Dell Introduces Ultraslim Adamo Laptop

Dell Inc, the world's second-largest maker of personal computers, introduced a 10-inch netbook which could be a possible competitor to Apple Inc's MacBook Air.

The new black laptop is called "Adamo," which means to fall in love with. The laptop has an ultraslim design that makes it easy to hold.

Dell said it would begin shipping Adamo in the first half of 2009 but declined to give any pricing info. According to Michael Tatelman, vice president of global consumer sales and marketing at Dell, “it won't be just a laptop, but a whole new brand name of luxury products”.

"There's things and products that you like, and there's things and products that you love. Adamo ... will be the new luxury franchise in the Dell brand lineup," said Tatelman.

The company did not reveal more specifications of the laptop, other than saying Adamo represented the best of Dell's craftsmanship, performance and design. More product details will be revealed at a later date and the product will ship this quarter.

Dell has also announced the Mini 10 netbook, which will include a 10-inch screen and a full-sized keyboard. It will also have some unique mobile features like GPS capabilities and a built-in TV tuner, which will allow users to watch broadcast TV on the go. The tuner supports certain standards in the U.S., Western Europe, Japan and China.

The netbook will be based on Intel's Atom Z-series processor and is scheduled for release in the next few months. Pricing information was not immediately available. Dell already offers Mini notebooks with 9-inch and 12-inch screens.

Sony announces Cyber-shot DSC-G3 : An Answer to iPhone and iPod Touch

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T700 was released last year and it was the first digital camera to offer an on-board 4GB flash drive. Now the company has announced Sony Cyber-shot DSC-G3 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The company has augmented the T700's integrated storage and basic specs with Wi-Fi capabilities and one-click access to photo-sharing sites.

Like the DSC-T700, the 10.1-megapixel with 4X-optical-zoom, Cyber-shot DSC-G3 will have a high-resolution touch screen that measures 3.5 inches diagonally, as well as 4GB of flash storage in addition to a Memory Stick slot. But the G3 also adds some new tricks to the mix, namely 802.11g Wi-Fi connectivity and integrated, one-click uploads to sharing sites such as Dailymotion, Picasa, Shutterfly and Youtube. Sony says that other photo and video-sharing sites are accessible via the G3's Web browser, and the company is open to create more one-click-upload partnerships in the future.

In addition to the mobile-upload capabilities, the G3 will have in-camera editing features that make the most of its huge LCD touch screen and 4GB flash storage, such as the ability to add your own digital tunes to the camera to create slide shows accompanied by music.

With a nice megapixel count, a slick and slim frame, a huge touch screen, Wi-Fi connectivity, and multimedia-playback capabilities, the DSC-G3 looks like an interesting rival to the iPod Touch and iPhone.

The device Cyber-shot DSC-G3 has been priced at $500.

Sony to launch lightest Notebook PC

Sony Corp has planned to launch the world's lightest 8-inch Notebook PC.

The new Sony Vaio PC will come with Microsoft Corp's Windows Vista operating system, supporting all the software programs found in full-sized notebooks, and sell for about $900, setting itself apart from Netbooks.

Pioneered by Taiwan's Asustek in 2007 and one of the rare bright spots in the electronics industry, Netbooks are generally described as low cost, mini-laptops optimized for Internet use, and sell typically for $300 to $400.

According to Sony the new notebook weighs around 1.4 pounds. It is as thin as a mobile phone, will be available at major retailers in the United States beginning February.

Satyam Scandal - Biggest Corporate Fraud of India

Satyam Computer Services, the country's fourth-largest software company, had served more than a third of the Fortune 500 companies in the past. There is plenty of humiliation to go around now that Satyam Computer Services has admitted to a huge fraud.

The Satyam fraud has been unraveling for some time now. First the World Bank denied to do business with the company as Satyam had stolen data and bribed bank officials. Then in December, Satyam’s investors revolted after the company proposed buying two firms with ties to Mr. Raju’s sons. Also several directors quit, and the founders suffered margin calls that forced them to sell stock.

The chairman, B. Ramalinga Raju, resigned on Wednesday (6th of January 2009) after revealing that he had systematically falsified accounts as the company expanded from a small firm to a large MNC.

Mr. Raju said that 50.4 billion rupees of the 53.6 billion rupees in cash and bank loans the company listed as assets for its second quarter were nonexistent. Revenue for the quarter was 20 percent lower than the 27 billion rupees and the company’s operating margin was a fraction of what was declared.

Mr. Raju said he sincerely apologized to shareholders and employees and asked them to stand by the company. “I am now prepared to subject myself to the laws of the land and face consequences thereof”, he said.

