Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Chip giant Intel Corp. recently announced the company is birthing a new company that will focus on manufacturing photovoltaic cells—the main component in panels that utilizes solar energy.

An internal team from Intel working on solar technology will form SpectraWatt Inc.  Intel will invest $50 million, with Cogentrix Energy LLC, PCG Clean Energy & Technology Fund, and Solon AG.  The company is expected to begin shipments by mid-2009.

The move reflects the recognition of big companies on the growing importance of alternative energy sources in view of skyrocketing costs of hydrocarbon-based energy.  Intel Capital’s President, Arvind Sodhani, quipped, “This is an important investment for Intel Capital in the growing clean-tech sector and we look forward to working with the company to support its expansion.”

Among other companies, IBM has also dabbled in the development of technology to harness solar energy. 

Via [WallStreetJournal]

• HP and Compaq’s brand new desktops
• Wi-Fi Direct is gearing up to give Bluetooth a major run for its money
• New company promises 100 core CPUs by next year

AT&T subscribers with the Motorola Q9h smartphone will soon be experiencing a Windows Mobile 6.1 update of their own. This has been quite an anticipated development following the announcement that the Sprint Motorola Q9c will be having the latest Microsoft Windows Mobile OS from the Windows Mobile camp. After the recent Motorola Q9c revelation, AT&T has resolved in boosting the features of their Motorola Q9h smart phone, as well.

The link between the telecommunications company and the popular mobile operating system provider is evidenced by Motorola’s own website linking to the soon to be released firmware of Windows Mobile Standard 6.1.  More as it comes.

Read [IntoMobile]

• HP and Compaq’s brand new desktops
• Wi-Fi Direct is gearing up to give Bluetooth a major run for its money
• New company promises 100 core CPUs by next year

So you’ve just developed this killer web-application and you’re looking to cash in and make it to the big-time… what next?  Just bring it to the most famous web-market of them all: eBay.

As a web-auction company, eBay has pioneered the web-market culture, bringing together seasoned entrepreneurs, first-time sellers, hobbyists, rare item collectors, and those just wanting to grab a bargain. It again opens the market further, this time to software application designers and add-on creators.

eBay has just announced at the eBay Developers Conference that it will be launching a program that will allow application developers to access all the data that eBay’s existing online app for medium- and large-scale retailers, Selling Manager, already has. This new initiative – nicknamed Project Echo – will make sure that the developers will be able pitch their apps to just the exact customer profile they are looking for; so other sellers won’t be bothered with it.

Caveats include all developers meeting certain standards of “trustworthiness” and that all programs should have a 30-day trial period. One huge benefit from all this is that qualified developers will have access to “special APIs that are only available to people who integrate in Project Echo” – this according to Max Mancini, senior director of Mobile Platform and Disruptive Innovation.
The project goes into testing Q4 of this year and is programmed to launch Q1 of 2009.

Read [WebWare]

• HP and Compaq’s brand new desktops
• Wi-Fi Direct is gearing up to give Bluetooth a major run for its money
• New company promises 100 core CPUs by next year

ASUS representatives have released their pricing figures on the latest line of ASUS notebooks in the market – the Eee PC Series. Officially labeled as the ASUS 901, 1000, and 1000H, they are priced at $599, $699, and $649, respectively. We were surprised at the high cost however the ASUS Eee PC 1000-series are still subject for price changes.

The latest ASUS series are running either Linux or Windows XP. Both the 1000 and 1000H models have 10-inch computer screens, while the Eee PC 901 has a smaller frame of 8.9-inch display. All three run notebooks are powered by Intel’s 1.6GHz Atom processor. The ASUS laptops are available in two color variants: black and white casings.

The pricing for the ASUS Eee Series are perceived to be too high for their specs. Competing brands of the same range of notebook category, such as the MSI Wind, and the Linux Wind are cheaper than the ASUS notebooks leaving us to wonder what the leader in the niche is up to.

Read [SlashGear]

• HP and Compaq’s brand new desktops
• Wi-Fi Direct is gearing up to give Bluetooth a major run for its money
• New company promises 100 core CPUs by next year

Motorola has announced its latest music tech phone gadget, the E8 Music Phone. The E8 features a ModeShift, which lets you navigate through the phone’s features. This shows how the buttons change as icons shift according to what feature the user is into. It allows for an easy-to-manage set of music controls. However, the E8 Music Phone does not display visible buttons when it is turned off. When switched on, it goes back to the where the user last left off.

