Technology news: FaceBook App 2.0
03 December 2008
FaceBook App 2.0
System requirements:
iPhone/iPod touch with version 2.0 firmwarePros: Revamped interface, extensive functionality, easy to use
Cons: Some tabbed areas are hard to navigate, no Pirate language setting
The final word: Only a few months out from Facebook's first attempt, the second version of the iPhone app sees a total overhaul that fixes a number of issues and adds a great deal of functionality. There's little wrong here.
THE original FaceBook App 1.1 was an ambitious if slightly underwhelming interface for the popular social networking community on the iPhone. Now Facebook has hit back with version 2.0, with a total revamp both on the surface and under the hood. This is a must-have for any Facebook addict, and it successfully and rather elegantly recreates the Facebook experience in a manner that suits the iPhone.
So what’s changed? Users familiar with the old Facebook app are unlikely to recognise the new version; gone are the simplistic buttons that resembled any generic mobile version of a website. Instead, the new Facebook App's interface has a three-level structure of tabs that denote each of Facebook’s different aspects.
The main page – the “News Feed” – resembles a Facebook user's normal home page, with the latest status updates and general happenings of your friends, and with easily accessible buttons to make appropriate (or predictably inappropriate and often distressingly public) comments. The feed is broken up into amalgamated news, photos, status updates, and any relevant applications you have on your profile. The tabbed area is a little small, particularly when you have to flick across in order to navigate through the options, but we didn’t have too many problems.
The staples of any iPhone app are still available in the new Facebook App – at any moment you can easily take a photo of whatever random task you’re currently engaged in and post it for the world to see. Updating your status is just as easy, with a permanent quick access button available in the top left corner.
Of course, both of these features were available in the first version of the application, and they’re not the only ones. The live chat instant messaging function is still available, presented in the same threaded fashion as the iPhone’s own SMS app, which makes typing and chatting easy. Unfortunately, like the SMS app, there’s no landscape mode, so you’re stuck with the smaller soft keyboard.
Facebook has even remedied those complaints we felt held the app back from being a true social networking experience. Friend requests can now easily be accepted or rejected through the app, while photos are better assimilated into the experience, with the ability to easily flick through a friend’s album and leave comments.
There are few complaints to be had with the new version of Facebook – gaps in functionality and interface shortcomings have been resolved in a surprisingly efficient fashion. Though individual preference will inevitably prevail, Facebook 2.0 for the iPhone has a better chance of being usable for longer periods compared to the original.
(news.com.au)
Technology news: Gadget prices set for record rise in Victoria
03 December 2008
VICTORIANS are facing the steepest TV, computer and digital camera price rises in 25 years.The price of LCD and plasma TVs and other electrical appliances including airconditioners will rise by up to 30 per cent by January 1.
The higher prices have been blamed on the plunging Australian dollar.
Sony will increase the price of its TVs by 15 per cent.
An 81cm (32-inch) high definition LCD TV that costs $1599 will climb to $1849.
A $279 digital camera that goes up by 20 per cent will cost consumers $329.
And Victorians will pay about 30 per cent more for many laptops.
One $1699 Sony model will have a RRP of $2199 by January.
It could also cost much more to stay cool this summer as a Panasonic airconditioner now on sale for $1699 will be $1949.
Country Victorians could pay even more due to higher transport and delivery costs.
"This will be the biggest price rise in 25 years and we're expecting a big demand before Christmas as consumers try to get in before the New Year," said Frank Amadori, owner of Melbourne's Sony Centre stores.The big four of Australian consumer electronics - Sony, Panasonic, Samsung and LG - have confirmed across-the-board price rises.
TVs, laptops, DVD and Blu-ray players, digital still cameras and MP3 players are among a long list of electrical appliances that will be much dearer next year.
Most other brands will also put up their prices; Pioneer, Marantz, Yamaha and Denon are set to charge more for their plasmas, DVD players, AV-receivers and speakers.
Fridges, ovens and other essential items will also be more expensive next year, as will dishwashers.
Samsung confirmed it will boost prices by 5 to 15 per cent on its whitegoods and all other categories, including audio-video, from February 1.
The company says the price rises are the result of a double whammy of more expensive raw materials and the low exchange rate.
Nearly all Panasonic products will be dearer in the New Year. The company has not revealed how big the increase will be.
LG has announced its appliances will cost 5 to 10 per cent more as of late January.(news.com.au)
Technology news: Toshiba Qosmio X300
03 December 2008
Toshiba Qosmio X300 Features:
Camera resolution: 1.3 megapixels
Screen size: 17"
Graphics processor: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 2.53GHz
Installed memory (RAM): 4GBPros: Good for playing the latest games, reasonably powerful speakers, good screen
Cons: Main speakers are on the palm rest, keyboard does not illuminate, hard drive transfers were slow, lacks a high-definition drive
The final word: It's fast and not overly expensive compared to other gaming laptops, but almost everyone who saw this thing commented on how ugly it looks. Take a look at the pics and judge for yourself.
