HP Launches Elitebook 2730p and Compaq 2230s

Lets get on to the Compaq 2230s first so we can save the best for the last! The new Compaq laptop weighs just over 4 pounds comes with a 12.1 inch widescreen display. It has all the basic features like Wi-Fi, a suitable gfx card for running vista in all its glory and a 3D Driveguard for shockproof harddrives. This one costs about Rs. 44000 just about a thousand dollars. The HP Elitebook 2730p is a ultra thin tablet PC which runs on the new Intel Core 2 Duo ultra low voltage processor. It comes with a 2 megapixel camera for video conferencing, a Nightlight to lit up your keyboard in the dard and a shock resistant HDD just like the Compaq we mentioned earlier. This one is going to cost you more, close to USD 1700 , so about Rs.74,000 when it comes to India. The HP Tablet definitely gets a thumbs up from our team!

Opera Mini 4.2 beta now surfing Google Android

Opera Mini 4.2 beta, a test version released for Java phones just two weeks ago, on Monday became the first third-party browser available for Google Android. Opera Mini for Android, which was previewed in April, includes most of the familiar Mini 4.2 features: zooming, saving, bookmarking, and searching for in-line text has stayed intact, as has syncing via Opera Link and swapping skins. We couldn't make the video playback workaround that debuted on other Java phones work in this build, though T-Mobile's USA's G1 phone does support video playback (see our review on TuneWiki.) We hear that Opera will address this issue when the mobile browser comes out of beta. What's distinctive and commendable of the Android-optimized build: fast speeds over T-Mobile's 3G network, a very crisp display, and quality that approaches the iPhone when it comes to viewing a zoomed-out Web page, thanks to both screen size and image clarity. The G1's two menu keys also enhance the experience, making Opera Mini's controls easy to access and navigate. Google Android was low-hanging fruit for Opera. It would have been better, of course, if the browser had been available when the G1 began selling, but of all third-party developers, Opera still managed to bring its free browser first to Android's market--and a very able version at that. We're hoping that Opera will port its more robust Mobile version to Android next, and as always, that Opera will release a version that lets users type directly into a text field without pulling up an intermediary screen.

New iPod Touch faster than iPhone 3G

Apple appears to have upped the processing speed of the iPod Touch in order to help it go after the portable-game market. Touch Arcade reports that the applications processor inside the second-generation iPod Touch unveiled in September is actually running faster than the processor inside the iPhone 3G, which runs at the same speed that the original iPhone and iPod Touch used. The new iPod Touch's ARM-based processor is running at 532MHz, while the iPhone 3G's processor runs at 412MHz. A game developer interviewed by Touch Arcade noticed a huge difference in 3D-rendering speed as a result of the speed bump. As we remember fondly from our "megahertz madness" days of the Intel-AMD competition in the PC, processor speed is not the only measure of performance, but it is an important one. With the arrival of the App Store, Apple has been marketing the latest iPod Touch as a gaming device in its latest round of commercials, almost completely ignoring the fact that it's a music and video player as well. It seems that Apple has room to boost the clock speed of the processor to 620MHz, according to ARM's specifications, but that requires striking a balance between performance and battery life.

NASA preparing mission to study of Jupiter

Fans of the planet Jupiter have something new to get excited about. On Monday, NASA announced that it is planning to launch a mission, titled Juno, to conduct a large-scale survey of our solar system's biggest planet.

According to NASA, the new mission will involve an unmanned spacecraft that is planned for an August 2011 launch onboard an Atlas rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla. It is expected that the rocket will reach its destination, orbit around Jupiter, in 2016. Once there, the plan is for the spacecraft to orbit Jupiter 32 times over the course of a year at a distance of around 3,000 miles above the planet's cloud tops. NASA said this would be the first solar-powered spacecraft expected to be able to perform its duties so far from the sun. Jupiter is more than four times farther away from the sun as Earth, a total of around 400 million miles. The spacecraft would feature an advanced camera as well as a series of scientific instruments designed to inspect Jupiter's surface. Among the things NASA hopes the mission will discover or explore are the existence of an ice-rock core, the planet's strong magnetic field, and its aurora borealis. NASA did not say how much the Juno mission is expected to cost, nor whether the project is already fully funded, and a call for comment wasn't immediately returned