In the four-and-a-half page letter distributed by the Bombay stock exchange, Mr. Raju described a small discrepancy that grew beyond his control.

“What started as a marginal gap between actual operating profit and the one reflected in the books of accounts continued to grow over the years. It has attained unmanageable proportions as the size of company operations grew,” he wrote.

News of the scandal quickly sent jitters through the Indian stock market, and the benchmark Sensex index fell more than 5 percent. Shares in Satyam fell more than 70 percent.

Satyam trading in the New York Stock Exchange has been suspended indefinitely. The India Stock Exchange has also taken Satyam out of its Nifty Fifty stock index.

Satyam serves as the back office for some of the largest banks, manufacturers, health care and media companies in the world. Clients included General Electric, General Motors, Nestlé and the United States government. The revelations could cause a major shake-up in India’s enormous outsourcing industry and may force many large companies to investigate and perhaps revamp their back offices. It also spreads doubts over accounting standards in India as a whole.

The FIFA (Soccer) World Cups in South Africa in 2010 and 2014 in Brazil may need a new “official IT services provider as Satyam might not be able to meet its commitments.

The London-based World Council on Corporate Governance revoked the “Golden Peacock Global Award for Corporate Governance” it awarded the company in September.

Sony Electronics announces 15 new Camcorders

Sony Electronics seems to be one of the busiest companies at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The company has announced 15 new products in the camcorder category. The big additions in the new line of products include easy-to-use, pocketable camcorder which is YouTube-friendly.

Among the new home-video offerings are the company's first forays into flash-memory camcorders, with five new models that incorporate solid-state drives. Four of the five camcorders capture standard-definition only.

The other top tier products are the high-definition, hard-drive-based XR series, which will replace the AVCHD (Advanced Video Codec High Definition) Handycam SR10, Handycam SR11 and Handycam SR12 models. The SR line will live on, however, with three new standard-definition units.

The $200, MHS-CM1 Webbie HD has a miniature, camcorder-like shape and offers a 5X optical zoom, 5-megapixel stills, a MemoryStick slot, a 2.5-inch LCD screen, and Sony's Picture Motion Browser software embedded in the camcorder for clip management and easy uploads.

The $170, slightly more compact MHS-PM1 Webbie HD is "about the size of a BlackBerry. It offers a swiveling lens, captures 5-megapixel stills, and has Picture Motion Browser and a MemoryStick slot.

Both Webbie HD camcorders record high-definition MPEG-4 (H.264) video, and are available in silver, orange, and the goes-with-anything eggplant.

At $ 1500, Sony Handycam HDR-XR520V, packs a whopping 240GB hard drive, which the company says translates to 92 hours of footage captured at the lowest setting (7 mbps). The XR520V, as well as the other new camcorders in the XR series, maxes out at a 16-mbps bit rate for HD footage. The XR520V also has Sony's new back-illuminated Exmor-R CMOS sensor, which offers better low-light footage, as well as a built-in GPS receiver that geotags photos and video and automatically updates the camcorder's clock based on the time zone. The XR520V captures 1920-by-1080 high-definition video and 12-megapixel stills.

The Handycam HDR-XR500V (priced at $1300) has the same specs as the XR520V but holds a 120GB hard drive that stores 46 hours of footage at the lowest bit rate. The XR500V and the XR520V are Sony's first consumer camcorders to use the six-blade-aperture G Lens found on the company's professional HDR-FX1000 camcorder, which reduces light refraction and captures background lights with more clarity.

The new hard-drive-based XR series are two other models. The HDR-XR200V (priced $1000) is a 120GB camcorder that has a 15X optical Carl Zeiss zoom lens, captures 1920-by-1080 HD video, shoots 4-megapixel stills, sports built-in GPS, and offers Smile Shutter and face detection.
The HDR-XR100 (priced at $750) provides an 80GB hard drive, a 10X optical Carl Zeiss zoom lens, 1920-by-1080 HD video, 4-megapixel stills, and Smile Shutter and face detection, but no built-in GPS.

All of the new XR camcorders also offer Sony's Optical Steady Shot stabilization, which the company says has a much wider ranger of lens shift to compensate for shaky hands. According to Sony, the new Optical Steady Shot system has ten times more correction angle than its current Handycams do.

The only flash-based high definition camcorder is the 8GB Sony Handycam HDR-CX100, which captures more than 3 hours of 1920-by-1080 HD video, shoots 4-megapixel stills, and offers ‘point and shoot camera’ style features such as Smile Shutter and face recognition. The CX100, also has a 10X optical Carl Zeiss zoom lens.

