250GB credit card sized Hard drive from samsung

they keep getting smaller and smaller. A hard drive that can fit in your wallet and its a massive 250GB.The 3,600rpm drive features 125GB per platter, 8MB of cache, and should be capable of withstanding drops from about 20-inches. And should cost at around N50,000

Blackberry Onyx Review

The folks over at Crackberry have done a pretty good review of the blackberry Onyx. click here

Nokia 3720 classic

The Series 40-based candybar features

• 2-megapixel camera with LED flash, 4X digital zoom
• 2.2-inch QVGA 16.7 million colours display
• Nokia Maps pre-installed on the 1GB microSD card
• Stereo music player supporting MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+ and WMA, and stereo FM Radio
• 20MB free internal user memory plus support for microSD memory card up to 8GB
• XHTML browser, Java MIDP2.0, OMA DRM 1.0 and 2.0
• Bluetooth 2.1
• EGSM 900/1800/1900
• Series 40
• 115mm x 47mm x 15.3mm
• 94g
• Up to seven hours talk time
• Up to 18 days standby time

Nokia

Office 2010: The Movie

As we head towards the release of the new Microsoft office application, i just had to share this hilarious clip.

Interior video of the new Jaguar 2010XJ

At the center of the console is an 8-inch dual-view touchscreen that allows you, the driver, to monitor the on-board navigation maps while your passenger simultaneously watches a TV or a DVD -- in silence, if they choose, with the aid of headphones. There's also a large driver-side virtual instrument cluster that, for better or worse, replaces the physical speedometer, rev counter, and fuel and temperature gauges. As a 12.3-inch "high-definition" display it dynamically morphs into warning messages, menus, and colors that provide the driver with the most relevant information required at the time. The XJ also packs a Bowers & Wilkins 1200W audio system with 20 B&W speakers pumped through 15 channels of audio processing. The XJ is also the first automotive application of Dolby Pro Logic IIx tech with choice of DTS Neo:6 to enjoy 7.1 surround sound.

Quest from Veda Technologies

Veda technologies recently launched a multimedia resource application called Quest, which follows the brands successful launch at the civic center on the 5th of may.Quest comes preloaded on all Veda computers and with it, you can enjoy a host of third party, pictures, eBook, music, videos, and games all in one convenient and easy to use location, saving you the cost of purchasing different applications and saving you time, by providing all this information at your finger tips. At the launch Veda introduced some really interesting products,and greyed-out will have reviews of the veda product line soon. But at first glance it is impressive to note that such well designed devices are being manufactured by an indigenous Nigerian company.Veda touch:An all in one touch screen system with external keyboard and mouse

Specification: Intel core 2 duo, 250GB SATA HDD, 2GB Dimm, DVD drive, 1.3 mega pixel inbuilt camera, bluetooth and switchable 110- 240V power supply.

Veda fly: Available in Pink, white, blue, yellow and black, the Veda fly is laptop that can suite your personality and I find that really cool. The tag line for this range is, See, Try, Fly. What more can we say, we are certainly looking forward to giving it a try

Specification: intel mobile core, 160GB SATA HDD, 2GB RAM, DVD drive, inbuilt 1.3 mega pixel, wifi b/g, 4 cell smart lithium battery

Veda EXL: made for the business minded individual, the EXL looks like a serious device that is ready to be an effective companion and virtual personal assistant on business trips and at board meetings.

Specification: Intel core 2 duo, 250GB SATA HDD, 2GB dimm, DVD drive, inbuilt 1.3 megapixel camera, bluetooth 2.0, 6 cell smart lithium battery, wi-fi b/g, 4 in 1 card reader.

Veda pulse: a simple yet hardworking desktop that could become the pulse of the home or workplace.

Specification: Intel E2200 2.2GHz CPU, 160GB SATA HDD, 1GB DRAMM, DVD ROM, 10/100/1000 ethernet, 7.1 sound card, 9 in 1 card reader, 100-240v/50-60hz. 19" WXGA LCD panel monitor.

