Windows Vista & Office 2007 Launched..

As per plan, Microsoft announced the launch of Windows Vista and the 2007 Office System to consumers.

That these are the most innovative and widely tested software products in the company's history has been oft repeated. According to Microsoft, Windows Vista and 2007 Office will "wow" consumers with their new user interface (UI), greatly enhanced security, integrated search, and improved overall performance.

Launching the flagship products, Chairman of Microsoft India, Ravi Venkatesan, said, "Today's global launch of Windows Vista and Microsoft 2007 Office System truly gives credence to our vision for the future of personal computing. We want to see technology help each individual in unlocking their true potential, and these new desktop technologies which are intuitive, easier to use, more secure, and much, much more fun overall, will truly redefine user experience."

Venkatesan informed that nearly 1 billion hours of user feedback has gone into the final versions of the two products.

Earlier released to business customers on Nov 30, 2006, Windows Vista and Office 2007 will now be available through retail stores across 30 countries, including India. In India, OEMs such as HCL, HP, Lenovo, Sahara, Wipro, and Zenith will be launching a range of Vista compatible personal computers for consumers.

Windows Vista will be available in four consumer editions; namely, Windows Vista Ultimate, Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows Vista Home Basic, and Windows Vista Starter. And, it will be available in more than 18 languages, including Hindi. Support for 13 more Indian languages, including Telugu and Marathi, is expected by early 2008.

Meanwhile, Office 2007 will ship in two consumer editions; namely, Office Home & Student 2007, and Office Basic 2007.

Speaking at the launch, Managing Director of Microsoft India, Ms Neelam Dhawan, said, "We are excited about the support we have received from our partners. There are already more than 1.5 million devices and peripherals on the market that work with Windows Vista, including more than 2,000 that are Windows Vista Certified. This is an unprecedented momentum within the ecosystem, and we will continue to invest in the community, so that partners and customers can benefit from the myriad opportunities offered by Windows Vista and the 2007 Office System."

What contributes to the "wow" factor? For one, an innovative user interface that adds to visual appeal, while making the products easier to use. New capabilities that make creating and sharing digital content easier and more fun. And, entertainment possibilities, plus enhanced communication and productivity.

Advances that need mention are the Parental Control Panel, which allows parents manage their children's Internet and computer access; as also Windows Defender, which offers real time protection against spyware and malicious Web sites.

What are the minimum hardware requirements of Windows Vista? A modern processor (at least 800MHz1); 512 MB of system memory; and graphics processor which is DirectX 9 capable.

What about pricing? Windows Vista prices are comparable with those of Windows XP. Meanwhile, PCs loaded with genuine Windows Vista will retail in the country, for prices starting at Rs 22,000. Microsoft 2007 Office editions will ship for prices starting at Rs 6,000.

Will Microsoft Windows Vista succeed in replacing Microsoft Windows XP?

A confident Doug Hauger, Chief Operating Officer of Microsoft India, said that if they could get just 30 Windows Vista minutes with each Windows XP consumer, that consumer would never go back to using Windows XP. Hauger went on record, saying that already there are about 2,00,000 Windows Vista licenses plus around 8,50,000 Office 2007 licenses.

There are four editions of Windows Vista available for consumers, so here?s a breakdown: * Windows Vista Home Basic, $199/$99.95 (full/upgrade) Provides a basic platform for home users who want to keep tabs on email and Internet activity. Comes standard with Vista's new Search Explorer, Sidebar and Parental Controls. * Windows Vista Home Premium, $239/$159 Builds on Home Basic by adding the Windows Aero interface, Windows Media Center functionality, Windows Tablet PC technology and integrated DVD burning. * Windows Vista Business, $299/$199 Supports the Aero user interface, offers improved document managing and Windows Tablet PC functionality. * Windows Vista Ultimate, $399/$259 Vista Ultimate combines the functionality of Vista Home Premium and Vista Business. Likewise, there are five editions of Microsoft Office 2007 available to general consumers: * Microsoft Office Home and Student, $149/NA (full/upgrade) Excel 2007, PowerPoint 2007, Word 2007, OneNote 2007 * Microsoft Office Standard 2007, $399/$239 Excel 2007, PowerPoint 2007, Word 2007, Outlook 2007 * Microsoft Office Small Business 2007, $449/$279 Excel 2007, Accounting Express 2007, PowerPoint 2007, Publisher 2007, Word 2007, Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager * Microsoft Office Professional 2007, $499/$329 Excel 2007, Access 2007, Accounting Express 2007, PowerPoint 2007, Publisher 2007, Word 2007, Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager * Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007, $679/$539 Excel 2007, Access 2007, Accounting Express 2007, PowerPoint 2007, Publisher 2007, Word 2007, Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager, InfoPath 2007, Groove 2007, OneNote 2007.

