Neat Flash Game

Here is an unsung game that we here at Computer Junkies love:
http://www.kongregate.com/games/Panasa/orb-blaster

Microsoft's Project Natal

The rumor mill has been buzzing with a potential release date and price tag for Microsoft’s mysterious new gaming console: Project Natal. Announced at E3 this past summer, there haven’t been many definite details announced so far, but we think there is potential for natural interaction gaming systems. You won’t be able to see it on shelves until the next holiday season, but based on a report from UK games mag MCV, everyone’s pointing towards a November 2010 release date.

There’s a debate over the price, however, as several outlets (MTV, CNET, Stage Select) are reporting that it could sell for as low as $50 (sounds too good to be true, but maybe Microsoft will get desperate) whereas others (Gadget Reviet, PC World) predict it might be somewhere closer to $80. Think you might pick one of these up once they’re finally available?

Nvidia CEO Reveals new tablet device & Love for Apple

In an interview yesterday, Nvidia CEO revealed two things: First, their sleek tablet prototype, which looks just like my wet dream Apple Tablet concept: Simple, thin, and omgIwantone. Then, he declared his enraptured love for all things Apple:

"[In my home we are] all Apple. Apple uses the best technology for their [computers]. Apple says to their customers: if you buy a computer from us you can be sure we have selected the best technology inside for you. That is their promise to consumers. Their promise to consumers isn't we've selected the best technology for you with the exception of what Intel allows us to use. That's not their promise. And that's why Apple uses the best technology where they want whenever they want. And that's why I'm all Apple! At home it's just Macs everywhere. It's Nvidia's technology in all of them but I use Macs. My son has two Macs, my daughter has a Mac, there's an extra Mac just in case and my wife has a Mac. It's just Mac, Mac, Mac! Because I know it's got the best stuff inside."

Updated Apple Store

Apple has brought back the store, and with it, they bring some new, unannounced additions:

• White plastic MacBook. Redesigned, starting at $999
• iMac with an incredible new display
• Mac Mini with more memory and a faster processor
• Magic Mouse – “The world’s first multi-touch mouse”

Pictures and link are after the break.

UPDATE: There is also a new redesigned Apple Remote, and updated Time Capsule and Airport Extreme stations. (As predicted – Also after the break!)

Click the images for a link to the website.

Macbook:

iMac:

Mac Mini:

Magic Mouse:

New Apple Remote:

Links for:

Updated Time Capsule (Faster Auto backup, and simultaneous Dual Band)

Updated Airport Extreme

Metallica Revenge Released

Tapulous has recently released a new special edition Tap Tap Revenge, this tapulous is showing its metal side. Metallica Revenge has an added tapper bar, making up 4 tapper bars in regular play, in extreme mode and boss levels you rotate the device sideways for 5 tapper bars.

iTunes link HERE

iTunes 9.0.2 Released

iTunes 9.0.2 was released several days ago, it included several changes and updates. One of them is an option to change the background color to black, for those of us who can't stand the bright white.

iTunes 9 comes with many new features and improvements, including:

• An improved look and feel, including a new Column Browser for easily browsing your artists or albums, movies, TV shows, and more.

• iTunes Store has a brand new look, with improved navigation for quick and easy exploration.

• iTunes LP and iTunes Extras create unique experiences that feature exclusive interviews, videos, photos, and more – available with select album and movie purchases on the iTunes Store.

• Home Sharing helps you manage your family’s iTunes collection between computers in your home. iTunes can automatically transfer new purchases, or you can choose just the items you want.

• Genius Mixes are created for you by iTunes and play songs from your library that go great together.

• iPod and iPhone syncing now allows you to organize your iPhone and iPod touch home screens directly in iTunes. Syncing is now also more flexible, allowing you to sync individual artists, genres, or TV show and Podcast episodes.

• iTunes U items are now organized into their own section in your iTunes library.

• Sync with iPod nano (5th generation), iPod classic (Fall 2009), and iPod touch (Fall 2009).

• iTunes 9 also includes many other improvements, such as HE-AAC encoding and playback, more flexibility with Smart Playlists rules, simpler organization of your media files inside an iTunes Media folder, and more.