Google cutting contractor workforce

Google is in the process of paring back a contractor workforce that numbers about 10,000, the company confirmed Monday. The news, though, isn't as fresh as it might appear at first blush. The contractor cut story made the rounds Monday after publication of a Silicon Valley WebGuild story with the alarming headline of "Google Layoffs - 10,000 Workers Affected." The 10,000 number and Google's efforts to reduce it, though, emerged in October in a San Jose Mercury News story, and it's not clear exactly how many will lose a job. In that article, Google co-founder Sergey Brin revealed the 10,000 number and said, "It's really high." According to the story, "He said Google began looking at the number six months ago and has a plan to significantly reduce that number through vendor management, converting some contractors to regular employees, and other approaches." Google spokeswoman Jane Penner didn't share too many details Monday, such as how many contractors are affected, whether contracts are being canceled or just not renewed, how many contractors Google will hire, and over what time frame the changes will take place. "We have 10,000, and we have had a plan in place for awhile to significantly reduce that number," she said. "This is something we've been thinking about for awhile--six or seven months. It predates the most acute phase of the (present economic) crisis." Google has been slowing hiring and reportedly had 20,123 of its own employees at the end of September. The company has been working to increase revenue from YouTube and other properties, and has shut down projects such as the Lively virtual world and SearchMash experimental search site, which "has gone the way of the dinosaur" according to the page. Layoffs are of course spreading across the world, including at direct Google competitors such as Yahoo, but Google gets more attention than most. For one thing, Google is a high-profile company with lavish benefits such as "20 percent time" in which engineers can work on projects of their own choosing. For another, the company has been relatively bullish about the extent to which its primary source of revenue, search advertising, is recession-proof.

Senator probes privacy law after Obama phone record breach

In light of the recent breach of President-elect Barack Obama's cell phone records, a senator on Monday sent a letter (PDF) to the Justice Department asking how many investigations or prosecutions the department has undertaken for violations of the Telephone Records and Privacy Protection Act. Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) sent the letter to Matthew Friedrich, acting assistant attorney general, noting that "data privacy breaches involving the sensitive phone records of ordinary Americans are occurring with greater frequency." The Telephone Records and Privacy Protection Act, which Leahy sponsored and Congress passed in 2007, prohibits telecommunications carriers from obtaining confidential phone records by accessing customer accounts through the Internet without permission. Along with information about prosecutions and investigations, the letter asks whether the department has found the law effective in protecting Americans' privacy. Obama's cell phone records were improperly accessed earlier this month by Verizon Wireless employees who were subsequently fired.

McCartney: Talks to get Beatles on iTunes stalled

Talks to make The Beatles' catalog available on Apple's iTunes have "stalled," according to Paul McCartney. Apparently the impasse is between the band's representatives and record label EMI, McCartney told the Associated Press in London on Monday. EMI, the smallest of the four top recording companies can't close a deal with iTunes or any new music formats without the authorization of the Beatles: McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the estates of the late George Harrison and John Lennon. McCartney made the comments at an event to kickoff his new album, Electric Arguments, the AP reported. "The last word I got back was it's stalled at the whole moment, the whole process," McCartney said. "I really hope it will happen because I think it should." Apple Corps has long declined to allow Beatles music to be offered over the Web and things looked bleakest after Apple Corps sued Apple over a trademark dispute. The case was resolved last year. An EMI representative told CNET News late Monday that it hopes to have an agreement soon. "We have been working very hard to secure an agreement with Apple Corps to make The Beatles' legendary recording catalog available to fans in digital form," An EMI spokesperson. "Unfortunately the various parties involved have so far been unable to reach agreement, but we really hope that everyone can make progress soon."

Consumer Turnoffs: Ugly Tech, Garish Gadgets

Fed up with ugly routers and clunky hard drives, a growing number of consumers are looking for well-designed gadgets that complement decor instead of cluttering desktops and clashing with furniture. Many credit Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone, with its strikingly simple forms, for raising the bar on expectations for good design in consumer electronics. And while art and design professionals say that gadgets like mobile phones and personal computers are becoming increasingly well-designed, they also say many electronic products still need to work on their appearance. "Routers are awful; they're ugly," said Kai-wei Hsu, a 31-year-old furniture designer. "With a lot of things, you don't always get to choose."

Ugly Outside, Ugly Inside? Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) is trying to alter that reputation with the Linksys Ultra Range Plus Wireless-N Broadband Router, a slick black design -- although it doesn't quite look like it's headed for the Museum of Modern Art's store just yet. Most design and art professionals agree that looks shouldn't come at the expense of functionality and that the best designs are those that make the object easier or more fun to use. Christopher Benton, an art buyer in New York, said that thoughtless design suggests poor performance . "If something's clunky, doesn't have fluid lines, then I think it's probably the same inside as well," he said. Many agree the iPhone is a prime example of good design in consumer electronics. "It's really good technology, and has everything in it. It doesn't look like a gadget so much. It's something that's elegant and part fashion," said John Kudos, a 29 year-old graphic designer. Kudos says he has noticed that computers and television sets have become sleeker over the years, and he's happy with the compact look of his external hard drive, My Book by Western Digital. "It's like a book sitting on the desk, and it blends in with the bookcase. That's nice: technology that disappears," he said. Simplicity and Elegance Simplicity is also a theme for another design-centric storage manufacturer, Fabrik, although it prefers an organic feel to angular designs; and its bamboo-paneled hard-drive called "[re]drive" emphasizes natural and recyclable materials. Fabrik has also teamed up with Pininfarina, the Turin, Italy, company known for its work on Ferrari and Maserati auto designs, to make a line of small and colorful hard drives. "We want to be edgy; we want to be smart in what we're producing," said Stacey Lund, vice president of marketing at Fabrik. 'Transformative Impact' The ultimate in good design, many say, is something that addresses a need and changes people's perceptions. The Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum recently awarded its annual "People's Design Award" to Zon, a hearing aid developed by industrial design studio Stuart Karten Design. Zon looks more like jewelry than a medical device -- one which many are reluctant to use because of concerns about stigma and appearance.