Dell Starts Shipping PCs with Vista

With Microsoft Windows Vista set to launch on Jan 30, Dell has already started taking orders, and shipping desktop and notebook PCs pre-loaded with Vista. According to the company, Dell systems equipped with Vista are designed to deliver a rich digital lifestyle experience, combined with secure operations, and ease-of-use.

With this, customers can easily record and watch HD video, organize digital photo and music libraries, quickly search data and multimedia files, and browse the Internet with excellent protection from spyware and phishing scams. Dell claims to have worked closely with Microsoft to make the computing experience faster, easier, and better in areas such as sales and technical support to make sure that customers purchase the right system to take full advantage of Vista. Moreover, Dell claims to have spent more than 100,000 engineer-hours testing and validating Vista on its hardware. The company believes that there have been many technological advances since the last Windows upgrade more than five years ago. To optimize the Windows Vista experience, Dell recommends that customers consider systems configured with dual-core or quad-core processors, more memory (2GB memory for optimal performance), a dedicated graphics card with 256 MB of memory or more, and large hard drives. In addition, customers interested in knowing whether existing machines will run Windows Vista or not are advised by Dell to check the readiness advisor tool. Initially, the roll-out of Vista-enabled Dell systems will be in English, French, German, Spanish and Japanese. Additional languages will be made available in the coming weeks.

MotoRAZR MAXX V6 Ferrari

Now it's finally the turn of Ferrari to have a branded phone after the Aston Martin and the McLaren handsets. Ferrari's partnership with Motorola has lead to a MotoRAZR MAXX V6 with the Ferrari branding all over it. It's called the V6 Ferrari but doesn't mean that it has 6 Valve engine running it.

The phone has a black finish instead of the traditional Rosso Corsa (Ferrari Red) paint. The other specs of the phone are a 2 MP camera, microSD expansion slot, Bluetooth 2.0, and USB 2.0 connectivity. It even supports standard GPRS, EDGE and HSDPA. The phone has the Ferrari branding all over with the logo on the outside and a full fledged Ferrari theme sporting the Ferrari F430. Every time you startup the phone there is a F430 engine roar. The suspected price of the phone is around $633 (Rs. 28,500) and no date of the release has been specified.

Skoar 2007 27th January(Day 2)

Me to the right,Ramit in the center with Patrick'fOrest'Lindberg of Team Fnatic(Photo courtesy:Adhish Sharma)

Sooo,I finally went to Skoar 2007 at Pragati Maidan on the second day of the event. I was supposed to go on the third day also i.e.28th Jan but i my school practicals are going on .. so couldn't the last day..I was there for about 1 hour or sooo.. and i completely enjoyed the time i spent over there..This Event made me finally feel that GaMiNg in India is progressing towards the positive side... There were all sorts of people over there trying to know more about the gaming industry..

There were more than 30 Xbox 360's on dispay for the crowd over there.There was a lotta rush in getting a chance to play a game on the 360... I had to wait a lot to get a chance to play over there.. Some of the games running on the 360 were PGR3,Gears Of War,Fight Night,NFS Carbon,NBA Live 07 and many more...There were also many gaming PC's on display by HCL,Samsung.These PC's had a high end configuration . Games like Fifa 07,Cricket 07 were the games available to play on the PC's..

Also the finals of the Game Box 2007 were at held at Skoar 2007 which was sponsored by Reliance Web World. Game box went across all over the world to find the best gamers. The Game Box Counter Strike Finals were won by a team from Mumbai named 'ATE',a 17year old from Mumbai won the finals of NFS Underground and Warcraft Finals were won by a 23 year old also from Mumbai. Mumbai ruled this event..

