ULTRAVIAS - Notebook, Laptop and mobile device reviews

The Spanish version of Gizmodo has encountered some exciting news related to upcoming Motorola phones. According to them, the soon to be launched multimedia cellphones will be named ZiNE, and so far there is information about 2 of them with a release date for 2008, but maybe more will follow.

One of the ZiNEs can be considered an upgrade to the Motorola Z10, which now has a touchscreen, WiFi, and GPS. As for the other ZiNE, there aren’t many details besides the 8-megapixel camera with optical zoom, a slider, and some kind of Kodak integration.
via gizmodo

Another day passes, and another portable media player is released in Asia. The M42410 is made by HK Power International Trading, which is located in China, and they went for the vintage look with a good looking moving track wheel, placed on the front of the player. It is similar to the track wheels you can see on first generation iPods, and also on some car radios.

The M42410 is supports video files in the AVI format, and audio files on the MP3, WMA, and WAV format, it even can display the lyrics. As for the images, the player is capable of displaying JPG, BMP, and GIF files.
Additional features on the Chinese player include an eBook reader, a TFT screen that measures 2.4-inches, a slot for miniSD memory cards, and last but not least speakers and a USB2.0 port.

via pmptoday

Philips decided to invest on the Brazilian market and will soon launch 2 laptops with distinct features. The prices can go from $2,160 up to $2,580, depending on the model you chose, that can either be a tiny 11-inch, or a bigger 13-inch.

As for the exact specifications, the 11-inch Philips notebook weighs 1,6Kgs and sports an Intel Core Duo U4200 processor. There are 120GB on the hard-drive, 1GB of memory RAM, and also a dual-layer DVD burner.

On the other hand, the bigger 13-inch laptop comes with a better processor - Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 - the same hard-drive with 120GB of storage capacity, and 2GB of RAM.
The devices were made specifically for the Brazilian market, so don’t expect to see them for sale on other countries.

via engadget

Besides the Assault Ruggedized laptop announced a few months ago, Systemax has come up with a couple of other notebooks that use the Santa Rosa platform made by Intel.

On the top-priced category Systemax has the Medallion XVII that comes with a 2.2Ghz Core 2 Duo processor, a 17-inch screen, and 512MB of RAM on the GeForce 8600M GT graphics card. Other features of the Medallion XVII include bluetooth, stereo speakers, a subwoofer, and a price tag of $1,380.

The Medallion XV costs $860 and is pretty similar to its big brother, but the screen size is smaller (15.4-inches) and it doesn’t have bluetooth, speakers, and other specs.
The two other notebooks are codenamed 4250 and 4165, the prices are $900 and $680 accordingly. The 4250 comes with a 2.0MP web camera, and a fingerprint scanner.

via electronista

Authorities are questioning the cause of death of a South Korean man who was initially thought to have been killed in a cell phone battery explosion, according to news reports.

The unidentified 33-year-old man had been found dead next to an electric shovel at the quarry where he worked, and …

It seems like the recent sales of cheap computers is a good strategy, and Zonbu wants to take advantage of that by offering a laptop that only costs $280 and is made by Everest. It can be more expensive, depending on the type of service plan that you picked.

As you can expect, for that low price, the notebook won’t be have the latest technology, consider it a simple laptop that is good enough for plenty of people. It features a 1.5Ghz processor, 512MB of ram, a 15.4-inch WXGA display screen with a resolution of 1440×900, and a Dual Layer DVD recorder.
Other features include three ports for USB2.0, a built-in speaker, plus microphone and headphone ports for a decent audio experience, and a 60GB hard-drive.

Zonbu

The HTC XV6800 that we reported back in October, has finally been launched by Verizon today. The rumored released date was 16 of November, and we’re now on the 29 of November, so it was only a one week and a half delay.

With the launch of the smartphone on the Verizon site, another detail has been revealed that we didn’t know before, and it is the price - $400 with a 2-year contract and rebate. If you’d like to buy it on real Verizon stores, you’ll have to wait until December 5th, but if you want it right now, it is available online.

Some features of the HTC XV6800:

- Windows Mobile® 6 Professional
- Microsoft® Office Word Mobile, Excel® Mobile, and PowerPoint® Mobile; Adobe® Reader® LE PDF viewer
- View, edit, create Word; Excel files; view only PowerPoint, PDF files
- Windows Media® Player 10
- Memory: 64MB RAM/256MB ROM
- Wi–Fi Connectivity (802.11 b/g)
- Slide Out QWERTY Keyboard with Trackwheel Navigation
- 2.0 megapixel camera with flash, auto–focus and video capture
- 2.8″ Display: 240×320 pixel; 64K color TFT
- Touch–sensitive LCD display

Verizon HTC XV6800

While looking through my contact list today, I realized that many of those contacts were initially made on the WordPress bug tracker. Regular contributors to WordPress hang out there to perform the daily chores of testing, fixing, and designing. It’s a good place to get a feel for someone’s skills and style. Unlike other forums open source projects use to communicate, the noise is low and the work really stands out. The folks who consistently contribute to the bug tracker keep popping up in my feed reader and reminding me of the great work they do. When we have dollars to spend on people, these folks are on my mind. The tracker is probably my most valuable resource when it comes to professional networking with the people who do the work that matters to me.

Contributing to open source as a means of showing off your skills and making a name for yourself is nothing new, of course. My realization here is the central role the bug tracker plays in how I make and develop professional relationships within the WP community. Mailing lists, forums, and IRC channels are useful venues, but the bug tracker is where the folks who do the grunt work and get things done go.

What’s the professional water cooler for your project? Anyone else gather around the bug tracker?

Randall Stephenson CEO of AT&T Inc. announced that coming year Apple Inc. will bring in a newer version of the iPhone which will offer faster downloads from the Internet. During a meeting of the Churchill Club in Santa Clara, California he added that the forthcoming device will operate on third-generation wireless networks. However, San Antonio-based AT&T is the scoop for the iPhone in the U.S.

“You’ll have it next year,” Stephenson said in response to a question about when the 3G iPhone would debut. He said he didn’t know how much more the new version will cost than the existing model, which sells for $399. Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs “will dictate what the price of the phone is,” he said.

The reports dictate that till September end, Apple successfully made a sales record of 1.4 million handsets. So it is expected that Jobs plan to sell 10 million iPhones worldwide in 2008 will also get realised. It would establish Apple’s 1 percent share in the mobile-phone market of Cupertino, California.

In the views of Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray & Co. in Minneapolis as the news will spread like fire regarding the launch of a newer version; so many people will lay off their hands.

What about the battery life when faster networks are on the way?

Jobs said in September that the iPhone’s battery life would be too short if it supported faster networks. The handset has eight hours of battery life, and 3G chips are “real power hogs,” he said at a news conference in London.

“We’ve got to see the battery lives for 3G get back up into the five-plus-hour range,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll see that late next year.”

Related Links

V-MODA VIBE Duo Headset for Apple iPhone
Apple Launches iPhone Development Centre
Mundu IM for Apple iPhone

Microsoft is finally allowing the 80GB Zune to be directly ordered and customized from their ZuneOriginals Web site. We reported about the ZuneOriginals launch earlier this month, back when Microsoft was only offering orders for the smaller Zune 4 and 8. The laser-etched designs being offered for the Zune 80 …