Apple [AAPL] have also updated their iMac range today with two new models. The first has a screen measuring 21.5 inches while the larger has a screen measuring 27 inches. To finish off the design the screens are covered in edge to edge glass to give the new iMac a nice look.

Each of the new model screens are backlit by LED giving a nice bright and vibrant screen to look at while working. On to what powers the new iMac’s, each of them have a few options each. The 21.5 inch and 27 inch iMac’s can have either a 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 3MB of L2 cache, or a 3.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor with 6MB of L2 cache. The 27 inch model also has the option of a 2.66GHz quad core Intel Core i5 processor with 8MB of L3 cache along with Turbo Boost Dynamic performance up to 3.2GHz, or you can opt for a 2.8GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor with 8MB of L3 cache with turbo boost performance up to 3.46GHz along with hyper-threading up to eight virtual cores. [Read more…]

Apple [AAPL] have also updated their Apple Mac Mini today. The new Mac Mini measures 2 inches high, 6.5 inches wide, 6.5 inches deep and weighs just 2.9 pounds.

The Mac Mini has a number of optional processors when buying it which include a 2.26GHz, 2.53GHz, 2.66Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor along with 3MB of on-chip L2 cache and a 1066MHz FSB. 2GB of RAM is standard on the MacMini although this can be upgraded to 4GB if needed. [Read more…]

Viewsonic are launching an updated version of it’s nettop PC. The new version is a step up from their older version, named the VOT131. The new VOT132 will feature a dual core Intel Atom processor and rather than running Windows XP Home, this version will run Windows 7 Home Premium.

As can be expected with all announcements of Windows 7 computers and netbooks, the VOT132 will also launch this week on the 22nd October. [Read more…]

According to WSJ, they spotted an ad showing the Barnes & Noble color eBook reader saying it will be called Nook and will be going on sale Tuesday (today) priced at $259.

The price tag matches that of the Amazon Kindle but rather than being stuck with just greyscale you’ll get color on the Nook.

An interesting feature of the Nook allows you to share eBooks with friends. [Read more…]

Samsung have announced the introduction of a group of new Premium Plus Memory Cards. Each of the cards fall in to a class 6 rating for performance.

Samsung have three cards available. All three cards come in capacities of 4GB, 8GB and 16GB. Each are designed to be shock resistant, water resistant as well as protection from magnetic interference.

The cards are covered in a brushed silver metallic design and are compatible with all types of devices that accept these sorts of cards. [Read more…]

The next version of Firefox is due to get a rather odd upgrade. The new version, Firefox 3.6, will make use of your laptops accelerometers to calculate if your laptop is level. If not, the browser will rotate the web page to being level automatically.

The update was intended for mobile applications only, but some how made it’s way in to the desk top browser. As of yet I really can’t think of much need for having a self rotating browser for a laptop that usually sits almost level on your lap, but I guess if you are lucky enough to have a macbook or similar with accelerometers in it then at least you’ll get a few minutes of fun playing with the new feature till you get bored. [Read more…]

The WikiReader is a new device that costs $99 and is available from the Openmoko group. Inside you’ll find every single Wikipedia article stored in a text based format for you to sift through while on the move.

The WikiReader however, does not connect to the internet and has no communication abilities at all. Instead, you have the option of getting an SD card through the post every 3 months that contains the latest data set from WikiPedia to keep it up to-date.

The unit is powered by two AAA batteries and the device has a very low powered CPU as well as a monochrome touch-screen. The batteries should keep it powered for about a year. If you prefer not to pay the $29 for the SD card to be delivered every 3 months you can opt to download the text only database and manually copy it to an SD card and install it yourself for free. [Read more…]

The MobileLiteG2 is a compact multi card reader that accepts a number of memory cards including SD, SDHC, microSD, microSDHC, Memory Stick PRO Duo, Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo and regular Memory Stick Micro Cards.

The reader is designed to let you connect up any sort of memory card from any device such as a camera or mobile phone and then read it’s contents quickly and easily on your computer.

Measuring 62.15 x 29.40 x 16.4 mm the device is quite small and portable. It weighs just less than 19 grams. Connectivity on the device is USB 2.0 and it is also backwards compatible with 1.1 and it can be plugged in to Windows 2000, XP, 7 as well as Linux v.2.6.x+ and Mac OS X 10.3 or newer versions. [Read more…]

LG have revealed a 2TB NAS drive named the N2B1D. The NAS has a smaller capacity then the previous N4B1 model. This version stores up to 2 TB of data vs the 4GB of the previous model. The NAS also has a blu-ray drive.

Inside the device you’ll find 2 harddrive slots along side the blu-ray drive. With it being a NAS you can easily hook it up to your home network so that any computer on your network can access contents if you so wish.

Power wise the unit has a power consumption of 44W and the noise levels are below 25dB making it run fairly quiet. [Read more…]

If you visit the Amazon.com home page today you;ll be presented with news that the Kindle is going global. First off the note explains that the Kindle will drop $40 in price for the normal US version which cost $299 and is now $259. This version of the Kindle will only be capable of downloading e-books while in the US. However, a second version of the 6″ e-book reader is also due out that will allow you to use the Kindle in other countries for downloading books. It will cost $20 more than the standard 6″ model at $279, but will be capable of downloading books in over 100 countries around the world.

It’s a good move forwards for Amazon and will be welcomed by users I suspect. By allowing users to download where ever they are will allow those away from the US to still be able to get new content when they want it. However, there is a downside… [Read more…]

Apple has just this week filed a new patent that shows a multi-touch system that can detect input from two hands. Not only does it detect fingers touching the screen, it actually can detect your palms and other parts of your hand that will make contact with the surface. The system will allow the user to interact with the device on a new level for typing, gestures, pointing, resting, 3D manipulation with all that information being captured and processed in an “ergonomic computer input device”.

This patent further assists the rumours that have been around recently about an Apple Tablet and could answer the rumours a little more by indicating that Apple will go for a larger screen rather then a small screen.

“Many attempts have been made to embed pointing devices in a keyboard so the hands do not have to leave typing position to access the pointing device… The limited movement range and resolution of these devices, leads to poorer pointing speed and accuracy than a mouse, and they add mechanical complexity to keyboard construction,” the application reads. “Thus there exists a need in the art for pointing methods with higher resolution, larger movement range, and more degrees of freedom yet which are easily accessible from typing hand positions.”

[Read more…]

USB 3.0 is the latest and greatest of the USB specs that is becoming available at the moment. However, Intel have some other ideas that include fibre optics for transferring data from device to device.

The new technology displayed by Intel last week at the developer forum is called Light Peak and it allows you to connect many devices to a PC with fibre optic lines. The technology might just seem like an idea for now, but Intel have managed to get endorsement from Sony and are looking to make the technology mainstream.

Intel wont be able to make this happen alone, so rather than trying it alone they are wanting to work with USB to see if they can come up with a fibre optic based USB system. [Read more…]