AND Most importantly me and my friend met the members of the 'Team Fnatic' the best counter strike playing team in Europe and possibly the World...The members of these teams looked cool,straight forward and did not show any attitude towards the public , the public which did not know what is Team Fnatic...lol.Me and my friend ramit also met Patrick'fOrest'Lindberg--the world's best counter strike playing player...It was a memorable moment for me which i can't forget all my life...To know more about the 'Team Fnatic' you guys can visit their web site www.club.fnatic.com.

In all Skoar 2007 was a sucessful event. I would give it 7/10...

World's First built-in Noise Cancelling Walkman...

Sony's NW-005

This player totally rocks..I used this one at my friends place.This player is awsum, great sound quality,good earphones and also has cool looks nd its black colour looks totally amazing. Need to buy this player if u have a high budget line. Its truely worth it....

Features:
Built-in Noise Canceling Function
Clear Stereo/Clear Bass/Virtual Phone Technology
3 Line Organic EL Display
3 Minutes charge for 3hrs Playback
Upto 50hrs. Battery Stamina
Direct Encoding (with optional cradle or cable)
ATRAC/MP3/WMA/AAC/Liner-PCM Playback
Built-in FM Tuner
Dimensions: 27.5x88.1x17mm (wxhxd)
Price range from 11,990 to 15,990..

Fastest of the 7600GT series...

The XFX 7600GT Fatal1ty Video Card is possibly the fastest 7600GT card in the world, and unlike other cards, it utilizes XFX's proprietary stealth heatpipe cooling technology, dubbed "Silent But Deadly" technology.
While the card does not deploy a standard fan, it still cools with more efficiency due to passive distribution of heat from the GPU to the aluminium fins behind the card. Besides, as air and dust are not forced through the heatsink, there is lesser worry over clogged heatsinks causing overheating in some time. The 7600GT Fatal1ty Professional Series Video Card features high-definition video playback; is Microsoft Windows Vista ready; and with True High Dynamic-Range (HDR) Rendering, makes for incredibly life-like PCI-Express graphics. According to XFX, the card offers mind-numbing speed, graphics, and optimizes performance silently and effectively. Speaking at the launch, Sunny Narain, VP of Sales and Marketing, XFX Hong Kong, said, "We are excited with our tie-up with Johnathan Fatal1ty , the world's No 1 professional gamer, who is known worldwide for his gaming skills & speed which perfectly merges with the XFX culture of gaming. Infact the tag line this year for XFX is Play Hard." "We at XFX identify ourselves as gamers and we have a complete range of graphic cards for all segments. Now with the launch of 7600GT Fatal1ty and 8800GTX, we plan to further tap and increase XFX market share in the premium segment," Narain said. The XFX Geforce 7600 GT Fatal1ty is available at a suggested end user price of Rs 12,900; and the XFX GeForce 8800GTX is available at a suggested end user price of Rs 46,000 at all 48 Rashi Peripherals branches over India. All XFX graphic cards from Rashi come with a 3 year warranty

Samsung Ultra Edition 5.9

It seems that Samsung is hell bent on making their phones as slim as possible. After the release of the Ultra Edition 6.9, they have recently introduced the new Samsung Ultra Edition 5.9 which is 1 mm thinner than its predecessor. That's 0.23 inches. Along with the Ultra Edition 10.9 Slider, Samsung currently holds the record for the world's thinnest mobile phone and world's thinnest slider phone, respectively.
But don't be fooled into thinking it has shed some of its features to make it slimmer. The Ultra 5.9 has a 3.2-megapixel camera, 80MB of internal storage, tri-band, Bluetooth, and a media-player, which is a lot in such a slim phone.
No word on the price or availability till now, but we had to put this up for you folks. It's set to be released in March, 2007

LG FM37 Touch-screen MP3 Player

This 10.4mm thin digital media player is the new brainchild of LG. Not only does it deliver amazing features, it looks stunning. The FM37 comes in 3 models - 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB. With the a 2.4 inch TFT LCD "touch" display, a QVGA 320 x 240 resolution, the support of mp3/wma/ogg playback with 24hrs of audio playback, e-books, and of course a 3 hour video playback (AVI and WMV), LG seems to have thought of everything. They haven't even left out the FM Tuner.
The price of the 1GB/2GB/4GB is $159, $192, and $256 respectively. No word on the availability in India yet as it has just been released in Korea.

