NetBooks are available in plenty nowadays, the only problem with these tiny devices is that they all come with Intel Atom processors which are meant for just the menial tasks like word processing, surfing the web or watching movies. All the  other compliments are there minus the much needed processing power, well guess that is what NetBooks are meant for.

Acer however, has spruced up their newer NetBook model AS1410 with better hardware and surprisingly the machine  carries a somewhat smaller price tag. The screen is a cool 11.6 “, a Celeron SU2300 processor does the processing, there is 2 GB of DDR2 RAM, 160 GB HDD, 3 USB 2.0  ports, 6 cell Li Ion batter, 5 in 1 card reader, HDMI port, Intel GMA 4500HD graphics card and Windows 7 Premium (64 bit).

The machine will be available before holiday season starting at a crisp $400. Make a wish now!

The race to make and release the ultimate eReader is on and spring Design has unveiled plans to market one by the year’s end. This device will run the world’s most anticipated OS, you guessed it right the Android. It has two screens a 6” Electronic Paper Display (EPD) and a 3.5” LCD. The device will have Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity for downloading those megabytes of books out there. Users will be able to make use of both screens at one time, browse the web via the LCD and read later on the EPD.

Memory extension takes place via an SD card, a headphone and a speaker is also provided. Besides all this it has a browser having bookmarking, security and history features and smart phone capabilities. So is this a tablet with smart phone features built in to it? What could be more awesome than this?

Details regarding partner operators are not known as yet, but with EVDO and HSPA the choice will be wide and not restricted to a select few. However, Spring Design has hinted on shipping devices to a select few strategic partners, now who might that be?

The Wi-Fi alliance has announced that Wi-Fi Direct specifications are in final stages. This will facilitate Wi-Fi enabled devices to establish peer to peer connections somewhat like the Bluetooth. So Wi-Fi Direct will make it possible for you to make you Laptop talk to your printer, headphone, speakers, keyboard and everything else. What then will happen to the Bluetooth? well it will continue to work like a Bluetooth off course.

The good news is that new devices made according to this standard will be backward compatible with the legacy Wi-Fi devices made according to the old standard. As Wi-Fi enters in to the p2p arena the demand for routers may well decrease since the newer standard will obviate the requirement of any such device. And since this technology will be embedded in to camera, mobile phone and almost everything so this will give us more reasons to shift to IPv6.

We have heard about Nokia plunging in to the NetBook field, that was certainly a news maker, now it is Dell that plans to launch a mobile phone somewhere in 2010. This isn’t one bit surprising because we were always wondering why hadn’t Dell done this before? And now Michael Dell has unveiled plans to launch a smart phone for the US market. The announcement was made at the FiReGlobal a few days back by the CEO himself who went on to talk about the importance of a mobile device for the company’s ever bright future.

Much details aren’t known about the device, the specs and whether it will be Android based or will run on  Windows Mobile 7. Dell has a sizeable share in the PC market and a mobile device will not only augment its share but have a good impact on the overall business also. It has been made public that China Mobile will launch the device and rumors about AT&T might well be unfounded. Surprisingly the last Dell Mini 3i was also launched in China for China Mobile this time now they are setting the US market in the crosshairs.

Much has been written about the Android which is still to come in many smart phones, and still there are speculations as to how it will fair in comparison with the iPhone. Whether iPhone will have a competitor or not is still not sure but it seems all the top mobile phone makers are gearing up, teaming up and trying to make a device which will at least in theory threaten the iPhone market share. However, these are mere speculations, now we won’t give a verdict in fact we can’t till the time the actual Android based phones are unveiled, used and compared to the iPhone. Now Verizon is planning to release a device made by Motorola, running Android off course and using the all powerful Verizon’s network.

The device which is coming out by the end of October is being dubbed as the “Droid”. Not much details are known but it will use Verizon’s network and has an keyboard besides the touch screen ability. The OS version is 2.0 which they say is an improved and works better. The aim is to put all those things in it which the iPhone doesn’t have for example a  5 MP camera, ability to take pictures in the dark, a keyboard, run multiple apps, open development, interchangeable batteries, take pictures in the dark/less lit up areas etc.

The screen size is a cool 3.7”! and it uses a TI OMAP3430 processor which by far has been performing well in terms of speed and response. More info is available at DroidDoes.

Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if Apple hadn’t released their much coveted iPhone, I mean what would be the yardstick then to measure or compare such smart phones with. Perhaps then there would have been more confusion or maybe it would have been easier, just buy the phone you like. Now RIM is launching a newer Blackberry called as Storm2. This is going to be a touch screen phone with a better response, practically users will be able to touch or type on two parts of the screen at a time! This perhaps is missing in the present day phones.

As usual WLAN is present and the phone also features tactile feedback on screen touches. This is a Quad band phone that also has HSPA built in to it. A GPS and related location based applications make it easy to find one’s location or even get directions. The Blackberry App World support is also provided for enthusiasts to download the required applications. The phone comes with Blackberry OS 5, improved browser and support for Google gadgets and Blackberry’s widgets. The phone has 256 MB of flash memory, 2 GB of storage space and up to 16 GB memory expansion via microSD card. A 3.2 MP camera adorns the screen and a bumper 1400 mAH battery to provide it the much needed juice. Oh and the screen size is a crisp 3.2”.

More info is available at the Blackberry website.

Cricket fans will have something new to talk about now after the release of Mindstorm’s Cricket Revolution. By the way Mindstorm happens to be a Pakistani game development studio that has created this very impressive title. The Demo version is available at the Cricket Revolution’s website and tentative release date is 30th October 2009. What impressed me most about this game was its interface, an easy learning curve, help and guidelines besides a host of features.

The game can be played online with other competitors, in LAN mode, offline mode or even for normal bowling and batting practice. Thanks to player ranking you may also be matched to a player of your ranking for a match online, it can be played in a variety of environments i.e day/night etc, and different types of pitches. Teams can also be selected at will. A host of batsmen as well as bowlers actions can be selected to choose from, to make the game more interesting and give more control to the players.

Various events can be viewed since the game records videos and off course the much needed scoring facility is there for recording individual runs. It has its very own community site, player guide, wallpapers, screenshots, forums. The game doe snot have very stringent hardware requirements, it requires a minimum Pentium 4 at 2.0 GHz, 512 MB RAM, 500 MB of space, a 128 MB Video card and DirectX compliant sound card, anything above this is a blessing. A good start for a Pakistani company, we wish them luck.

Since the launch of Sony Corporation’s the 120 GB PS3 over a million units have been sold. During the same period over 600 million types of digital content has been downloaded. Now the word is out that the Slim with a 250 GB hard disk is being released on 3rd November 2009. That should be good news for all those who had so far not bought the 120 GB version and certainly bad news for all those who already have. The monster is as slim as its predecessor and will retail at $350. The bigger capacity means more storage space for movies, games, photos and everything digital. The earlier version with a 120 GB capacity will keep on selling for $50 less and the PS3 (Fat) ones are also not being discontinued.

Telenor has teamed up with the Tameer Micro Finance Bank for making money transactions much easier and less cumbersome, through a service being dubbed as “easypaisa”. The best thing perhaps is that this service is not limited to Telenor subscribers only but can be availed by subscribers of other operators also. It is even for those not-privileged who do not own a mobile phone. Presently only utility bills payment facility is available and more services like money transfers within country and from abroad are in the offing. The service has been approved by the State Bank of Pakistan.

As of now utility bill payments can be made for gas, electricity and landline phones for select cities of Pakistan for a paltry sum of money and still more is to follow later. People can simply go to the nearest dealer for availing these services, or Tameer Bank, Telenor franchise, Telenor sales & service centers, the detailed list of all cities is available at easypaisa. This indeed a new and much needed facility for the people of Pakistan. As more options for financial transactions are added the service is sure to gain wider acclaim of the public. Now at least people won’t have to wait in long queues lines to pay bills. We really hope hope they make this facility available for making online purchases as well.

This time now Google announced some much awaited improvements to their already smart Google Docs. The official word is that these changes are being made slowly so that everyone can enjoy their benefits. The mention of Shared Docs merits attention, this is exactly what its name says. The feature is tailored to make collaboration easier simply by putting the items in a folder and sharing them. Keep on adding more items to the folder and they are sure to be shared. Similarly add a person to the folder and he/she will get access to its contents.

More improvements, off course, one can upload multiple files now to the folders instead of one document at a time. The working area has also been revamped, more space new colors and some buttons readjusted for a better look and feel. The “Move to” and “Folders” dialogs have also had improvements. For a more detailed discourse please read the information provided by Google on the Google Docs page.

The Folder Share utility

The multiple File upload facility