Introducing Google Chrome OS

Ars Technica has received confirmation from two sources that Google is working on new software named Google Chrome OS, which will offer a cloud-based, OS experience around the browser. UPDATE: It's official. It's coming in the second half of 2010.

Google says the OS is open source and lightweight, allowing users super quick access to the web. They claim the OS will be virus free (the security architecture is entirely new), and run a newly-designed windowing system on top of a Linux kernel that will be compatible with x86 and ARM processors alike. Though they were quick to mention this was separate from Android, they also conceded there would be some overlap in concept and functionality between the two platforms.

While the discussion of specific apps (and how they will work) was vague, Google made reference to a developer ecosystem that will be heavily web-based, and apps would be compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux (obviously). In a nutshell, it looks like Google Chrome OS is about simplicity, speed, safety, and cloud computing.

The announcement of Google Chrome OS is a big step forward for a company who slowly and subtly wedged their way into web app development. Google says that Chrome OS is intended for "power computers ranging from small netbooks to full-size desktop systems." So what does this mean for Google, and more importantly, what does this mean for Microsoft and Apple?

I think that Google has primed themselves to take a big chunk out of the mainstream computing market. That's not to say that you or I will be exclusively using Chrome OS, but with the internet becoming more and more accessible from ANYWHERE, our parents, grandparents and technophobic siblings probably will be converts. Most of them are already familiar with Google as a brand, and frustrated in trying to learn the intricacies of current operating systems.

And even for those of us who consider ourselves technologically advanced, how much of the desktop experience have Google's web apps already replaced? We'll still have our main computers, but what will be running on our netbooks or old laptops that sit in the living room?

More and more, I find myself working almost exclusively with apps that exist entirely on the web, or with clients that connect to web services. The only apps I use that aren't cloud-happy are either utilities, media players or photo/video editors. And even then, those are heading in that web-centric direction. Cloud computing has been bringing us closer and closer to the mainframe days of yore. Google wants to be the only backbone working behind the scenes. By saying they're keeping Chrome OS app development web-centric and platform-agnostic, they're slowly luring us techies into their web.

Still, Windows and OSX will always have a spacious home in the computer world, undoubtedly. Some apps will always require native architecture, and the businessmen, code-monkeys, graphic designers, video editors and other connoisseurs of nuanced computing would be foolhardy to try and work strictly in the cloud.

But the final hurdle for Google to overcome is easy, accessible online storage. Will they be able to go after Amazon's S3 cloud servers? And perhaps more importantly, will they be able to offer the service for free? If they can let us really extend our hard drives into the cloud, look out. Chrome OS will be a force to be reckoned with.

Source: Smoke's Writing Pad

Nokia maps 3.0

I havent had a chance to give the new Nokia maps 3.0 application a run, but over at mobility Nigeria, they've tested out Nokia maps with exciting decent results. With a significant number of street names and directions and the use of existing hardware i.e a phone you already own, Nokia maps 3.0 should be a hit amongst the Nigerian Public.Greyed-out will have a full review very soon. Other features include:

* 3D maps
* My location
* Traffic info
* Map/Satellite/Terrain modes
* Favourites
* History
* Map Screenshot (allows you to take screenshots of the map on the screen)
* Search places and addresses i.e. points of interests
* Voice Guidance

BlackBerry Tour (Coming Soon 12th July)

True to BlackBerry style, you get a full QWERTY along with a sharp 480x360 screen, Bluetooth, 256MB of storage and an MicroSD/SDHC expansion slot. As you'll see in the press release linked below, it's not just a phone but a "premium phone" with voice dialing and noise cancellation. It'll support your yapping for 5 hours per charge.The most interesting component for the non-business consumer will surely be the Storm-reminiscent 3.2MP IS camera with autofocus, GPS-enabled geotagging and video support.

