7ele Tech News

Xbox 360 Slim – Microsoft

7ele — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:49:28 +0000

Xbox 360 Slim

A recent post on the A9VG forums has led many to believe that what you see above is the new “Valhalla” motherboard for the Xbox 360 console. Underneath that fan heatsink is supposedly a CPU/GPU combo chip that will allow for the overall size reduction of the board.

Sony was able to breathe new life into the PlayStation 3 when the company released a slimmed-down version of the console back in September, so we’d imagine Microsoft is attempting to follow suit. We’ll speculate that this “Xbox 360 Slim” will go for the same price as a current Elite ($300), which itself could see a price drop when all is said and done.

Spring Launches Alex eReader

7ele — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:33:09 +0000

Alex eReader

The Android-based electronic reader uses a Wi-Fi connection for updates, Web access, and downloading books.

Spring Design has started taking pre-orders for the Alex, an electronic reader that offers full Web browsing.

The Alex, first introduced last October, includes a six-inch electronic paper display and a 3.5-inch, color touchscreen for accessing the Web. Spring Design started taking pre-orders for the device on Tuesday, promising shipment no later than mid-April. The Alex costs $399.

The e-reader’s touchscreen, based on Google’s Android operating system, makes it possible for users to access online audio and video and communicate via Google’s Gmail. Digital books can be downloaded through Google’s bookstore, which has more than 1 million titles, or any other store that supports Adobe’s copyright-protection technology. The Alex supports e-books and documents in EPUB, PDF, HTML and TXT formats.

Nexus One Gets on AT&T’s 3G Network

7ele — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:48:47 +0000

Nexus One

AT&T Adds Address Book, New E-mail Options for Blackberrys, Gaming Hurts Schoolwork
Google has started selling a version of the Nexus One phone that runs on AT&T’s 3G network, putting it in direct competition with Apple’s iPhone. But AT&T is not selling or subsidizing the phone. It’s only available on Google’s Web site for the full price of $529. Until now, the Nexus One was only available on T-Mobile.

AT&T Adds Address Book

AT&T has unveiled a suite of Web-based services that make standard cell phones a little smarter. One new feature is an address book that syncs your contacts online, allowing you to manage them from a computer and automatically add them to a new phone. There’s also a messaging service that lets you respond to up to 10 people at once. And something called Mobile Share lets you send videos and pictures from your phone to computers, social networks and an online storage locker. The features will initially work with four phones.

Luxury Car maker, BMW Expects Profit Boost In 2010, Driven By 5-Series

7ele — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:14:39 +0000

BMW 5 Series

MUNICH (Dow Jones)–BMW AG (BMW.XE) said Wednesday that pretax profit in 2010 is expected to rise significantly after last year’s industry gloom, driven by new or revamped models such as the 5-series, and the world’s best-selling luxury car maker confirmed its profitability targets for 2012.

“We want to see visible progress in 2010 in the direction of our profitability targets,” Chief Executive Norbert Reithofer told reporters in Munich.

BMW last year lowered its mid-term sales target to 1.6 million vehicles in 2012 from 1.8 million, but still targets an auto sector return on sales of between 8% and 10% in 2012 and a return on capital employed of more than 26%.

“We intend to remain the world’s leading provider of premium cars in 2010 and plan to increase sales within a solid single-digit percentage range to over 1.3 million vehicles,” Reithofer said, adding that the long-term goal of more than 2 million cars in 2020 still stands.

The company sold 1.29 million BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce branded vehicles in 2009, down 10.4% year-on-year.

Chief Financial Officer Friedrich Eichiner noted that first-quarter earnings won’t benefit yet from the launch of new models as car sales are set to come in below the level of the fourth quarter of 2009.

Eichiner said, however, that after turning the corner in the fourth quarter last year, BMW’s core auto segment is expected to remain profitable in the first quarter. The margin on earnings before interest and tax, or Ebit, is seen at a “low single-digit percentage” in the full year.

St Patrick s Day 2010 Recipes iPhonest App

7ele — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:35:28 +0000

St Patrick s Day 2010

To celebrate St. Patricks Day why don’t you install ‘St. Patricks Recipes’ right now on your Apple iPhone.

