Viewsonic Viewbook Ultra Portable Notebooks

Viewsonic, well known for making monitors, has launched a new range of ultra portable notebooks, the Viewsonic Viewbook range.

There are three models in the range, a 12inch Viewbook VB120, a 13.3 inch Vb130 and a 14 inch VB140 Pro, all of the models in the range feature a display resolution of 1366 x 768, and come with a 6 cell battery that will give up to 8 hours of usage.

The Viewsonic Viewbook VB120 comes with a 1.3 GHz Intel Celeron processor, whilst the VB130 comes with the choice of either a 1.3GHz Intel Celeron processor, a 1.3GHz Dual Core Intel Pentium processor or a 1.3GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor.

The View book VB140 comes with a 1.3GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, all models come with Windows 7 Home Premium.

Prices start at just $599 for the Viewbook VB120, $699 for the VB130, and $949 for the VB140.

Netbook News via TFTS

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Canon Easy Photo-Print iPhone App

Posted 17 Oct. 2009 8:30 AM in iPhone, iPhone Apps by Roland Hutchinson

Canon is the latest company to launch a free iPhone application that will let users print directly from their iPhone to Canon PIXMA wireless printer over WiFi, the Canon Easy Photo-Print iPhone App.

The Canon Easy Photo-Print iPhone App can print on a range of different paper sizes and typed, and it will even let you print multiple photos at once, it also has the ability to print multiple copies of individual photos up to a maximum of 20.

Canon continues to make the printing experience as seamless and easy as possible with the addition of new technologies such as the Canon Easy-Photo Print Application,” said Yuichi Ishizuka, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Consumer Imaging Group, Canon U.S.A. “This new technology enables users to print multiple images at one time while selecting varying sizes and paper types, making it easier than ever for consumers to print the images they want from their revolutionary iPhone or iPod touch.

The Canon Easy Photo-Print iPhone App is now available as a free download from iTunes, unfortunately it looks like the application is only available in the US at the moment, there is no word on when it will be released in the UK and Europe.

via TFTS

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Canon Easy Photo-Print iPhone App

Posted 17 Oct. 2009 8:30 AM in iPhone, iPhone Apps by Roland Hutchinson

Canon is the latest company to launch a free iPhone application that will let users print directly from their iPhone to Canon PIXMA wireless printer over WiFi, the Canon Easy Photo-Print iPhone App.

The Canon Easy Photo-Print iPhone App can print on a range of different paper sizes and typed, and it will even let you print multiple photos at once, it also has the ability to print multiple copies of individual photos up to a maximum of 20.

Canon continues to make the printing experience as seamless and easy as possible with the addition of new technologies such as the Canon Easy-Photo Print Application,” said Yuichi Ishizuka, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Consumer Imaging Group, Canon U.S.A. “This new technology enables users to print multiple images at one time while selecting varying sizes and paper types, making it easier than ever for consumers to print the images they want from their revolutionary iPhone or iPod touch.

The Canon Easy Photo-Print iPhone App is now available as a free download from iTunes, unfortunately it looks like the application is only available in the US at the moment, there is no word on when it will be released in the UK and Europe.

via TFTS

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Windows 7 versus Snow Leopard on a MacBook Pro: big cat's faster, 7 is better for games

by Vladislav Savov

CNET have taken the 64-bit versions of Windows 7 and Snow Leopard for a spin around a 2008 MacBook Pro, and produced a decent first peek at comparative performance. Of course, there are significant provisos to get through first -- it's only one machine, running on Apple's drivers, testing mostly Apple applications, and the two systems default to different versions of QuickTime -- but we can still glean some indication of where the two heavyweights are relative to one another. Snow Leopard appeared consistently quicker in time-based tests, with faster bootups, shutdowns and MP3 encoding, but Windows 7 showed its muscle in producing better frame rates in games and a significant advantage in Cinebench rendering. Battery life was found to be distinctly better under Snow Leopard, but we'd put that down to the underlying hardware being optimized for OS X. Hit the read link for the full testing procedures and more of those old school bar charts -- it should get you well prepped for the forthcoming flood of similar head-to-heads once WIndows 7 officially ships next week.

[Via Apple Insider]

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Fujitsu P Series notebooks announced, said to be 'snazzy'

by Joseph L. Flatley

Fujitsu has just announced two "stylish" P Series LifeBooks, and we have our hands on the PR drivel to prove it. This affable pair of machines come in "charming" colors that "endow both notebooks with a premium yet snazzy feel, for standing out effortlessly in a corporate jungle or a social playground setting." To be honest, we're more interested in things like the 11.6-inch (1366 x 768) display, battery life (6.7 hours under normal use, 7.2 hours in power saving mode -- which can be selected by hitting the ECO button), multitouch, the DVD Sharing application for glomming onto optical drives over your LAN, and the fact that they're both a mere 3.5 pounds light and just over an inch thin. The Fujitsu P LifeBook P3110 features a Pentium SU4100 (1.30GHz / 800MHz / 2MB L2 Cache) and is available in Glossy Black, Glossy Silver, and Glossy Ruby Red. The Fujitsu P LifeBook P3010, however, sports an AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 (1.6GHz / 512KB / L2 cache) and is available in Glossy Black and Glossy Ruby Red. No word on a release date, or on a price -- but, to paraphrase Godard, whenever someone mentions "style," we reach for our checkbooks. PR after the break.

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2010 Olympic medals include material from recycled circuit boards

by Donald Melanson

The just-unveiled medals for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver certainly break with a few conventions in terms of appearance, but it looks like they also contain a few surprises that aren't immediately apparent -- namely, they're all made at least partly from recycled circuit boards. Of course, the circuit boards have also been recycled beyond recognition, but each of the medals do apparently sport a one of a kind design, not to mention some considerable heft (weighing between 500 and 576 grams apiece). Sure, it's not enough to make a dent in the e-waste problem, but it's a heckuva way to kick start a trend.

