iTunes 8 Released In Less Than A Week

The latest incarnation of the iTunes software is set for release in under a week but there’s some leaked information doing the rounds before the Let’s Rock event that is scheduled as part of that release. Perhaps the most intriguing feature is the Music Genius feature, which is an intelligent system that can create play lists of tracks that would allegedly sound good together. In the spirit of obnoxious cross over sales this will also include links to brainwash you into buying other tracks that would complement your play list.

The browser, explorer interface has been updated to an apparently more user friendly version and the equaliser has also been subjected to a similar fate and an equally similar “better” tag. Aside from the ability to download HD shows and films that’s pretty much the extent of the changes although Apple are bound to make some indescribable and virtually useless tweaks and sell them as being major changes.

The release is set for 9th September when Apple will be holding a Let’s Rock event in order to unleash iTunes 8 on the poor, unsuspecting world of Apple owners. Precise details of the new features will be available at this time, obviously, although a couple more tasty morsels might just be conveniently leaked to continue whetting your appetites.

Sony Recalls 440,000 Vaio Laptops

If you own a fairly recent model of Sony Vaio laptop that you didn’t buy here in the UK then you might be interested to learn that it’s just about ready to overheat, explode, and generally fall apart by the sound of the recalls that are going on. Nearly half a million of the popular Sony laptop manufactured between May 2007 and July 2008 and sold in one of 48 countries have been recalled because some dodgy wiring may cause the units to overheat.

Some 440,000 laptops from the TZ series of Vaio units are said to potentially suffer from the problem and a recall notice has been issued to all those that have possibly been affected. The biggest hit country of the 48 is unsurprisingly Japan, where 67,000 units are expected to be effected.

The problem has occurred because a small wire has been placed too closely to the lid hinge and its proximity means that it’s prone to overheating. 209 reports of overheating have been received with several complains that the technical fault has led to owners being burned. No incidents have been reported with UK models and Sony believes there is no reason to recall UK laptops.

Logitech Has Thinnest Keyboard In The World

We’re always hearing about the world’s thinnest television or the world’s lightest laptop and it seems that Logitech wants a piece of the world’s tiniest tag by creating, wait for it, the world’s thinnest keyboard. Other than being so thin you won’t find it from the side, it comes with the usual array of keyboard type functions – there’s buttons and legs and everything.

The keyboard offers a standard layout including function keys as well as multimedia navigation keys. It may be my previous reluctance to really pay keyboard technology any heed but it has some quite impressive sounding additions that offer a comfortable and quick typing set up.

It uses micro scissors, apparently, to gain an all over key distribution. If you’re typing really quickly or your fingers are a bit cold and you hit the edge of the keys, the micro scissors ensure that the key works as normal regardless of the contact you made.

The PerfectStroke technology offers a greater key travel so that your fingers can trip the light fantastic all day. No, it’s definitely still extremely difficult to get all that worked up over micro scissors, PerfectStroke, and key travel but nevertheless, I’m told that it’s all good and the keyboard will be released for a reasonable £40.

Nokia Comes With Music Nearly Here

Preorders are already available from the Carphone Warehouse for the first Comes with Music handsets due to be released by Nokia in October. The handsets come bundled with a year’s free access to the Nokia Music Store and although the selection won’t be as wide as with Apple iTunes the pricing model is almost certain to guarantee Apple some competition in the marketplace.

Conusmers that buy any of the Nokia Comes with Music handset range will gain unlimited access to every tune in the database for twelve months. For heavy music listeners (and they are the target market of Comes with Music phones, you would imagine) that could represent a seriously inexpensive way to download and listen to music.

The UK will be the first and primarily the only country to get this unique service although it is widely believed that this will be used as a benchmark to determine whether the model has any efficacy and whether it can be released to the rest of the world. It makes quite a pleasant change to be the first and only, even if we are to be made into Nokia guinea pigs.

Those Without Broadband Access To Benefit First From Super Broadband Service

According to Ofcom, the regulatory board responsible for telecommunications and Internet issues, those members of the population that have previously been unable to enjoy the first generation of broadband should be the first to receive upgraded broadband to their homes. The advisory committee has stated that doing this would help ensure that the gap in broadband doesn’t continue to increase.

The actual practice of achieving this would prove difficult, after all there are reasons that certain areas cannot get a broadband connection. However, Anna Bradley, the chair of the Consumer Panel has stated that through private and public programs and proposals it would be possible and it would help ensure that everybody in the UK that wants it has access to a broadband Internet connection.

While it’s estimated that nearly 10% of Internet connected households in the UK use dialup, many of them could get broadband if they wanted (with some exceptions in certain areas). Dial up Internet is actually twice as expensive as broadband but a lot of users stick with their provider either because they don’t want to shop around for a better deal or because they prefer the payment method of dial up access where you pay for what you use.