[Reader Article] Cool Use For an Old Flash Drive

Co Cool Use For Old Flash Drives

Don't throw your old USB flash drive away. Instead, you can use an old flash drive to prevent your laptop from being stolen. Here is how.

1. Install free software on your laptop. www.lalarm.com/LaptopAlarm. (free for personal use)
2. Fasten a neck strap to your old USB flash drive.
3. Fasten the other end of the strap to a table.
4. Plug in the USB flash drive into a USB port of a laptop.
5. Lock the laptop by pressing the Windows logo key and L key together.

When a thief removes the laptop from the table, the USB flash drive will be disconnected from the laptop and then a loud siren sound will be emitted. (See photos: www.lalarm.com/arm2) In addition to sounding an alarm, the software sends an alert to your mobile phone. This tip is also useful if you worry about identity theft. The free software destroys data in case of laptop theft.

This was a reader submitted article by James Lee

Apple Tablet: Two hand multi touch

Talk today is of the latest patent application made by Apple for a ‘multi-touch contact motion extraction‘ system where two hands and ten fingers can be used on screen simultaneously to type and make gestures.

Abstract: Apparatus and methods are disclosed for simultaneously tracking multiple finger and palm contacts as hands approach, touch, and slide across a proximity-sensing, multi-touch surface. Identification and classification of intuitive hand configurations and motions enables unprecedented integration of typing, resting, pointing, scrolling, 3D manipulation, and handwriting into a versatile, ergonomic computer input device.

It’s suggested the Apple Tablet won’t appear until ‘early 2010′. So start saving now as I doubt it will come cheap!

Via: AppleInsider

New Macs on October 9th?

Here comes another rumour from the mill of fun. TUAW is reporting that they have received tips from site users that new iMac’s and Mac Minis are due for a hardware refresh as early as October 9th.

This follows the report from AppleInsider a few days ago which they stated that Mac supplies were short in retail shops.

TUAW says:

A tipster ordered a mini on September 18th, received shipping information but today… they received an email saying that their Mac mini order will ship on October 9th.

Will these latest rumours amount to anything decent? Hopefully not a minor speed bump and a SD card slot. But hopefully a new feature such as Blu-ray.

No doubt more rumours will come any day now saying the same thing. Could there be a apple event in the works?

Source: TUAW

Dell unveils the Latitude Z

It’s the first Latitude with attitude.

Dell on Tuesday pulled back the curtain on the rumored Latitude Z thin-and-light laptop, a 16-inch slab of angular portability packed with an array of business-centric features.

First mentioned just 10 days ago as a high-horsepower executive power system, the Latitude Z makes quite an impression in person. I had a chance to take a sneak peek and manhandle the laptop last week, and it’s an impressive piece of kit.

Dell reps said that the Latitude Z is intended to be an executive laptop to be coveted and bragged about — “executive bling,” they said — somewhere in the same space that the MacBook Air or Sony Vaio Z currently occupies.

Clearly, the Latitude Z is certainly unlike anything on the market right now.

[Image Gallery: Dell Latitude Z]

[Image Gallery: Hands-on with Dell Latitude Z]

As you can see in the images, Dell continues to distinguish its offerings on the basis of style. The Latitude Z has been designed to evoke a strong reaction, but backs the visual claim up with a bevy of business features that the other laptops don’t offer.

First, the outside: with hard angles all around and a demure black cherry “soft-touch” finish that appears black from certain angles, the Z is the world’s thinnest and lightest 16-inch laptop: it’s just over an inch thick and weights 4.5 lbs. — the same specs as my 13-inch MacBook Pro.

Open the Latitude Z up and you’ll notice a redesigned Dell-style backlit keyboard (slightly scalloped, but with isolated keys) and a bigger, gesture-enabled touchpad. The interior of the clamshell is trimmed in a real aluminum border, and you’ll notice a fingerprint reader and a contactless RFID card scanner (yes, that’s right: security via your company ID) where your palms rest.

