It wasn't supposed to exist. "The" Google Phone. Then we (and others) heard otherwise. And now, Google isn't just handing this "sexy beast" out to employees, they're going to sell it directly. Everything has changed. Here's what we know.
• The Wall Street Journal says it's made by HTC and called the Nexus One. It'll be sold online, directly by Google. You'll have to get your own cell service (which suggests it's an unlocked device). Curiously, the WSJ says, "unlike the more than half-dozen Android phones made by phone manufacturers today, Google designed virtually the entire software experience behind the phone." Sounds weird, since they designed the look and feel of the software on the Droid and G1 too, except that our source had told us before that the current Android we know isn't the "real" Android. Also odd sounding: that name, Nexus One. But maybe not that odd.
• Google confirmed they handed out "a device that combines innovative hardware from a partner with software that runs on Android to experiment with new mobile features and capabilities and we shared this device with Google employees across the globe."
• A bunch of Google employees tweeted stuff like the phone is "like an iPhone on beautifying steroids."
• It probably looks like this:
• It's supposedly an unlocked GSM phone running Android 2.1, powered by the crazyfast Snapdragon processor, with an OLED touchscreen (no keyboard), dual mics (for killing background noise), and enhanced voice-to-text powers. It's gonna be alllll Google branding. And it's probably coming out in January. Which jives with what our source saw a couple weeks ago, a huge screen running a brand new version of Android unlike anything out there.
• We heard it was referred to, at least in some capacity in the staff meeting where they were handed out, as the "Passion."
If Google really is going to push this as The Google Phone (and it's not just a dev phone), it's hard to understate just how radically this changes the landscape not just for Android, but what it means for Google and their relationship to the cellphone industry. The Google Phone would be a radically different model, a shift from the Microsoft one—make the software, let somebody else deal with the hardware—to the Apple and BlackBerry one—make the software and the hardware, tightly integrated. And Google's even taking a step further, by selling it directly, bypassing the carriers, at least initially. (Google would not be the first to sell a high-powered unlocked phone—see Sony Ericsson and Nokia—but neither them are, um, Google, and their well-known failures with that approach makes it even ballsier.)
It's a powerful message: to the companies making phones running Android, to the carriers, to developers, to consumers. Google is in this, to win. Everything has changed. You know, unless it hasn't.

Sometime back, we linked to several services and tools that let you transform decent people into mischievous wonders. The online tools allowed you to blacken anybody’s eye or add curly hair. Adding a long, witch-like nose or turning people into a Star Wars character is been made as easy as a pie, thanks to the internet and its marvels. Services like these keep popping up, each with its own star-factor. We’ve got two of these covered today.

Funtastic Face

Funtastic Face is the place to reach out if you need a cosmetic surgery. Seriously. This is the hub for all face related effects. Need an extra jaw, eye wear, hair, noses or if you’d like some punches on your eyes, they have bruises too. Everything is covered. The application is built with flash. Photos can be uploaded, snapped from a webcam or gotten off your facebook profile (login required). Check out how I adorned Brad Pitt. He looks attractive, doesn’t he, girls?

GrossOut

…is the place to get gross.On GrossOut, you can add all kinds of filthy slimes, nasty things, dirty bandages, patches to your beautiful faces. Or perhaps ruin somebody else’s. The app is flash material and you can take photos direct from your webcam i.e. if you wish to ruin your own face, otherwise, you can upload pictures from your computer. We selected Tiger Woods for our experiment. And look! The world still has his smile!

We have mentioned about next generation Pinetrail based netbook solutions from Lenovo’s Ideapad FL5-B3 and Fujitsu’s Lifebook MH380 earlier, now seems that Acer has followed their steps to come out with its first Pinetrail netbook under its Aspire One family based on downloadable driver source from its official website. Named as Aspire One AO532H-xx, it will be powered by Intel Atom Pineview N450 processor targeted for thermally efficient mobile computing.