Source: Smoke's Writing Pad

Tag Heuer's Monaco V4 concept chronograph watch

Tag Heuer celebrated 40yrs of the original Tag heuer Monaco concept with this special release

Helping you find your way around

It can certainly be a daunting task finding your way around town. Street signs are gladly making a welcomed comeback although its not yet been widely implemented. Finding your way around major Nigerian cities is set to get easier with the introduction of Garmin GPS devices and complete maps.

GARMAP is the complete software tool for managing the Garmin Mobile XT application

Garmap provides accurate navigable geographical data for all Garmin map enabled GPS Systems, which augments the information already on the base map. With Garmap, one can view existing waypoints, routes and tracks on the graphic map or quickly create new waypoints or routes. Garmap can also be loaded to PC enabling one to quickly select maps and save them to GPS unit, or a data card. Editing and managing waypoints and routes are made easy with Garmap.

Garmap Nigeria Street maps, topographic and recreation version 2 provides routable mapping data of Nigeria and street maps of Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, and Warri.

Here are more features:

• 9,800km of routable map data
• Over 8,800 points of interest (POIs)
• Street maps for Lagos, FCT Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Warri, and Ota amongst others
• Turn-by-turn voice prompts
• Route simulation: Ability to simulate route and view destination on map before embarking on the journey
• Weather forecast: Ability to check five day weather forecasts destinations and over 5000 cities worldwide
• Flight schedule and status: Access flight details for many major airlines
• Points of Interest dialing: Choose from over 8800 Points of Interest and call a point of interest (such as a restaurant or coffee shop) using the phone feature.
• Location messaging: Send a location message to another Nigerian mobile phone, detailing their exact location in GPS coordinates. If the receiving mobile phone also has Garmap For Mobile installed the message translates into a destination point and allows the receiver to navigate easily and quickly to that point.
• Panic button: Automatically fires off an urgent location message to up to three emergency contacts whenever the ‘#’ key is depressed for more than 3 seconds on certain Nokia and Samsung phones.
• “Panoramio”, a tool that allows consumers to access user-generated content that has been uploaded to the Web.
• On board user’s manual and troubleshooting information: The user’s manual and troubleshooting information sits on the application on your phone, so help is wherever you are.
• SD card and Installation disk: The application comes on a 2gig SD card and an installation / recovery disk
• 1.8 gig memory space: The application comes with 1.8gig free memory space on the SD card

Garmin Nuvo dealers in Nigeria

Garmin major distributor

telecgsm limited

13, Amodu Ojikutu Street, Victoria Island, Lagos
Telephone: 08021350521, 08021322763
Other dealers

Lagos:

Slot
15 – 19, Ola Ayeni Street, Computer Village, Ikeja

Ralphdon
6, Olayemi Street, Computer Village, Ikeja

AW Import
82, Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos

Abuja – FCT

Dialogue Resources Nigeria Ltd
A6 & A7 Sheriff Shopping Complex, Aminu Kano Crescent, Wuse III, Abuja

Mx3
Shop B26, Banex Plaza, Abuja

Kano

Dialogue Resources Nigeria Ltd
6C, Murtala Muhammed Way, Kano

Port Harcourt

Glaceo
123 Aba Road, PH

Cee 2 Cee Phones Limited
67, Olu Obasanjo Road, Maxiclass Hotel, Port Harcourt

Aba

McKings
19, St. Michaels Road, Aba

Asaba

Wilson William
10, Kommex Plaza, Asaba

Onitsha

Michadon
211b, Nimek Plaza, New Market Road, Onitsha

Enugu

Fine Brothers Nigeria Ltd
Warehouse No 16, Railway Line, Main Market, Enugu

Lyte Global
12, Nnobi Street, Independent Layout, Enugu

Owerri

Right Formula
37, Douglas Road, Owerri

Benin

Double Val
14 Oba Market Road, Benin

Uyo

Ibedmore
99, Aka Road, Uyo

The Netbook Revolution

(www.greyedoutmagazine.blogspot.com)

It all began with a little computer, that spurned the creation of an entire new category of personal computers. Few saw it ever emerging and even fewer thought it would last, but alas netbooks are here to stay. The way we view computers have evolved with time, more of us use computers in our everyday lives and some of us, don’t look at me, are practically attached to these silicon powerhouses. What do we want from our personal computers?