The 16-inch HD (1600×900) LCD WLED backlit matte display is topped off with an optional 2-megapixel autofocus webcam and microphone for videoconferencing. In a nod to business types, the Latitude Z comes with Dell Capture Business Card Reader and Document Scanner software, which allows you to hold up a business card or document to the built-in webcam and it will literally pull the information off the photographed document and put it in usable text form, no extra equipment needed.

(I tried this myself in person, and while it takes a little practice lining up a business card appropriately with a “target” that appears on the screen, it’s pretty neat to have someone’s business card info completely typed up and organized, ready to go.)

The built-in webcam also works with Dell FaceAware, which locks out others when you step away from the system.

The other real news is Dell EdgeTouch, an almost-hidden capacitive strip along the right side of the display’s bezel that’s activated by a finger touch on a small outlined sensor at the bottom-right corner. When activated, a taskbar-like touch menu appears on the right edge of the display, allowing for shortcut access to useful items.

Around the edge, you’ll find two USB 2.0 ports (one doubles as an eSATA port), 1 DisplayPort and an audio in/out port. All of these ports are on the right side — the left edge is purely for ventilation. On the 45-degree zinc hinges that flank the color-matched battery, you’ll find an RJ-45 Ethernet port and Dell’s barrel-shaped power port.

Speaking of that battery, by the way: in typical Dell fashion, the Latitude Z comes with a 4-cell (four hour) battery that sits flush with the hinges; an 8-cell (eight hour) version adds a bumper-like hump to the system.

The final new business feature is Dell’s Always ON technology, an instant-on, no-boot miniature operating system that allows for Web browsing, e-mail, calendar and contact access. (Dell reps said they’re working on incorporating instant messages into the environment; for now, no dice.) Believe it or not, this environment uses an entirely different, secondary mini ARM processor that sits beneath your palms, saving battery life.

Inside you’ll find a choice of Intel Core 2 Duo processors: the 1.4GHz SU9400 or the 1.6GHz SU9600, which come with 2GB and 4GB of dual-channel 1066MHz DDR3 memory, respectively. (This doesn’t include the mini CPU for the Always ON environment.)

Storage is solid-state only, and supports up to two drives in your choice of 64GB non-encrypted, 128GB encrypted or 256GB encrypted capacities apiece.

Graphics are provided by Intel’s GMA 4500MHD, and connectivity comes by way of Bluetooth, mobile broadband (EVDO; HSUPA) and WLAN 802.11a/g/n. (WiMax is an option.)

For the green-minded, the system is Energy Star 5.0 compliant, achieves an EPEAT Gold rating, and is made from mercury- and arsenic-free glass and halogen-free components.

The power adapter is a slim, redesigned model that might eventually replace current options on the rest of the Latitude line.

Not content with all this, Dell’s also got a Latitude Z-specific wireless charging station in the pipeline that doubles as a monitor stand, as well as a small wireless dock station (DVI, USB). Both can be seen in the image gallery.

The Dell Latitude Z600 is available today in the U.S., Canada and select countries in Europe and Asia, starting at $1,999. The wireless charging stand and the dock will be available in late October.

My impression: After seeing and playing with the Latitude Z in person, it’s a formidable machine. I don’t think the style is for everyone, but the array of business-friendly features means it’s not just eye candy. Above all, the Z is an immensely useful system that means business. I wonder, though, if users would really drag a 16-inch machine around, despite the light weight and thin profile. (If you’re worried about flex on such a thin, large system, fear not — it felt pretty sturdy when I held it by one hand.) I also wonder about the decision to release the system ahead of the Windows 7 launch.

More impressions from around the web:

• Engadget: “A pretty tight design from Dell, and oozes quality.”
• Gizmodo: “Chock-full of some kick ass tech.”
• LAPTOP: “A premium business machine that’s worth the splurge.”
• Ars Technica: “Not every aspect of the Z600 is an obvious win, but it represents a step in the right direction.”
• Computerworld: “The question is whether corporations have lifted themselves enough out of the recession doldrums to purchase what is, in essence, a luxury item.”

Love it or hate it? Tell me what you think of Dell’s new Latitude Z in TalkBack.

(Taken from blogs.zdnet.com)