Snobootz – The Alternative To Snow Chains

Well, our week long summer is pretty much at an end, and that means that those of us living on the coast are set for a winter of discontent as we’re promised snow and it’s never delivered. In fact, aside from gales, we don’t really get to see the more extreme side of weather (which, obviously, is a good thing in some cases but it would be nice to see some of the white powder occasionally – snow, I mean).

Just in case we do have serious snowfall and you’re looking for a genuine replacement for those snow chains you’ve undoubtedly got stuck in the garage waiting you can buy snow boots for your car now. They really are, to all intents and purposes, a pair of fabric snow boots that you make your car wear in the cold. You can also supply mittens and a scarf too if you like.

Without boring you with fine details, it’s reasonable to say that the Snobootz have excelled in extreme weather tests proving to be quicker and more effective than their possibly now defunct rivals, the old fashioned snow chains.

Hyundai Phones Coming To The UK… Maybe

Sick and tired of making cars, Hyundai has turned its attention to digital cameras. I’m not sure if it’s a particularly logical step but diversity is apparently the key to success in business so you can’t blame them for giving it a whirl can you? To be fair to them, and even bearing in mind that despite a proposed release date of next month in the UK and having no retailers on board yet, the cameras look pretty good.

There’s actually three cameras set for release and features include 10MP photography, a touchscreen waterproof display, and alloy wheels. Currently available in Germany the cameras really are set for release in October, and if any retailers are interested then the new Hyundai cameras could be a welcome addition to the scene although they’re not pumping out anything particularly extraordinary just yet.

As Cnet points out, this was pretty much it in terms of interesting digital camera stories at IFA because Photokina is just around the corner. You can certainly tell that we’re well and truly in the middle of festival season that happily coincides with gadget event season too. Head for an exhibition centre near you, crack out your sleeping bag, and see what’s coming up.

Google Chrome Browser Launched

Unless your middle name happens to be Microsoft there’s a positive case to be made for healthy competition. From a purely selfish consumer’s point of view competition means better products at better prices but enough with the lessons in basic market economy. The reason for that little diatribe is that Microsoft and Mozilla are set to face some pretty rigorous competition in the web browser market – and this time it’s from Google.

Browsers come and browsers go with the trend being heavily based towards the open source end of the spectrum but Internet Explorer from Microsoft and Firefox from Mozilla remain the two most popular of all browsers and with good reasons. IE is forced upon the majority of computer buyers while Firefox is arguably the faster and healthier choice (there’s something about open source that gives one a warm feeling inside).

Google Chrome is an open source browser developed, in case you haven’t spotted it yet, by Google. While Mozilla has officially stated that it will be great but won’t be competitive the fact that it’s produced by Google must be pretty concerning for the big boys of browsers. Apparently, the browser which launched today, will enable users to take advantage of the many features that Google now has to offer.

iPhone Prepay Price Tag Announced – Ouch!

O2 has held its hands up and released pricing details for the prepay iPhone 3G and it’s quite a price tag considering the phone has few features that aren’t surpassed on other devices that cost considerably less. News is that £350 will buy you this “high end” phone that includes such glorious technical specifications as a 2MP camera.

What’s more you won’t receive a couple of the more popular features such as call merging and video voice mail if you opt for Pay As You Go. Considering the £99 price tag with a monthly tariff it must be safe to assume that they really don’t want to sell any of these handsets on any kind of deal except a contract deal.

For all of the chat about how the phone offers low specs for such a high price tag, it’s still virtually guaranteed to sell out in at least a couple of countries. It seems there are Apple lovers everywhere that ignore all sense and reason in order to own overpriced, labelled products. The iPhone was ground breaking when it was first released but the lack of various upgraded features and this news of a minimum £350 prepay price tag makes it less than appealing.

Asus Bamboo Laptops

From the sublime with the £11k gaming PC, to the ridiculous with the Asus laptop styled from bamboo. You might be the type that has to buy everything green, and if you are then we applaud your unerring mission to single handedly save the planet from demise, but will the bamboo laptop really get you one step closer to an ecologically sound Mecca? What perhaps makes it worse is the sales rubbish that Asus are offering as part of their marketing message.

The laptops apparently provide organic tactility, refreshing scent, and minimalist aesthetics thanks to the Moso bamboo panelling. It really is enough to make you vomit. Regrettably, there’s going to be more than one of these things available and the range will include a selection of processors and memory levels to suit all green requirements.

We’re not entirely sure how much they’re going to cost but we’re fairly confident that everything is being set up to extort as large a sum of money as possible from every single buyer. Innovation is all well and good, and we obviously support any efforts to improve sustainability but are not entirely convinced (in case you couldn’t tell by the tone of the post) by the bamboo laptop.

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