Nvidia GeForce 9800GX2 at CeBit 08

At CeBit 08, Nvidia has launched its GeForce 9800GX2 dual-GPU card; supposedly the one card to beat them all...

The GeForce 9800GX2 is powered by the 8800GT's G92 graphics chips with 256 stream processors in all, and comes with 1GB of GDDR3 onboard memory. The card sports two DVI output ports, and also has a HDMI interface. With two cards working as one, the 9800GX2 already runs in SLI mode without any special hardware and after a previous attempt at Quad SLI (that failed), we're sure Nvidia is leaving no stone unturned to get this one up and running.

And while the Nvidia 9800GX2 might be claimed to be the most powerful of them all, we'd rather reserve our comments for our Reviews team to check it out for themselves.

HP Pavilion dv2800t Artist Edition

Hewlett Packard (HP) has unveiled its new Pavilion dv2800t Artist Edition notebook series. HP claims the name of the series has got much to do with the fact that it's a new design created by young people, for young people.

The first of its kind, the Pavilion dv2800t sports a 14.1-inches wide-screen, and is fitted with the latest Intel Centrino Core 2 Duo Penryn 45nm processor. Hewlett Packard (HP) has unveiled its new Pavilion dv2800t Artist Edition notebook series. HP claims the name of the series has got much to do with the fact that it's a new design created by young people, for young people.

The first of its kind, the Pavilion dv2800t sports a 14.1-inches wide-screen, and is fitted with the latest Intel Centrino Core 2 Duo Penryn 45nm processor.Source

Gigabyte Unveils UMPC at CeBit 08

At CeBit 08, Gigabyte has unveiled its new "M700" ultra-mobile PC (UMPC).

The "M700" UMPC is powered by a 1.2MHz C7-M Via CPU (central processing unit), and will run Windows Vista Home Premium, among other featues. It is fitted with 2GB RAM (most of which will be occupied by Vista we guess), 7-inches touch-screen with 1024 x 600 pixels resolution, and hard disk capacity of 40GB or 60GB as required. The UMPC gives the regular QWERTY keyboard a miss.

All of around 1.43 pounds, the UMPC comes with dual Web cams to communicate with friends; GPS; plus a WiMAX-capable ExpressCard.

No details yet on pricing and availability.Source

Its Official : iPhone SDK Out

As the world impatiently waits for Apple's iphone to become like any other mobile out there that can easily be used and thoroughly customized with free applications for business and play, Apple is slowly but surely heading in that direction thankfully. It’s already a known fact that there are plenty of developers out there that have been coming up with iPhone applications on a weekly (if not sooner) basis to help us, as users, achieve the absolution of finally having a totally open iPhone. No strings attached, no more jailbreaking and what not.Hopefully the day will come when one can simply walk into an Apple or any other store pick up an iPhone and walkout without having to pay anyone extra for making it compatible with your service provider. Just pay over the counter, put in your SIM card and you’re good to go. You won't have to worry about the firmware upgrading or downgrading etc. and most importantly the device Bricking in case you happen to install some third party software. The iPhone may one day be just like a Sony Ericsson or Nokia or Samsung handset. Version 1.1.3 already saw some exciting changes to the iPhone so there's a lot yet to be expected.Apple has recently previewed its iPhone 2.0 software, scheduled for release this June, and announced the immediate availability of a beta release of the software to select developers and enterprise customers. The iPhone 2.0 beta release includes both the iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK), the previous one was actually leaked, as well as new enterprise features such as support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and the addition of Cisco IPsec VPN for encrypted access to private corporate networks. "We’re excited about creating a vibrant third party developer community with potentially thousands of native applications for iPhone and iPod touch,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. The iPhone SDK provides developers with a rich set of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and tools to create applications for iPhone and ipod touch. Starting today, anyone can download the beta iPhone SDK for free and run the iPhone Simulator on their Mac. As we’ve talked about before (link) the SDK will enable developers to come up with their own applications for various purposes to run on the iPhone's MAC OS. With the kind of technology that the iPhone already incorporates like its Multi-Touch user interface, built-in three-axis accelerometer and of course it’s rather large space capacity (now up to 16GB) it may not be too long before developers will make most of our initial expectations from the iPhone a reality. Apple has licensed Exchange ActiveSync from Microsoft and is building it right into the iPhone, so that iPhone will connect out-of-the-box to Microsoft Exchange Servers 2003 and 2007 for secure over-the-air push email, contacts, calendars and global address lists. Built-in Exchange ActiveSync support also enables security features such as remote wipe, password policies and auto-discovery. The addition of WPA2 Enterprise with 802.1x authentication enables enterprise customers to deploy iPhone and iPod touch with the latest standards for protection of Wi-Fi networks.Source