This question generates many varied answers from young people, but the most common themes are usually a mix of mobility, power and connectivity. In that respect, I think that netbooks were specifically designed with our generation in mind, we've grown up in the technology age, we want information at our finger tips, and we want it now, not when we're finally back at the office after that site inspection or after enduring herculean traffic jams in the city of Lagos.

Sometimes I try to remember the days before mobile phones came along, and I give up after a few seconds, I truly cannot remember nor imagine what it could have been like. What would I do if I was not able to have instant communication with family, friends and fellow workers? Just as it was with mobile technology, I think it will be with netbooks. One day we'll certainly look back and think how anyone was able to get any work done or have complete communication with a network of people.

Netbooks are officially described as ultra-mobile personal computers or UMPC's, with an average weight of 1.2Kgs and a screen size no more than 11" and as low as 6". The word netbook is a combination of the words, internet and notebook, and its purpose is encompassed in its simple name. We all visit our favorite websites and blogs daily, in fact this routine for some already replaces the newspaper as a source of information. The huge networking capabilities of web 2.0 sites like Facebook and Twitter have played a part in the Netbook revolution.

This is the age where the question, what are you doing now? Doesn’t sound half as evasive as it really should, a time when bloggers about celebrities indeed become celebrities themselves. Netbooks appear to have arrived at precisely the right time. The first netbook was Psion's netBook line but this class of personal computers truly received a boost when Asus released their now infamous Eeepc, a 7" device originally designed for emerging markets. So what's out there today? Netbooks are now widely available in Lagos, they are an affordable route to truly mobile computing.

The netbook trend continues to grow, it is estimated that in 2009, 35 million units across different brands would be sold worldwide and by 2013, there would be 139 million netbooks out there. Netbooks do not really on powerful hardware, this is because most netbook users would be accessing online web applications and website more often than software resident in their hard drives. This means most netbooks are affordable, and the lack of an optical drive in netbooks has not hindered its growth potential. We have become accustomed to storing our media on internal and external hard drives, it is debatable but Mp3’s may have already surpassed CD’s as a regular source of music and we now have movie rental websites where you can download and watch a full movie without ever leaving your chair, of course the true advantages of Netbooks need a reliable internet service but with the likes of MTN 3G service and the upcoming service from GLO, I am sure we’ll see an improvement in the Internet service provider sector.

HP's Vivienne Tam netbook

Lenovo's S10e netbook

By Chiedu Ifeozo, Editor, Greyed-out magazine

HTC Hero

HTC Hero is our first phone to embody HTC Sense™ - an intuitive, seamless experience built upon three fundamental principles - make it mine, stay close, and discover the unexpected.

Make it Mine

With HTC Hero, personalization reaches a level never before possible. Rather than burying important content under layers of menus, the HTC Hero lets you put it at glance view, with a selection of widgets that can be placed right on the home screen. The widgets themselves can be personalized with a variety of designs and sizes that best match your personality.

With Scenes, a new profile feature, HTC Hero becomes multiple phones in one. Create and switch between Scenes that reflect different moments in your life. Your Hero becomes a weekend phone that helps you relax with your choice of tunes, catch up with your favorite friends and capture some memories with HTC Footprints™. And when you go on a trip, your phone becomes your personal guide and gives you instant access to local time, weather and maps.

Stay Close

Today, staying in touch with the people in your life means managing a variety of communication channels and applications ranging from phone calls and emails to Facebook updates. HTC Hero makes staying close as simple as turning to your friend and saying hello. When you view people, you see the different ways to get in touch, you also see all your interactions like emails sent to your personal and work accounts. You can even check for social network updates and event notices as well as see the latest pictures your friends uploaded to popular photo sharing sites.