The N450 will be clocking at maximum of 1.66GHz which is slightly faster than typical nettop specification that topped at 1.6GHz. And utilizing its upcoming GMA3150 integrated graphics chipset solution, it can easily scale up the display resolution up to 1280 x 720 pixels to be displayed on a 10.1-inch LCD panel with controllable LED backlight capability. Some other hardware specifications include a 1GB memory RAM, an option of either 160GB or 250GB hard disk drive, Ethernet, USB ports, a 0.3-megapixel camera module as well as VGA output for external display. Comparatively, Fujitsu Lifebook is better in terms of display resolution with FWXGA 1366 X 768 pixels besides a more advanced built in 802.11n WLAN module.


For now there is no any confirmed date available yet so we cant give you further information

Previously we mentioned about Lenovo IdeaPad FL5-B3 as the first Intel Atom Pineview nettop, now seems that Fujitsu new netbook machine has been spotted at FCC filing, indicating that more and more Pineview Atom based netbook is on the way. Named as MH380 and M380, the netbook will be categorized under its famous LifeBook family suitable for general web surfing, office applications and other tasks.



The new machine will be powered by Intel Atom Pineview processor running at 1.66GHz. If you recall, Intel Pineview has been officially renamed as N450 that is supposed to be a new replacement of existing N-series targeted for much CPU and graphics intensive applications. Although not many information being disclosed yet, there is confirmation that a 802.11n Wi-Fi module will be integrated for seamless network connectivity, on top of normal Ethernet RTL8103EL-GR 10/100 Controller solution from RealTek. Besides, it will also be equipped with standard 10.1-inch LCD display with FWXGA 1366 X 768 resolutions. In terms of physical form factor, the LifeBook has a slightly rounded-edge design with ample space catering for future system upgrade whenever necessarily.
No pricing information and exact availability yet, the Fujitsu LifeBook is expected to reach commercial market soon. Since it is still categorized under pre-production sample, the specification may slightly vary or change but likelihood for this to happen is low due to resubmission for FCC is quite time and effort consuming.

 Intel Atom is getting good traction and is currently dominating nettop market with a series of processors under this family. In order to continue its momentum, the giant chipmaker is planning to launch its successor, codenamed as Pineview combining with its TigerPoint chipset offering two-chip solution for much effective board design with lower BOM (Bill of Material) cost. While most of us are still waiting for its availability targeted by early next year, a recent FCC filing has disclosed that the first Pinetrail based netbook could be provided by Lenovo under one of its IdeaPad series.


Named as FL5-B3 (no official name yet), the machine is claimed to be powered by Intel Pineview processor (or officially known as N450) running at 1.66GHz and coupled with Tiger Point as an IO hub to extend its connectivity for external peripherals. Besides, it comes with a standard 10.1-inch 1024 X 600 resolution panels, with 2GB of memory RAM and a relatively large 250GB hard disk drive. As compared to its predecessor, the new PineTrail solution will be built using 45-nm process technology for both processor and chipset that will put them in even better performance per watt ratio, with maximum TDP (Thermal Design Power) under thermal envelope of less than seven watt suitable for fanless applications. That is not all, its internal graphics core speed has been upgraded from previously GMA950 to GMA500 with 200MHz core speed which will definitely able to boost up its graphics performance to next level.

The new Atom D410 and D510 processors were just given preliminary benchmarking tests, and the scores actually came out pretty disappointing. The older Nvidia Ion configuration actually beat the Pineview procs in most tests—not what we'd call encouraging.
Of course you don't go for an Atom for muscle, and the Pineview processors do beat the Ion in power consumption and cost (the new guys are both under $100). But we expect performance to go up as well, and the Ion mopped the floor with the D410 and D510 in most real-world applications. The Pineview procs did win in raw processing power, however. These are early tests, so take them with a grain of salt, but we'd really have preferred to see some numbers that at least beat existing configurations like Ion. [CarTFT (German PDF) and SemiAccurate via Engadget

When it comes to lightweight operating systems for a netbook or smartbook (which is basically a netbook that runs an ARM processor — expect to see them early next year), much of the recent buzz has centered around Google’s Chrome OS.
However, if you have a netbook and you want to try something that has a lot of the Web-integration features that Chrome OS promises ASAP, check out Jolicloud. Jolicloud is a Linux-based OS designed specifically for netbooks. The pre-beta is now available and it looks pretty great.