iPods, iPhones and the Enterprise Data Clampdown

It's a safe bet that most enterprise employees don't haul their personal laptops into the workplace. However, with the ever-increasing capabilities of iPods and iPhones these days, are workers introducing new issues for IT security? The Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPod touch now comes with a whopping 32 GB of storage space and built-in WiFi capable of attaching to nearly ubiquitous corporate wireless networks. The iPhone doesn't currently have as much storage space, but it too has WiFi. While most organizations should be running relatively secure wireless networks, is there still a security risk? More importantly, what are the best policies and strategies? Is there a simple answer policy for a corporate IT department to implement in regard to iPods? There appear to be three options: No iPods anywhere in this office, no exceptions. Those things are the devil! Bring 'em on. iPhones, iPods and other personal media players pose no real risk. Sync them to your desktop, surf the Web on our network, whatever. Just remember to get your work done, too. The best policy lies somewhere in between ...

Try Option 3 "There isn't a technology in the world that doesn't present some sort of additional risk," Rich Mogull, an independent security consultant and publisher of Securosis.com, told MacNewsWorld. "Right now, the risk of a network-connected iPod or iPhone is fairly minimal since it isn't really set up to allow downloading of large amounts of data locally. In fact, many organizations are even allowing remote access to internal Web-based applications over these devices," he said. However, Mogull's general advice is to only allow managed devices on the network. Ah, but What About Hacked iPods? If employees have truly nefarious intent, it may be difficult to stop them from finding a way to steal corporate or customer data. A modified iPod or iPhone, it turns out, could be leveraged to inflict considerable pain and suffering. "A WiFi-enabled iPod or iPhone is in every way equal to a notebook computer from a security standpoint. It can attach to the LAN (local access network), open file shares, remotely control computers using screen-sharing utilities, download gigabytes of data to take offsite, and once jail-broken, it can run a bash shell and virtually any hacker program in existence, including network scanners, cracking tools, and packet sniffers," Mel Beckman, a California-based system administrator and security expert, told MacNewsWorld. Notebook computers, however, are used in the enterprise all the time, and increasingly with wireless networks. If modern iPods are essentially equal to notebooks in the need for security, how might they be any more problematic than a notebook? "Alas, the iPod lacks several critical security features that are common to laptops like full-disk encryption -- especially hardware-based encryption using the Trusted Platform Module, which most business notebooks have today -- anti-virus and anti-phishing protection, and network access control (NAC) components that are becoming the enterprise standard for tapping into the corporate LAN," Beckman explained. "The most sensible workaround I've seen is setting up a separate 'guest' WiFi network for iPods that sequesters iPods from the rest of the LAN. Of course, this limits the iPod's utility as an IT tool, but until the iPod has enterprise-class security features, I don't see how any organization can justify adhoc iPod access," he added. It's More of a Storage Device Issue While a WiFi-enabled iPod or iPhone might present issues to networks that aren't locked down, the bigger issue, Mogull says, comes from storage devices in general. A USB thumb drive can be just as problematic as an iPod. "There is likely less risk of an iPhone -- because of the lack of local file management -- on the wireless LAN than connected to a laptop or a desktop where you can store larger amounts of data," Mogull said. "My recommendation is to allow these devices to be used, unless you are in a high-risk, high-security industry, and to use Data Loss Prevention/Content Monitoring and Protection (DLP/CMP) to restrict what content can go onto 'any' portable storage device," he added. Data Loss Prevention DLP is also sometimes referred to as "Data Leak Prevention," and it's a set of policies and software/hardware solutions that run on end-user workstations or servers in enterprises that can identify and prevent data from being copied to external devices like iPods or thumb drives. Rob Ayoub, industry manager of network security technologies for Frost & Sullivan, told MacNewsWorld that he's been seeing more companies take a closer look at determining which documents and materials their employees could walk away with. "The higher security industries that have traditionally cared most about security have been the first to move in this area, and it's going to take time for the proper safeguards to be put in place in the rest of the world," Ayoub said, noting that most small and medium-sized businesses have yet to seriously address the issues with effective policies or safeguards.