It also has that standard phone interface when one is to make a call. Motorola declares it to be their first phone to have a haptic feedback feature. The E8 comes with 2GB of internal storage, and is expandable by up to 2GB, as well. It uses Windows Mobile 11 for easy drag-and-drop of music tracks onto the device. The phone works with a 3.5mm headphone jack, and offers the feature of an airplane mode to serve as a standalone music player.

Via [ShinyShiny]

• HP and Compaq’s brand new desktops
• Wi-Fi Direct is gearing up to give Bluetooth a major run for its money
• New company promises 100 core CPUs by next year

Netflix claims that its online DVD rental business can peak within 5 to 10 years. Reed Hastings, CEO of the company claims that even if DVD rentals are still way ahead of online rentals, their business can still be expected to reach its peak. “Everybody peaks sometime,” he claimed.

The company also aims to shift to streaming television and movies online. They have recently introduced the Roku, a Netflix-enabled set-top box that make video-to-television transfer possible. Hopefully, by next year Netflix will be able to get into future game consoles, Internet-enabled televisions, and high-definition DVD players in the future.

Currently, Netflix has 10,000 titles that are available for online streaming. Most of these however, are older and independent films. None are high-definition films, yet. They are working on having the studios provide the rights so the business can have more films to offer moving forward.

They believe that offering a combined online DVD rental and a streaming service for a monthly fee is the right model to compete against the video streaming giants like YouTube, Apple, Amazon, etc. Netflix believes that they can reach up to 20 million subscribers through streaming.

The company stands firm in not getting into advertising for finance, and download fees. It promises to allow their consumers to watch videos, any time of the day, as well. However, Netflix is not bound to introduce a stand-alone streaming service as of the moment.

Read [SFGate]

• HP and Compaq’s brand new desktops
• Wi-Fi Direct is gearing up to give Bluetooth a major run for its money
• New company promises 100 core CPUs by next year

Gamers do it right. 

HP’s Voodoo Business Unit, already known as a solid gaming brand recently expanded its portfolio by launching the Voodoo Envy 133. Now dubbed the thinnest laptop available, knocking out Apple’s MacBook Air not only in size, but also in features. 

The tale of the tape is impressive. The Voodoo Envy 133 measures 0.7 of an inch and weighs less than 3.4 pounds without compromising the notebook’s power or capabilities. Despite its thinness, the Envy 133 offers wireless and Ethernet connectivity, 2 USB ports, an HDMI port and a 13.3-inch backlit LED display all in a customizable and impressive design.

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For most of us, having a widescreen LCD monitor is nice. But for the more discerning users – art professionals, animation experts, graphic artists and video editors – the LCD’s color inaccuracy can be a critical flaw.

Together with DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., HP has recently released its answer to this color problem – the HP DreamColor Display. Featuring an LCD that provides more than 1 billion colors, the DreamColor’s accurate color rendition would abolish redesigns and repetitive proofing across various displays.

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HP boasts of putting our digital life at our fingertips through their latest offering – the TouchSmart PC.

Media manipulation on PC’s isn’t anything new – uploading home videos, editing photos and listening to music have been staples of most home PC’s for several years. Touchscreen technology has also enjoyed considerable interest, in light of Apple’s iPhone. Mix them together and package them as a “total home PC” and you’ve got yourself a winner.

HP’s TouchSmart PCs come with a 22-inch diagonal hi-def widescreen display powered with a “software designed specifically for touch.”  A tap or sweep at the sleek piano-black finished screen gives ready access to hands-on digital entertainment.

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HP revisited its Pavillion line and came out with guns blazing – now, the entire series boasts of HD tuners, Blu-ray drives, webcams, fingerprint readers and even built-in 3G internet.

Aesthetically, the series also received a makeover with a smooth, liquid-metallic ‘magic chrome’ controls that light up upon touching. An optional BrightView Infinity Widescreen and color-matched keyboards and touchpads also contribute to the elegant design.

But the real story is in the range of choices the Pavillion line offers. First, users can choose between AMD and Intel to power their notebooks. Then, it’s a matter of balancing price and power. From the lightweight dv4 ($800 for AMD or $1000 for Intel) to the flagship dv7 ($950 for AMD or $1230 for Intel), the Pavillion lineup offers user choices starting from processors, high-speed eSATA interfaces, video cards and various other accessories. 

The whole notebook line features the HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection technology, which automatically stops the hard drive from spinning after it detects sudden movement (such as falling) to help prevent data loss. 

Via [Gizmodo]

• HP and Compaq’s brand new desktops
• Wi-Fi Direct is gearing up to give Bluetooth a major run for its money
• New company promises 100 core CPUs by next year