The Nokia N900 boasts PC-like capabilities, with a 600MHz processor and an iPhone-size 3.5-inch touch display. Nokia hopes to attract developers to its OS, Maemo, which is based on Linux, much like Google’s Android OS.

Nokia has had one shot with Linux already, using it three years ago for its range of internet tablets. They didn’t really catch on. The new N900 series is described as having ‘evolved’ from these devices.

The N900, unlike its predecessor, has a cellular connection, along with WVGA touch screen and slide-out keyboard. It uses the company’s Linux-based Maemo operating system, saying it lets users have ‘dozens’ of application windows open and running simultaneously.

“With Linux software, Mozilla-based browser technology and now also with cellular connectivity, the Nokia N900 delivers a powerful mobile experience,” says Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President, Markets, Nokia. “The Nokia N900 shows where we are going with Maemo and we’ll continue to work with the community to push the software forward.”

The N900 is based around an ARM Cortex A8, providing 1GB of application memory and Open GL ES 2.0 Graphics acceleration support. It comes with 32MB of memory – which can be expanded – and a five megapixel camera.

“While we have seen continued growth in Symbian as a smartphone platform, Maemo enables Nokia to deliver new mobile computing experiences based on open-source technology that has strong ties with desktop platforms,” commented Jonathan Arber, Senior Research Analyst in Consumer Mobile at IDC.

The N900 will be available in October. The company is quoting a price in Euros – 500 of them – which gives a hint as to the ‘select markets’ it plans to launch in.

source : e-week

RealTime appears as a toolbar at the bottom of every YouTube page with three main items. The most prominent button is an indicator showing when you have Realtime sharing turned on, obviously to ensure that you don’t accidentally share some videos you aren’t too proud of watching. The ‘Online Friends’ tab shows which videos your friends are currently watching (if any) and their recent history. It also allows you to send an invitation to come watch the video you’re watching, which will pop up on their screen (you can turn notifications off). This is where the real power of the new product lies, as it allows friends to instantly share videos with each other.

Finally, there’s a button for ‘Watching Now’, which allows you to see any random YouTube users who happen to be watching the same video as you. This isn’t a privacy issue because you’re only shown in the list if you opt-in, but it seems pretty pointless. A chat feature with other users could potentially be entertaining (though I’d hope for some decent filtering given the YouTube comments I’ve seen), but what’s the point of a list of people I don’t know?

Aside from that that, I have a few more gripes with the toolbar. Unlike the toolbar on Facebook and some other services, the YouTube toolbar disappears and reappears every time you load a page. This is hardly a game-breaker, but it’s still sort of annoying. I also think that there should be an option to have all of the videos your friends are watching pop up as notifications – in the current version, they have to invite you in order for a notification to appear. But the product is still an early Beta, so there’s still plenty of time for these issues to get squared away.

Source : http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/22/first-look-we-take-youtube-realtime-for-a-spin/

Nokia announced it is moving beyond its mobile roots and boldly entering the PC market with its netbook offering dubbed the Booklet 3G.

The rumors surrounding Nokia’s entry into the netbook market have been circulating for several months now, and today the company made a splash by finally revealing its first computing product, an attractive yet small app-friendly device which blurs the lines between Ultra Mobile PC’s and netbooks.

The Windows powered aluminum device boasts a competitive 12 hours of battery life and also packs in WiFi connectivity, an HDMI port and integrated 3G and GPS, all in a neat well crafted 10″ package. The only thing that the company has chosen to keep quiet about spec wise was what version of Windows the device would use.

Nokia could tackle the increasingly popular netbook market by taking advantage of its history as a communications company. Whereas many manufacturers simply take the basic PC experience and make it portable, Nokia could attempt to integrate cell phone and laptop usage habits into one integrated device, thereby enhancing the user experience while on the move.

The integration of Nokia’s Ovi services within the Booklet is just one interesting step that the firm has taken in order to differentiate itself from other netbook providers, while also boosting Ovi’s profile. The benefits gained from having Ovi built into this new device are plentiful, from cloud storage, synched contacts, mail, media and more. Another smart move by Finnish firm is the Booklet’s integrated 3G capabilities, which will allow users to be connected pretty much anywhere, anytime, without a WiFi network.

These various additions on a whole could create a harmonious united link between your cell and netbook, that no other device has been able to offer before.

Source : http://www.pcworld.com/article/170654/nokias_booklet_3g_netbook_takes_on_apple_and_google.html

The PlayStation 3 Slim gaming console from Sony Computer Entertainment is not only smaller and cheaper, but adds hardware enhancements that make it speedier, including a new Cell microprocessor.

The gaming console, introduced on Tuesday, is a slimmer and lighter version of older PS3 consoles. It carries a 120GB hard drive, which is an upgrade from the 80GB of storage offered in the earlier PS3. The console will sell for US$299 and become available on September 1.

Sony has made some enhancements under the hood to boost its processing speed and power efficiency. The gaming console will carry an upgraded version of the Cell microprocessor, which is being jointly developed by IBM, Sony, and Toshiba.

The new chip has been manufactured using an advanced 45-nanometer manufacturing process, an IBM spokesman said. Based on IBM’s Power architecture, the chip delivers many performance improvements while drawing less power than earlier chips, IBM has said. The earlier console carried a Cell processor manufactured using the 65-nm process. IBM declined to provide the clock speed of the new Cell processor.

Source : http://www.techjunkeez.com/