One More Reason for Linux Lovers to Give Thanks

Thanksgiving may still be around the corner, but already Linux users have something to be thankful for. Yes, Adobe (Nasdaq: ADBE) apparently saw the writing on the wall at last, and last week released a 64-bit version of Flash for Linux. The righteous have been rewarded! The news made no small splash on the Linux blogs, as one might expect, with geeks far and wide praising the new technology. 'Bonus Brownie Points for Adobe' CNet's story in anticipation of the release garnered almost 800 Diggs and over 100 Digg comments; then Steven Vaughan-Nichols posted a positive review of the software on a Computerworld blog, and nearly 900 enthusiastic Diggs followed. "Been using the new 64-bit Flash alpha on Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex for a couple days now," wrote triplec110h in the Digg comments. "It's been rock solid for me, whereas my previous Flash forced me to have to restart Firefox all the frickin time. This is extra special bonus brownie points for Adobe from me." Along similar lines: "I love it, finally all my Flash issues SOLVED it rocks!!" added lopla. Indeed, once the geeks started expressing their enthusiasm, there appeared to be no end to the gushing of love. 'I (Heart) Adobe!' "Dear Adobe," began tushyd. "Everyone loves you now! That was a good idea to release a 64-bit Flash for Linux first, it'll keep the company's image much higher in users' minds." Even more succinctly, "I (heart) Adobe!" proclaimed pHr34kY. The same sentiments proved to be prevalent outside the blogosphere as well. "Finally, 64-bit Flash -- I guess this means I have to stop trash-talking Flash now," Montreal consultant and Slashdot blogger Gerhard Mack told LinuxInsider. "64-bit Flash is much faster, and even as 'alpha' is more stable than 32-bit Flash with nspluginwrapper. For the first time my dual core notebook can play full-screen Flash movies. Thanks, Adobe." Adobe probably released the software for Linux first "because Linux users are the most likely to be 64-bit in the first place," Mack added. "Linux users traditionally want to get every last drop of performance from their systems." 'Near to My Heart' Indeed, "64-bit Flash for GNU/Linux is near to my heart," blogger Robert Pogson told LinuxInsider. "My favorite use of GNU/Linux as a desktop OS is as a terminal server." Thirty-two-bit servers "are wimps," Pogson added. "A 64-bit server can run more sessions and move more data by a large margin." A GNU/Linux terminal server is "the best use for these newer quad/multi-socket 64-bit monsters with huge RAM and fancy RAID," he said. "Until this year, doing that with 32-bit OpenOffice.org and 32-bit Opera and 32-bit Flash was painful. Now we can do almost everything in the 64-bit way, even Flash." Forgotten No More Pogson doesn't "really love Flash," he added. "But it has made its mark on the Web and I can use 64-bit Flash on terminal servers. Fortunately, most Flash presentations are just part-screen and not too fast because full-screen video is not the best on thin clients, but it will do." Even the least enthusiastic responses were pretty upbeat, even if not exactly gushing. "Perhaps one day I'll have a 64-bit computer and therefore care," Slashdot editor Timothy Lord told LinuxInsider. "All I can say, and tepidly, is that I'm glad that Linux hasn't been left too long in the cold on that front." 'Stop Pirating Adobe' Generating even more discussion on Digg last week, on the other hand -- and not all of it entirely supportive -- was a post from back in October by Julian Saraceni on his Ainotenshi blog, titled "Stop Pirating Adobe Software, Use Free Software Instead." Saraceni advocates GIMP, in particular -- a suggestion that drew more than 50 comments on his site along with 500 Digg comments and more than 1,100 Diggs. "GIMP sucks for one simple reason: It's not Photoshop!" countered diemunkiesdie. "Also, I can guarantee that 98 percent of those people who pirate Photoshop have no idea what GIMP is. They have never heard of GIMP, but Photoshop is synonymous with photo editing so even people who only use computers to check their e-mail know what Photoshop is (even if they don't go and pirate it)."

Google's New SearchWiki Tool Lets Users Give Their Two Bits

Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) has released a new search editing tool that gives users more control over their results. SearchWiki enables users to customize their searches by re-ranking, deleting, adding and even commenting on their search results. Users will also be able to see how others have edited their searches; however, the edits will only apply to their personal searches. "It will enable the end-user by contributing to the Wiki and the community aggregation to give Google more input on how the relevancy of search engine results," Gene Alavarez, a Gartner (NYSE: IT) Research analyst, told TechNewsWorld. Alvarez likens the new tool to those ubiquitous product reviews and the "report this reviewer" feedback option. "Now in the wiki environment, if I take my search results and start to play around with it, they get to take a look at how the aggregate has done that. And I'm sure over time they will be able to garner patterns from that which will help strengthen the relevancy ranking of all of the search results returned," he said.