Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Monday, March 03, 2008

Sony Increases Hard Drive Storage Fivefold [Upgrades]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/244927708/sony-increases-hard-drive-storage-fivefold

Sony has announced that they've increased hard drive storage capacity by five times through developing a new method of writing information that's viable even for notebooks. Instead of writing via magnetics, the new system resembles current optical technologies, using a hybrid magnet/laser to write information to a disk at densities of 125GB/square inch. As we understand it, most elements of the traditional hard drive stay intact, but your current 320GB hard drive setup would see data storage reaching 1.6TB. Of course, there are no immediate plans for mass production. [itplus via electronista]

Macbook Air Selling Like Extremely Expensive Hotcakes? [Apple]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/244965428/macbook-air-selling-like-extremely-expensive-hotcakes

Apparently, the Macbook Air is selling well enough to be unavailable in many stores and require a 5-7 day wait for online orders. Despite the high price, the super-thin laptop is often selling out the day a shipment arrives at an Apple Store according to research done by Ars Technica. Of course, without knowing just how many Macbook Airs Apple is manufacturing, this could just as easily be a case of Apple not making all too many in the first place, making demand seem higher than it really is. What do you guys think, have you seen lots of them out in the wild or is this just a case of distorted perceptions? [Ars Technica]

Sony Ericsson says XPERIA X1 is still on track for this year

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/244919549/

Filed under: Cellphones

It looks like those eagerly waiting to get their hands on Sony Ericsson's HTC-made XPERIA X1 can rest a little easier, as the much anticipated apparently is still on track for release in the second half of this year, and not in February 2009 as recently rumored. That word comes straight from Sony Ericsson Corporate Vice President of the Global Communications Aldo Liguori, who told the Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog that "I can confirm that we will be launching the X1 product in 2nd Half of 2008, as per our announcement of 10th February." That sure is about as definitive as you can get, though we're guessing there's plenty of folks out there that think any date other than tomorrow is too long to wait.

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LG.Philips hooking Syntax-Brillian up with LCD panels

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/244953849/

Filed under: Displays, HDTV

Not even two months after Syntax-Brillian announced that it would be delivering at least 700,000 LCD panels to Sharp during 2008, along comes word that the firm will also be on the receiving end of a similar deal with LG.Philips -- er, LG Display, we should say. Nomenclature aside, the agreement between the two asserts that LG.Philips (or whatever it becomes) will supply Syntax-Brillian "with a minimum of 750,000 LCD panels during 2008," though it's certainly not the first deal of its kind. More specifically, it'll provide 32-, 37-, 42- and 47-inch Full HD units, and the option to purchase additional inventory remains alive. So much teamwork in the LCD industry -- those other sectors could stand to learn a thing or two.

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Hands-on with the 9-inch Eee PC

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/244953847/

Filed under: Features, Laptops

If you hadn't guessed from the headline, and as rumored just an hour ago, there's 9-inches of LCD on this thing. Actually, 8.9, but who's counting? We found out that and a few other little tidbits about this Eee PC "New Generation" at the ASUS booth just now, but for the most part the 9-inch Eee PC is quite similar to its 7-inch forebearer. Anything past that ASUS is saving for tomorrow's press event when this laptop will become officially official, but whatever they end up calling it (Eee PC 900 is rumored), it's certainly for real. The battery impact of the new display is said to be "negligible," with 2.5 to 3 hours of battery quoted. ASUS wouldn't let us turn it on since it's all so very secret at the moment, but they did confirm some release details. The 9-inch Eee will hit in the "middle" of 2008, with that €399 pricetag for the 12GB version, but other capacities available (we saw an 8GB on display). No word yet on US pricing, but we're trying to pry it out of them.

Gallery: Hands-on with the new 9-inch Eee PC