This 2010 app only costs $1.99 US (£1.19 UK), it was only release this month and this app is perfect for parties, dinners and much more. You have to try out corned beef and cabbage or you could even try Irish and Irish-American dishes.

Go on celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with unforgettable recipes that will make your mouth water, create your very own dinner or party with the help of St. Patricks Recipes.

World’s First Left-Handed Gaming Mouse

7ele — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:20:51 +0000

Left-Handed Gaming Mouse

According to Wolfram Alpha, the “proportion of the population that is left-handed” is just “0.07 to 0.1″. That’s seven to 10 percent, which is hardly a big market. Congratulations, then, to Razer for the DeathAdder gaming mouse, a 3,500dpi twitcher for lefties which has the exact same specs and price as its less sinister brother. It is the “world’s first gaming grade mouse for left-handers.”

The mirror-image mouse has a seven-foot cable, Teflon feet, five big, non-slip programmable buttons and a fancy gold-plated USB connector, and costs $60. It also has a lame blue glowing snake on the back, presumably the “death adder” in the name, but you will at least cover this up with your (south) paw in use.

Muller Says He Plans to Reduce His Spyker Stake Within Days

7ele — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:08:41 +0000

C8 Aileron sports car

March 17 (Bloomberg) — Spyker Cars NV Chief Executive Officer Victor Muller will reduce his stake “within days” after a takeover of General Motors Co.’s Saab Automobile unit left him with a 37 percent holding.

Muller plans to transfer some Spyker shares to an independent company to avoid triggering a mandatory takeover bid under Dutch market rules, the CEO said in an interview. Spyker will decide by next month whether to shift its listing to London or Stockholm to win more investors, he said.

Spyker, the maker of the C8 Aileron sports car, bought Saab from GM last month for $400 million in cash and preferred shares. Detroit-based GM demanded that Russian investor Vladimir Antonov get rid of his 29.9 percent holding in Zeewolde, Netherlands-based Spyker before allowing the deal to proceed, Muller and Antonov have said. Tenaci Capital BV, a company controlled by Muller, eventually bought Antonov’s stake.

Say Hello to Internet Explorer 9 – IE9 Platform Preview

7ele — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:57:58 +0000

IE9

Microsoft pulls aside the curtain, sneak peeks its next-gen browser

Computerworld – Microsoft yesterday unveiled a very early edition of its next-generation browser, IE9. So early, in fact, that it’s more “pre” than pre-release, pre-beta or even pre-alpha.

Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to “IE9 Platform Preview.”

That’s a new name for Microsoft, and one meant, as one company manager said yesterday, to evoke the “major change” the software maker believes it’s taking in Internet Explorer development.

Just what is Platform Preview? Can you even run it? And if so, do you want to?

Microsoft cuts out paste – Windows Phone 7

7ele — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:38:04 +0000

Windows Phone 7

Windows Phone 7 Series won’t be able to cut and paste, as Microsoft continues to create something with all the limitations of the iPhone and little of the charm.

Microsoft has confirmed comments made at MIX10 that Windows Phone 7 Series devices won’t be able to cut and paste between applications – apparently users don’t want it and even if they did the in-built key-phrase-detection technology would make it redundant.

Everyone is desperate to ape Apple’s success, but no one’s learning from its mistakes. Google still doesn’t have uncontested ownership of the Nexus One or Android brands, while Microsoft is setting up a single marketplace to be stuffed with Silverlight applications – ‘cos no one needs or wants to develop native code*.

Xobni Mobile now available on BlackBerry

7ele — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:23:58 +0000

BlackBerry

If you’ve ever found yourself scrabbling back through your BlackBerry inbox for the address of someone you know for a fact you emailed once in 2008, then the newly-launched Xobni for BlackBerry may be just what you need.

Xobni is a handy, stat-happy Outlook plug-in which pulls out contact details from email signatures, address books and social networking profiles, and amalgamates them so you can quickly and easily lay your hands on the contact details of everyone you’ve ever emailed. It also ranks contacts based on how frequently you exchange emails, leading to a plethora of juicy information about who your most contacted contact is, what time of day you exchange most emails with them and so on. Great for statistics nerds like yours truly.

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