright 2-inch QVGA display, stereo FM radio and music player supporting multiple formats. An optional microSD memory card of up to 4GB provides ample space for personal content such as images and songs.

The Nokia 6212 classic is expected to start shipping in the third quarter of 2008 in select markets in Europe and Asia with an estimated retail price of EUR 200 before taxes and subsidies.

Source: Nokia 6212 review

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Dell announced its newest laptops in the Vostro line-up for small businesses including the new 13.3 inch Vostro 1310 and 15.4 inch Vostro 1510. A 17-inch version, the 1710, will also be unveiled in mid-May. Dell claims that these Vostros are the result of listening to customer feedback and quicly acting on them to improve the existing series. One of the examples highlighted was the fact that customers wanted data protection and pre-installed security software.

The new Vostro 1310 and 1510 feature a sleek design with slot optical drive making them thinner. The 13.3 inch Vostro features a 94% viewing area of a 14.1 inch model, while at the same time weighs 20% less. Dell has also thrown in 10GB of Dell DataSafe Online Backup with the laptops. Added security measures include fingerprint eaders, Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2, McAfee Total Protection and others.

The Dell Vostro 1310 starts at US $749 and the 15.4-inch Dell Vostro 1510 starts at $599. Both are available today in Europe, Middle East and Africa, and will soon hit the North American shores and Asiapac/Japan region on May 1 and May 5 respectively.
[Source]

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While quantum computers are still a long way from being, you know, practical, that apparently hasn’t stopped people from trying to network them.

Prem Kumar, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Northwestern, has constructed a quantum logic gate, which he says could pave the way for future quantum computer networks. In a general sense, a logic gate is any device that receives an input, performs some manner of logic operation on it, and then produces an output. The type that Kumar has created, called a controlled NOT gate, has a classical-computing analogue that flips a bit registering a “1″ to “0,” and vice versa to adhere to a qubit’s (the unit of information quantum computer deals with) multiple values. While gates like these have been created before, they only worked with laser beams that passed through the air — so yeah, not so practical. Kumar’s gate, on the other hand, works within an optical fiber.

“The great thing about this work, is that it’s in fiber,” Carl Williams, coordinator of the quantum information program at the National Institute of Standards and Technology told MIT’s Technology Review. “This is a big deal because it could lead to distributed networks. … The obvious application is for long-distance quantum communication between two smaller quantum computers.”

As Kumar explains, such gates could be part of a circuit that relays information over hundreds of miles of fiber, from one quantum computer to another. So, yes, we’re basically talking about a quantum internet here. Expect grumblings from security companies if this quantum internet ever emerges, however, since all communications on it would be automatically secure.

[Technology Review]

Photo courtesy of Technology Review

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Overview

Tired of typing those long messages on your cell phone? Then ease yourself with the new Palm Wireless Keyboard 3245WW with Bluetooth Wireless Technology. Designed especially to relieve you from all the typing woes, Palm® Wireless Keyboard 3245WW with Bluetooth® Wireless Technology is a compact and easily portable device that lets you do true touch-typing.

Features

• Pull-out easel provides adjustable viewing angle and a steady platform for your Treo smart phone.
• Enter or edit data even while your device is charging nearby.
• Encrypted link connects your keyboard and smart phone for a secure Bluetooth connection.
• Features a QWERTY keyboard with five rows of full-size keys.

Featuring advanced features, Palm® Wireless Keyboard 3245WW with Bluetooth® Wireless Technology is compatible with almost all Treo Cell Phones. Palm® Wireless Keyboard 3245WW with Bluetooth® Wireless Technology is easy to use with its just 188g weight. Incorporating 2 AAA alkaline batteries lets its keyboard go on for five months.

Box content

The box comprises of Palm® Wireless Keyboard 3245WW and User’s Manual.

Price

Palm® Wireless Keyboard 3245WW with Bluetooth® Wireless Technology is available at a price of $ 99.99.

Source: Palm

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Granted, the majority of us won’t carry around information on our USB flash drives that are too incriminating should someone else pick it up due to our forgetfulness, but you can never be too careful, right? After all, with the deluge of passwords and PIN numbers that one has to memorize these days, it can get pretty tough trying to store all that information in our head hence some people use a USB flash drive instead. Kingston’s effort to increase security where USB flash drives are concerned is reflected in its latest release - the DataTraveler BlackBox which will ship in 2GB, 4GB and 8GB capacities. The Kingston BlackBox holds the distinction of being the first Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS)-validated USB flash drive, so if you happen to pick this up you’ll own a piece of history.

Gaining FIPS 140-2 certification requires a validation process that meets federal requirements set by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the Communications Security Establishment of the Government of Canada. This is critical because many governmental agencies in the United States and Canada mandate that sensitive “data at rest” (i.e., all information not in the network) must be encrypted with the FIPS 140-2 standard.

The FIPS Level 2 standard requires the DT BlackBox to run a power-on self test which verifies that the encryption architecture is functioning each time it is plugged into a USB port. Beyond the NIST certification, the DataTraveler BlackBox features 256-bit hardware-based AES encryption via a dedicated processor which automatically encrypts and decrypts data on the fly. The drive automatically locks down after ten consecutive failed password attempts, thus helping to prevent unauthorized access if the drive is lost, stolen or misplaced.

The 2GB, 4GB and 8GB BlackBox USB flash drives will retail for $165, $242 and $424, respectively.

Press Release

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Gone are the days when you used to speak out loud and clear to your mobile phone on it’s voice dial function and your mobile phone used to dial a name of it’s choice, leaving you absolutely livid and exasperated. Now, voice recognition technology has gotten a whole lot better and with DoCoMo’s Fujitsu F884i, you can now speak out your message instead of typing it out. All you need to do is to press a key on your handset, speak clearly into your mouthpiece and voila, the F884i converts your speech into text format and then let’s you send the text as an SMS. Cool, isn’t it? Apart from this standout feature, the F884i also has a 3.2 megapixel camera, HSDPA, a 3.1 inch screen and a 1seg TV tuner. The phone’s screen can also be rotated to become a wide screen TV monitor when you use it’s TV tuner function. That is one more handy touch. This flip phone weighs in at a bulky 140 grams but more than makes up for it’s bulk with it’s eye catching looks. Yes, this phone is a real beauty and has the show to match it’s go. Now let’s hope that this very cool voice recognition technology makes it into all the mobile phones in the near future.
[Source]