Samsung, Adidas Announce the F110 MiCoach

Samsung has partnered with Adidas to give you the Samsung F110, or the Adidas miCoach. Fully equipped with a music player with stereo FM radio, 1GB of storage space, this phone comes with quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support. What's special about this one though?The miCoach system is a web-based analysis tool that can help you with your sport needs. It comes equipped with a heart rate monitor, which makes use of a belt that measures your heart beat off your chest. The phone also has a stride sensor that needs to be clipped on to the shoe laces. Now with these features, plus the accelerometer and the pedometer, the phone gives you a real-time voice-coaching during workouts. The phone can also read out your current stats like time, calories, heart rate etc.It comes with a 2MP camera, and an armband that lets you attach the phone to your arm. To activate the voice-coaching, you need only to tap the miCoach phone twice.The phone is likely to be launched in two packages, fully loaded and only essentials. It's expected by mid-march 2008.Source

First 3rd Party Game for the iPhone.....!!!!!

With the announcement of iPhone SDK, there's every sign of a promising future for Apple. As it turns out, Electronic Arts (EA) announced "the first 3rd party game for the iPhone". Spore, an already famous arcade game, will now be available for the iPhone.However, it will not be until September that anyone will get to see a glimpse. With this EA also confirmed other games under development, making use of the new iPhone SDK. According to sources from EA, they are thrilled to make use of the iPhone interface, and the result may be a decision to extend these games to other Apple products.Source

BlackBerry Blackout By Indian Govt....!!!!!!

CNBC-TV18's Sandeep Gurumurthi reports that Tata Teleservices' application to offer BlackBerry Services in India has been rejected after the Department of Telecom (DoT) forwarded the request to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).Anil Sardana, Managing Director of TTSL, told reporters in New Delhi this morning that they were told by the MHA that the BlackBerry service does not allow for "lawful interception" mandated for all Value Added Services (VAS).Sources tell CNBC-TV18 that when Tata Tele asked DoT why other operators were being allowed, the DoT fired off letters to existing BlackBerry providers seeking an explanation. Sources also say that two rounds of discussion have happened between these operators and the MHA. A final call is expected to be taken in a meeting with the Telecom Secretary next week.A spokesperson from RIM – the company that offers the BlackBerry service – said: "RIM supports its carrier partners in India and we will work together with them to seek further clarity."Security experts we spoke to were sceptical of the claim, saying that in June last year the French government had advised officials not to use Blackberry Services for precisely the opposite reasons. At that time, officals at RIM claimed that even they did not have access to the data on their servers (a questionable claim in itself), an explanation that could have them in a spot when they meet with Indian authorities.Of course, we at Tech2.com are also sceptical about the national security bogey being brought up on every occasion. Indeed, the last thing the increasingly tech-savvy terrorist is likely to use is a BlackBerry. After all, he will either have to use corporate email or operator-provided mail (@blackberry.airtel.in, for example) both of which are easily traceable – it's not like RIM is a company that's going to disappear overnight.Source

Rock Band to Rock in India this Year?

At the ongoing EA Rocks Singapore event in Singapore city (duh!) we had a chance to sit down and talk to Chris Thompson, VP and GM of EA Southeast Asia, who amidst tons of beverages and uber-hot women told us that EA plans to release Rock Band in India this year-end.

Now, this news is to be taken with a pinch of salt, since importing the entire kit to India and pricing it right seem to be the two main hurdles they face as of now. We'll try and pry some more information from them – but keep praying till then because the game f***g rocks (pun intended).Source