iTunes phone will arrive soon - but will it be worth it?

Many respectable sources report that Apple and Motorola will finally announce the iTunes phone this Wednesday.

The specifications of this phone are still quite secret and some rumours even claim it may be limited to only 25 songs as it may kannibalise the sales of the iPod shuffle. But some other sources claim different models may be launched, with some of them supporting 100 songs or more.

It's believed Cingular will carry this phone in the U.S., O2 in the UK and TMobile in Germany. More details will follow within days..

Quake 4 weapons video

Quake 4 is already quite popular on the Web and today some more information leaked in the form of a shaky cam video which reveals some of the weapons featured in Quake 4.

You can download it here.

Meet the Computer Zoo

HardwareSecrets has written an article on how to protect your computer system against animals. They say the heat inside a computer makes at a quite attractive place for several animals like ants, cockroaches and even mice!



More strange things at HardwareSecrets.

This actually reminds me about the origin of the 'computer bug'. A long time ago when computers were still huge machines a bunch of scientists were surprised their computer started malfunctioning. After a closer inspection one of them noticed a small moth caused the problem..

RSS? Podcasting? Phishing? Never heard of!

The more tech savvy web users will known what terms like RSS feed, podcasting, phishing and adware mean but many Americans don't have a clue about the meaning of these words.

A recent survey from Pew Internet & American Life Project concludes American consumers are slow to grasp the significance of new technologies.

The most well known terms was 'spam', 88 percent of the respondents knew what it meant. The least known term was 'RSS Feeds' because only nine percent had a clue about the meaning.

Some more numbers:

• Firewall: known by 78 percent
• Spyware: known by 78 percent
• Cookies: known by 68 percent
• Adware: known by 48 percent
• Phishing: known by 29 percent
• Podcasting: known by 13 percent

A total of 2,001 American adults were interviewed. More info at BetaNews.

SMS Guerilla Projector - projecting SMS messages on the go

Core77 found out about the SMS Guerilla Projector from Troika Studio.

This home made device enables users to project text based SMS messages in public spaces, inside cinames, shops, houses, in streets, onto people, ...

The picture on the left is the SMS Guerilla Projector. Troika claims there is a constant demand for this device and they are preparing a new enhanced version which will be distributed as a limited edition.

Here are a few funny photos of the SMS Guerilla Projector in action. Looks nice but I can imagine some nasty things may happen when this device comes into the wrong hands ;-)

Online music market is booming

IFPI released now figures on legal music downloads and reports the market tripled in the first half of this year. Sales in 1H 2005 in the UK, France and Germany accounted for 180 million tracks, compared to only 157 million during the entire last year.

IFPI chairman John Kennedy concludes people are increasingly stepping away from illegal filesharing services and are spending money on the Web to download songs. Although he still warns the battle against pirates isn't over yet..

He claims P2P networks account for 900 million illegally copied tracks, a three percent rise on last year. More details at VNU Net.

Samsung launches two new multifunctional laser printers

Samsung today unveiled new laser printers for small and mid-sized offices. The new 3-in-1 SCX-4321 can print, copy and scan, and the SCX-4521F can also transmit fax messages. Both models are designed to be compact, making them ideal for professional small and mid-sized workgroups, according to Samsung.

To increase work efficiency, Samsung adds the "Favorite Copy" button, which lets you to select the preset copying mode most often used. The SCX-4521F series also boasts enhanced copy functions such as "ID Copy" (double sides), Clone Copy, and Auto Fit.

Featuring Samsung's unique "Push & Save" technology, SCX-4321 and SCX-4521F provide the exceptional low maintenance cost, another attraction for small and mid-sized companies. Samsung's proprietary one-touch Toner Save button enables reduced toner consumption by up to 25% at the touch of a button.

The SCX-4521F series can print and copy up to 20 pages per minute (A4) while retaining superb image quality. In addition, the series is ready to send faxes via its build-in 33.6 Kbps modem. A 150-sheet cassette and 16MB memory are standard. By using SmarThru4 software, which bundles software for Samsung Multifunction Products, you can send a FAX document directly from your PC and use OCR function, as well.

Alienware presents mid-tower cases

Alienware presents us new Intel-based Area-51 3500 systems and AMD-based Aurora 3500 systems with sleek mid-tower cases. The company equipped the cases with acoustic dampening features to eliminate annoying noises and also incorporated convenient front-accessible microphone, headphones, FireWire and USB ports. Another feature is the large front grill that allows extra airflow.

Developed from the ground up through customer inspired innovations, Alienware now empowers the user to choose between the new mid-tower chassis and the well-known, unique full-tower chassis. Available immediately on the Area-51 3500 and Aurora 3500, the mid-tower chassis will also soon be available on Alienware's powerful gaming systems, including the Area-51 4500, 5500, and 7500, as well as the Aurora 5500 and 7500.

Featuring several advancements designed to enhance system performance and stability, the Alienware mid-tower chassis includes a locking door that folds neatly to the side to ensure the protection of vital information stored through drives and ports. With numerous front-accessible ports, users can easily connect a microphone, headphones, or peripherals that utilize FireWire and USB ports. The new case also comes equipped with cutting-edge acoustic dampening to significantly diminish system noise, and is designed to help prevent overly hot system temperatures with an enhanced ventilation design.

Mozilla updates Firefox and Thunderbird to 1.0.6

Last week Mozilla released Firefox 1.0.5 and Thunderbird 1.0.5 but these versions quite messed up compatbility for extensions and web applications so today they deliver version 1.0.6 of Firefox and Thunderbird.

Download is available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.

You can get Firefox here and Thunderbird here.

Yesterday, Asa from Mozilla claimed Microsoft's Internet Explorer 7 will fuel new Firefox growth as the company won't release IE7 for Windows 2000 and older. He believes businesses will likely switch to Firefox instead of buying Windows XP. The first beta versions of Internet Explorer 7 should arrive soon.

HP lays off 14,500 people

Corporations are seldom nice and today there's another splendid example of this as HP announced new plans to save $1.9 billion annually. They also say the new plan will drive growth and increase business performance. Over the next six quarters the company will lay off almost 10 percent, or 14,500 employees from its regular full-time staff.

Starting in 2007 the company hopes the save $1.6 billion in labor costs and $300 million in benefits savings. For next year the company expects savings of $0.9 billion to $1.05 billion. The majority of the workforce reductions will come in support functions, such as information technology, human resources and finance.

The company will invest about half of the savings to offset market forces or reinvest in itself to strengthen HP's competitiveness. More details regarding HP's plans can be found here. Some time ago HP published its Q2 2005 financial results. They posted a record second quarter revenue of $21.6 billion and a GAAP operating profit of $1.2 billion.