Palit 7900 GS

Like all the 7-series Nvidia chipsets, the 7900GS is built using the 90 nanometer fabrication process. It sports 256 MB GDDR3 RAM clocked at an effective 1320 MHz while the core is clocked at 450 MHz. The card is SLI ready and has two DVI, an S-Video connector, and sports a huge all-black cooler. Although it looks pretty cool this way, it also takes up an extra slot on the motherboard and requires extra power to be supplied from the SMPS.
Since the GPU and memory are very well covered by the HSF, we were expecting some good amount of overclocking performance. Other features include support for DirectX" 9.0, Shader Model 3.0, and True high dynamic-range (HDR) lighting support. It also features Intellisample 4.0, CineFX" 4.0 Engine, ForceWare Unified Driver Architecture (UDA), nView multi-display technology, and supports Dual dual-link DVI supporting two 2560x1600 resolution displays.

Dell's All Terrain Notebook...

Dell has launched the Latitude ATG D620 (All-Terrain Grade), its first semi-rugged notebook computer for customers who work in tough environments. According to Dell, the Latitude ATG D620 meets military standards for vibration, humidity, and altitude, and is geared to protect against accidental bumps, moisture, and other such contingencies. In keeping with its tough nature, the notebook features a shock-mounted hard drive, spill-resistant keyboard, port covers, and high durability paint.
Besides, it includes a 14.1-inch display with ambient light sensor (ALS), glass overlay, and anti-reflective coating. The company says the LCD is nearly 1" times brighter than that of most mainstream corporate notebooks. Latitude ATG provides hard drive image compatibility with Latitude D620. It is also compatible with all D-family wireless and security products, as well as accessories like docks, port replicators, and power adapters. The notebook includes a lead-free motherboard and chassis; is RoHS compliant; and designed for energy efficiency in multiple customer environments. Prominent specifications are: 500 NIT LCD with non-reflective coating; 14.1-inch WXGA screen (1,280 X 800 resolution); support for up to 4GB3 DDR2 SDRAM; ATG task lights for keyboard lighting; shock mounted-hard drive and LCD; Intel Core 2 Duo processors; and Microsoft Windows Vista Capable. Speaking at the launch, Rajan Anandan, Vice President & General Manager of Dell India, said, "The Latitude ATG is a prime example of Dell's commitment to customer-driven innovation. We have heard from customers loud and clear that a tougher, highly protective notebook with a screen that is easy to see outdoors is necessary in many lines of work. We're glad that we could meet that customer request with a product distinguished by industry-leading features." The notebook is immediately available for prices beginning Rs 106,163, along with a three-year next business day on-site service standard warranty.

Your Face your Password...

Lenovo has launched its new ‘face recognition technology’ laptops targeted at the home consumer and the Soho segment in India. The Lenovo Y300 and Y500 notebooks have inbuilt biometric face recognition technology to provide data security, allowing the notebooks to be used by multiple users seamlessly. Additionally, the Y500 has advanced Dolby Home Theater, a Shuttle Center for easy navigation between features, a slot-in ODD (a trayless entry for CDs/DVDs) and a TV Tuner card. The Shuttle Center is an audio and video entertainment platform which helps the user navigate between menus without a mouse. The integrated Touch Pad features a wider touch area and provides two modes to avoid the incident touching of Touch Pad when using a mouse. The face recognition feature is supported by Veriface software, which takes a digital snapshot of the user, extracts key features of the user s face, and creates a digital map that becomes the system s 'password'. The technology recognizes multiple users and logs on to the Windows operating system and other applications without requiring users to remember a single password. In the event of an unauthorized attempt, the notebook photographs the user and stores the image in a log for verification. The Lenovo Y300 weighs 1.78 kg without a battery, having a 13.1" wide screen and 1.3 megapixel camera. The Lenovo Y500 features: integrated Dolby Home Theater system; 15.4" wide screen, 1.3 megapixel camera and an integrated TV Tuner card with remote control. The Lenovo Y300 and Y500 series will be available in India from December this year. The Lenovo 3000 Y300 is priced at Rs 61,990 and the Lenovo 3000 Y500 is priced between Rs 31,990 and Rs 69,990. These laptops will be available through Lenovo authorized storefronts and business partners.