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Look and Feel Jolicloud

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I’ve only had a chance to play with Jolicloud on a virtual machine (I hope to try it on a netbook sometime this weekend), but I’m impressed with the look and feel. The problem I have with many netbook-specific Linux distributions is that, although the application launcher and desktop might be well-formatted for a small screen, the apps themselves still don’t take advantage of small spaces as well as they should.
Thus far, only Intel’s Moblin project has really addressed the issue of small spaces. Jolicloud was started by Tariq Krim, the founder of Netvibes. This is important because Netvibes has always had a good sense of UI and space allocation.
Jolicloud has a slew of Web and native applications. It can also run Adobe Air apps and play back many types of video.Jolicloud Rocks!!!
Read More>>>>

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The Future

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Jolicloud hopes to have it first full version out in early 2010. From the looks of things, they are really close to an official release.
How Jolicloud will hold up against competitors like Ubuntu Netbook Remix, Intel’s Moblin, and, of course, Google Chrome OS, has yet to be seen — but for users of netbooks, the options for browser-centric, low-profile operating systems are growing.

While Chrome OS has been getting the lion's share of netbook/smartbook buzz of late, Tariq Krim and company have been steadfastly plugging away at Jolicloud.

Today, the Jolicloud pre-beta has been released and it's ready for the general public to install on their Windows netbooks.

Jolicloud's Wubi-derived installer make the process dead-simple. Download the 600Mb .exe [or the torrent] from their website, launch it, and make your selections. Within a few moments you're system can dual-boot into Jolicloud or Windows.

While I suppose it's technically not fair to compare Jolicloud and Chrome OS right now since Chrome is so early in the alpha stage, I'm going to anyway. Right now - and for the near future - Jolicloud is the winner in my mind because it supports both native and web-based applications equally well.

"Sure, but Jolicloud uses Firefox and Firefox is slooooooooooow!" you say? Fine, go grab the Google Chrome beta for Linux and install the 32-bit .deb on Jolicloud. There. You've got a nice, fast, webkit-based browser - just click in from your internet apps tab.

 HP is launching a limited edition of its HP Envy 15 Laptop, the HP Envy 15 Beats.
The HP Envy 15 Beats is a collaboration between HP and rapper Dr Dre, and it will feature a Beats sound system and a piano black high gloss finish, as well as a signature Beats design.

“We found that most PCs downgrade sound to unacceptable levels and when you reduce it further to a limited platform, like an mp3, the music doesn’t stand a chance. If music is an emotion, if it sounds better, then the emotion is better,” said Jimmy Iovine from Beats on the announcement.

Other features include some DJ software including Native Instruments’ Traktor LE and Audio 2 DJ. Traktor LE with Audio 2 DJ multichannel splitter.
The HP Envy 15 Beats limited edition will go on sale for $2,299.

 
Just a few days ago we heard rumours about the imminent sale of Friendster, one of the first-generation social networks that originally kicked off the craze. Through self-reinvention the site has managed to stay relevant to a large audience in Asia, although its influence has notably diminished in the West over the years since its founding in 2002 and heydey in 2003-4.
There aren’t too many details emerging yet, but Business Times is reporting that the deal is finalized with a sale to MOL Global, a Malaysian e-commerce company that Friendster has been working with since October to power its payments platform. MOL Global CEO Ganesh Kumar Bangah took the stage at a signing ceremony today in Kuala Lumpur to announce an expected influx of $110 million yearly revenue from the acquisition.
This deal makes sense given Friendster’s audience and the current playing field for social networking in Asia, where Friendster has more monthly uniques than any other network. We expect this combination of assets to lead Friendster deeper into a microtransaction-type revenue strategy, perhaps involving a greater focus on social gaming moving forward.
Social gaming is becoming a significant revenue play for social networks worldwide, in the U.S. with companies like Zynga, EA’s Playfish and Playdom pulling down multimillions in annual revenues from games on Facebook and MySpace, and in Latin America where hi5 is aggressively pursuing its successful social gaming strategy as well.
It’s difficult to judge just how much the deal makes sense until we see the actual financial numbers, but it could be a decent exit for Friendster after a long and challenging road.
Did you use Friendster back in the day?