[Via Technabob]

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Appirion's iDriver app lets iPhone control minivan (video)

by Darren Murph

Believe it or not, a device-controlled car isn't exactly fresh. In fact, we've actually seen a PSP control a Civic before Barack Obama was even a glimmer in the media's eye. That said, we're always willing to give credit where it's due, and the iDriver app just might be the most impressive use of Apple's smartphone... well, ever. As the name implies, this here app is able to control a heavily wired vehicle seemingly with ease -- the accelerometer handles the steering, and two soft buttons on the screen handle braking and acceleration. We'd bother explaining more, but we know you've already clicked past the break to see the whole thing demonstrated on video. Right?

[Via Engadget German]

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Switched On: Microsoft's touchy subjects

by Ross Rubin

Ross Rubin (@rossrubin) contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

As CEO of Microsoft, Bill Gates would often talk about his dream of "information at your fingertips." The company he co-founded, though, is now taking literal steps toward that goal. By the end of the month, Microsoft will have released three new devices or platforms that embrace or extend touchscreen support -- but the impact touch will have on each varies significantly by their legacy, usage, and manufacturers.

Windows has long had touchscreen support. Such support, in fact, was the basis of the Tablet Edition of Windows XP, and Tablet PCs were proclaimed to be the future of notebooks. Early iterations were larger and thicker keyboard-lacking slates much like the new Archos 9pctablet. But this was before rampant Web browsing, streaming video, casual games and electronic books -- all of which now provide relevance for a new generation of touchscreen PCs as content-consumption devices.
Combined with the low prices and sleeker form factors of today's netbook and CULV platforms, we'll soon see PC companies rolling out consumer touchscreen PCs both with and without keyboards. Unlike Tablet PCs of old, they'll be finger-friendly, but Windows itself won't look very different despite its support of touch -- very few manufacturers are investing in distinct interfaces that really take advantage of the plumbing.

Like the Windows on the desktop, the history of touch-enabled mobile devices from Microsoft runs deep, with the earliest Windows CE-based PDAs supporting stylus input. Since the advent of the iPhone, though, many Windows Mobile vendors have added finger-friendly user interface layers to their phones, and with Windows Mobile 6.5 Microsoft has brought its own spin across the platform with easier targets for controls and a revamped stepped grid app launcher. This brings Windows Mobile a bit closer to platforms that have embraced touch at their core like Android and webOS.

It's hard to deny Windows Mobile 6.5 represents a refinement of what has essentially been a touch platform from the beginning.

However, the nature of Windows Mobile licensing and the competitive smartphone market means that many Windows phone users will hardly see the results of Microsoft's touch rehash -- HTC, Sony Ericsson, Samsung and others all bring their own user interface layers to their handsets. Indeed, promising handsets such as HTC's HD2 will bring Windows Mobile to a new level of user experience by combining a large, capacitive touchscreen with a fast processor, but the primary interface is HTC's Sense, not Windows Mobile. Regardless, it's hard to deny Windows Mobile 6.5 represents a refinement of what has essentially been a touch platform from the beginning.

Finally, there is the Zune HD, Microsoft's answer to the iPod touch that represents a marked contrast from Apple's most advanced iPod. While both devices use a multitouch screen and employ similar gestures for browsing Web pages and photos, The Zune HD shows Microsoft's thinking about a limited functionality device. As opposed to iPod touch screens filled with icons and button controls, most screens on the Zune are represented by miniature previews of themselves. The result is a richer representation that blurs boundaries of modality at the cost of some screen clutter.

The Zune HD's touch interface is not just an engaging touch interface in its own right, but one of the best examples of how a non-touch user interface can be transformed into a touch-centric one with few compromises. Unfortunately, given Microsoft's low market share and limited distribution, far fewer will experience one of Microsoft's best user interfaces -- most will instead experience the quiet touch overlay of Windows 7 or the largely buried one of Windows Mobile. Zune HD user interface concepts may be seeds that will grow into a major makeover for Windows 7, but there will need to be accommodations to meet the requirements of a wider range of hardware running a wider array of software.

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Acer fulfills prophecy, overtakes Dell as number two PC maker worldwide

by Ross Miller

As if on cue, here's some new data research firm Gartner lending credence to Lanci's boasting. Looks like Acer has leapfrogged over Dell for the number two spot in global market share for the third quarter of 2009, from 12.5 to 15.4 percent of the Big Pie Chart™. Meanwhile Dell is just below at 12.8 percent, and HP is sitting happily atop with a 19.9 percent ownership.

Update: Let us adjust our glasses a bit. According to the charts, Acer is number two in worldwide PC sales, not in US as this previously reported. Stateside, the company is sitting at number three at 13.9 percent, behind HP (25.7 percent) and Dell (26.2 percent). Apologies for the confusion, the person responsible for eyesight has been subsequently sacked, the person responsible for the sacking has been sacked, etc.

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New Adamo XPS image takes a stand

by Ross Miller

Remember that wild hinge we saw on the Adamo XPS at Dell's characteristically all-too-brief showing last week? The company's gone ahead with yet another side pic, this time showing how the hinge pops out. Of course, showing what is actually on both panels would be too much for the company, so we're left only to guess. A display? A keyboard? Some kind of holographic projector? A hot key for making lolcat pictures? Listen Dell, we get it, you like the slow trickle of teasers, but can we just see the whole body now and move on the part where we wait for scraps of info on the specs?

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