THERE'S probably nothing worse than a laptop that stands out from the crowd, especially one with as much flare as Toshiba's Qosmio X300; unless you love the attention, of course.
The flame design on the lid, the red trim and LEDs are all imagery for speed, and that's exactly what this unit has plenty of. It's aimed directly at gamers, especially ones who want to stand out at LAN parties.
Because it's so powerful, it's also big – after all, it does require a roomy chassis to keep its high-end graphics card and CPU cool – and it's not a notebook you'll want to cart with you on the bus or train. It weighs 4.2kg on its own, and almost 5.3kg with its power brick. In any case, you won't get much more than an hour out of its battery, so you'll want to always use it while in the vicinity of a power outlet.
Its 17” screen is glossy, but possesses good contrast and brightness and doesn't suffer much from reflections. Its native resolution is 1680x1050, and, of course, a powerful graphics card is needed to run games smoothly at that resolution. The Qosmio X300 uses the most advanced gaming card currently available for a notebook: NVIDIA's GeForce 9800 GTX. It will let you play most recent games smoothly at the notebook's native resolution. You can expect frame rates between 25 and 30 for newer games such a GRID, while older games, such as Battlefied 2, will roll along at over 80 frames per second. In 3DMark06, the notebook scored 9155, which is impressive for a notebook with a price tag of $3350.
In fact, to get a notebook with comparable gaming performance you'd have to pay more than twice as much (Alienware's Area-51 M17X, for example). The downside of the Qosmio is that it's not fully decked out to be a premium, high-end notebook. Sure, it has a 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 CPU with a 1066MHz front-side bus and 4 gigabytes (GB) of DDR3 memory, but it's lacking in the area of high-definition. Not being able to watch Blu-ray movies on your big-screen TV, using the notebook's HDMI port, is a definite drawback, especially when Acer, ASUS and Lenovo, just to name a few, all equip their notebooks with Blu-ray drives. If the format war was still being fought, you bet your arse there would be a HD-DVD drive in this thing instead of a plain old DVD burner.
As for its performance in office and productivity applications, it was predictably quick. It finished our mp3 encoding test in 1min 07sec, which is what we were expecting, and in WorldBench 6 it recorded 94, which means it won't have trouble running anything from Microsoft Office, to Adobe Photoshop and 3dsMax. A time of 1min 11sec was recorded in the Blender 3D rendering test, which is only seven seconds more than what we'd expect from a super-high-end notebook equipped with a 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme X9000 CPU.
Despite the powerful CPU and graphics, and the fully stocked RAM department, the unit doesn't get overly hot during prolonged periods of use. This is due to the 45 nanometre-based CPU, which runs cooler than its predecessors, and also because of the cooling fan which pumps air through copper heat sinks and out through the massive vent on the notebook's spine. The fan gets its fresh air from the bottom of the notebook, so you'll definitely want to keep it on a hard, flat surface when you use it.
It has a storage capacity of 520GB (475GB formatted capacity), which is implemented via two hard drives (one 200GB and the other 320GB). The system drive is 200GB (178GB formatted) and runs at 7200rpm. It recorded a transfer rate of 22MBps in our tests, which is a much slower result than we were expecting. Usually we'd expect a 7200rpm drive to achieve a rate of 27MBps.
The usability of the notebook is good overall, especially if you'll be using the notebook extensively for typing. However one problem with the unit's design is the location of the main speakers. They sit directly on the palm-rest; this means that if you type for long periods of time, your left hand will be left with an imprint of the left speaker grill – not to mention if you're listening to music while typing, the left side will be muddled. It might also cause some slippage of your hand after extended periods of gameplay.
The rest of the palmrest is bumpy, which provides traction against slippery, sweating palms. The keyboard has a standard layout, but some of the gamers who used this unit said that the WSAD keys were a little cramped. The keys have a glossy look and feel and they travel well. Shortcut keys at the top of the keyboard are illuminated in red, so you can manipulate your media player software easily while in the dark.
While it's disappointing that the Qosmio X300 lacks a high-definition drive, it's nevertheless full of modern connectivity: HDMI, eSATA, ExpressCard/54, Sleep-and-Charge USB ports, Gigabit and 802.11n networking, and an FM tuner are all present. You still get one throwback to the old days: a D-Sub port. Four USB 2.0 ports, FireWire, an SD card slot and the ExpressCard slot all allow the notebook to be expanded and fitted with many external devices; we also love the inclusion of a manual volume knob.
Overall, considering all the glitz that's been tacked onto this notebook, it's baffling that Toshiba hasn't gone further and given the unit an illuminated keyboard and avenues for personalisation. It's definitely not in Alienware's league in this respect – nor in price, mind you – so make sure you love the red design of the unit before you buy it, as you might grow sick of it after a while.
(news.com.au)