Discover the Unexpected

Many of the most memorable moments in your life are experienced, not explained. Even basic functions like the dialer will pleasantly surprise you on the HTC Hero. You can find a person by dialing their phone number or simply by dialing the first few letters of their name.

With HTC Hero, you can look at things through different perspectives. Your inbox is not just a list of emails, but a catalog of conversations, a collection of notes flagged as important, and a document library of all your emails with attachments. Your Album is not just the photos saved on your phone. It is also a gateway to online collections of you and your friends on Facebook or Flickr.

Search just about anything, anywhere on your HTC Hero. The dedicated Search button combs through tweets in Twitter™, locates people in your contact list, finds emails in your inbox, searches through appointments in the calendar and very nearly finds needles in haystacks.

Photos:

Video:

Source: Smokie's Writing Pad

Processor: Qualcomm® MSM7200A™, 528 MHz
Operating System: Android™
Memory ROM: 512 MB
RAM: 288 MB
Dimensions (LxWxT) 112 x 56.2 x 14.35 mm ( 4.41 x 2.21 x 0.57 inches)
Weight 135 grams ( 4.76 ounces) with battery
Display 3.2-inch TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen with 320x480 HVGA resolution

Network HSPA/WCDMA:
*900/2100 MHz
*Up to 2 Mbps up-link and 7.2 Mbps down-link speeds
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE:
*850/900/1800/1900 MHz

(Band frequency and data speed are operator dependent.)

Device Control: Trackball with Enter button
GPS Internal: GPS antenna
Connectivity: Bluetooth® 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate and A2DP for wireless stereo headsets
Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11 b/g
HTC ExtUSB™ (11-pin mini-USB 2.0 and audio jack in one)
3.5 mm audio jack
Camera: 5.0 megapixel color camera with auto focus
Audio supported formats: MP3, AAC(AAC, AAC+, AAC-LC), AMR-NB, WAV, MIDI and Windows Media® Audio 9
Video supported formats: MPEG-4, H.263, H.264 and Windows Media® Video 9
Battery: Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery

Capacity: 1350 mAh

Talk time:

*Up to 420 minutes for WCDMA
*Up to 470 minutes for GSM

Standby time:

*Up to 750 hours for WCDMA
*Up to 440 hours for GSM

(The above are subject to network and phone usage.)
Expansion Slot microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
AC Adapter Voltage range/frequency: 100 ~ 240V AC, 50/60 Hz
DC output: 5V and 1A
Special Features G-sensor
Digital Compass

Firefox 3.5

The popularity of the Firefox browser from Mozilla continues to grow, with this update. One reason why many like this browser is the many customization features it allows. So whats new in Firefox 3.5, a quick look at the release notes unearths the following.

Firefox 3.5 is based on the Gecko 1.9.1 rendering platform, which has been under development for the past year. Firefox 3.5 offers many changes over the previous version, supporting new web technologies, improving performance and ease of use. Some of the notable features are:

• Available in more than 70 languages. (Get your local version!)
• Support for the HTML5 native support for Ogg Theora encoded video and Vorbis encoded audio. (Try it here!)
• Improved tools for controlling your private data, including a Private Browsing Mode.
• Better web application performance using the new TraceMonkey JavaScript engine.
• The ability to share your location with websites using Location Aware Browsing. (Try it here!)
• Support for native JSON, and web worker threads.
• Improvements to the Gecko layout engine, including speculative parsing for faster content rendering.
• Support for new web technologies such as: downloadable fonts, CSS media queries, new transformations and properties, JavaScript query selectors, HTML5 local storage and offline application storage, text, ICC profiles, and SVG transforms.

Developers can find out about all the changes and new features at the Mozilla Developer Center.