The Chinese major, Lenovo has chosen bollywood star, Saif Ali Khan as its brand ambassador. For its initial promotion it has a contest called "Face to Face" wherein lucky buyers of the 3000 product line get a dinner with Khan.

Seagate-Hitachi announce 1TB HardDisk Drive...

Seagate has just announced that it will launch its very own 1-terabyte Barracuda harddisk drive sometime during the first half of 2007.
“Seagate’s 1TB hard drive will be our second generation 3.5-inch hard drive to feature capacity-boosting perpendicular recording technology, and it will use fewer heads and discs than similar-capacity products we expect to see from our competitors. It is clear that fewer heads and discs, along with our proven perpendicular technology, can increase drive reliability, and also reduce operating temperatures, power consumption, noise, and weight.”
Not wanting to lose out, Hitachi has also announced that it will be coming out with its 1TB drives within the first six months of 2007.
But, Hitachi’s will supposedly run on five platters, whereas Seagate’s will supposedly run on less, making the Seagate better in performance and more reliable.

Call of Duty 3.....

Through the eyes of four Allied soldiers, Call of Duty 3 brings players closer than ever to the fury of combat as they fight through the Normandy Breakout, the harrowing offensive that liberated Paris and changed the fate of the world.
In Call of Duty 3, new close-quarters battle mechanics bring you face-to-face with your enemy. Fight hand-to-hand, disarm traps, improvise explosive devices and execute a host of other battlefield challenges that require cunning and swift reflexes. Next-generation level design provides multiple attack routes that let you decide how to confront the enemy. Each choice you make requires you to use special tactics, from sniping and demolition to straight out frontal assaults. And in online multiplayer battles of up to 24 players, gamers battle it out as a variety of player classes, including riflemen, infantry, scouts and others. Multiple-occupancy vehicles let you coordinate attacks with friends, driving while they fire a mounted machine gun from the turret.

Halo 3...its awsum.....

Halo 3 is the third game in the Halo Trilogy and will provide the thrilling conclusion to the events begun in Halo: Combat Evolved. Halo 3 was first revealed at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles on May 9th, 2006. Halo 3 will be available for Xbox 360 in 2007.
Halo 3 will pick up where Halo 2 left off. The Master Chief is returning to Earth to finish the fight. The Covenant occupation of Earth has uncovered a massive and ancient object beneath the African sands - an object who's secrets have yet to be revealed. Earth's forces are battered and beaten.
The Master Chief's AI companion Cortana is still trapped in the clutches of the Gravemind - a horrifying Flood intelligence, and a civil war is raging in the heart of the Covenant. This is how the world ends...

Another feature of the Vista...

It's no secret that Microsoft Vista brings with it a slew of interesting new pieces of hardware. There are ReadyBoost hard drives and flash drives, multicore processors, the new CableCard initiative, and new DX10 graphics hardware. To name a few. But one neat feature really leapt to my attention recently: the possibilities of SideShow.
Intended to enable a secondary display on laptops—which could show CD/DVD information, RSS feeds, email, and more—the SideShow feature has led to the development of actual peripherals, not just extra embedded screens.

Rumors of new Xbox on the way...

Rumors are already circulating that there might be a new Xbox console in development. No, this isn't a full-fledged system... but rather an upgraded Xbox 360.It is being said that this new and vastly improved console, codenamed "Zephyr" as opposed to the original codename "Xenon," could feature an HDMI output, and a significantly larger 120GB hard drive.
The HDMI port would allow the system to get full 1080p resolution, and "remove" any worry about digital rights protection getting in the way in the future. This is something important to note since that protection could be added (and likely will be added) at anytime on HD-DVD movie discs. The larger hard drive will also be necessary as the Xbox Live will allow for downloads of movies and TVs in the near future. That 20GB hard drive is suddenly feeling mighty small.

Sony Ericsson W950i

The large touchscreen, with stylus and handwriting recognition, will release you from the frustration of a tiny keyboard – using this phone is pure pleasure with massive 4GB music storage, full-colour, full-screen Internet.

Apple iPhone

iPhone combines three products — a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, maps, and searching — into one small and lightweight handheld device. iPhone also introduces an entirely new user interface based on a large multi-touch display and pioneering new software, letting you control everything with just your fingers. So it ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, completely redefining what you can do on a mobile phone.