On the standard-definition horizon are the Sony Handycam DCR-SX60 (16GB flash drive, $400), DCR-SX41 (8GB flash drive, $330), and DCR-SX40 (4GB flash drive, $300), all of which have an impressive 60X optical Carl Zeiss zoom lens.

In addition, there are three new SX-series cameras which offer expandable storage by way of a Memory Stick slot, as well as a 2.7-inch touch-screen LCD.

The DCR-SX60 holds up to 10 hours of standard-definition video in LP mode, the DCR-SX41 holds up to 5 hours, and the DCR-SX40 holds up to 2.5 hours. However, while the DCR-SX60 offers Super SteadyShot optical image stabilization, the DCR-SX41 and DCR-SX40 do not--something to think about, given the whopping 60X optical-zoom range.

Also in the arsenal of Sony is a flash-storage camcorder, Handycam DCR-DVD850 (priced at $430), a standard-definition "hybrid" camcorder that records to three different storage media: mini-DVD, Memory Stick, and a 16GB flash drive, which stores about 10 hours of video in LP mode. The DCR-DVD850 also features a 60X optical Carl Zeiss zoom lens, plus Super SteadyShot optical stabilization and a 2.7-inch-diagonal touch-screen LCD.

Asus Unveils Eee PC T91 Netbook With Touchscreen

Asus is one of those companies that always manage to come up with new ideas. So there is no surprise that the trailblazing PC maker is once again, showing off a number of new laptops at CES. Among them are an ultraportable that runs like a race car (Lamborghini VX5), a tablet PC (Eee PC T91), and an even slimmer, sleeker netbook.

Asus has unveiled its latest Eee PC T91 netbook, with an 8.9-inch touchscreen that swivels and can even fold down to convert the device into a tablet PC.

The new touchscreen Eee PC, the T91, boasts an 8.9-inch touchscreen that swivels. Think of it as a touch-screen variant of the 8.9-inch, 901-series models that broke out on the scene in 2008. This hybrid netbook operates the same way as full-blown convertible laptops do, offering a screen capable of rotating 180 degrees. The T91 will offer built-in GPS functionality, a TV tuner, and an FM transmitter. It has the potential to be one well-rounded, affordable, portable entertainer.

The company developed its own touch mode software at research and development centers in Taiwan and China.

The T91 also comes with a TV tuner so people can watch their favorite shows on the road, and GPS (global positioning system) technology to transform the netbook into a navigation device.

Netbooks are miniaturized notebooks about two-thirds the size of a normal laptop that have become popular for mobile computing and Internet use. The devices are designed with less powerful chips and other components so they're more battery efficient, cost less and usually weigh just a few kilograms.

It is expected that Eee PC T91 will be available in the market in the next three months, while the pricing information is not yet revealed.

Google releases Picasa for Mac software

Google has released a public beta of its Picasa for Mac desktop software. Users can organize, edit and upload photos. The software, which runs on Intel Macs with OS X 10.4 or later. This is first time when Picasa has been offered for the Mac.

The free Picasa software is designed to help you organize your photos, regardless of where they reside on your computer. It imports photos from iPhoto library and other folders on your Mac, including external hard drives.

It also includes many editing tools, such as those for straightening, text generation, create collages, and removing red eye, as well as Photoshop-like effects and adjustments.

According to Jason Cook, product marketing manager for Picasa, it is an effort so that people can make their photos look better.

Picasa for Mac integrates with Google's Picasa Web Albums online photo-sharing service, which Mac users have had access to previously using Google's iPhoto plug-in or the standalone uploader application. Using Picasa, one can keep local and online photos in sync and share photos easily with those in a Gmail address book.

Picasa includes many other features too. For example, a slideshow movie maker with one-click YouTube uploading.

LG Electronics to introduce Broadband HDTV with Netflix

LG Electronics has announced the first TVs with built-in Netflix video streaming to market a broadband-enabled high-definition TV to build a bridge between the Internet and the television set.

LG and Netflix have said that the plasma and liquid-crystal display (LCD) Broadband HDTVs will be on display at the Consumer Electronics Show.

The LG HDTV sets are broadband-enabled and contain Netflix streaming software.

The LG HDTV will not allow users to surf the Internet through their TV set but it does away with the need for a set-top box, video-game console or other device to access shows online from Netflix.

The new models from LG, including both LCD and plasma, have an Ethernet connection, do not require an external device, and allow Netflix members to watch streaming movies.

Netflix has more than eight million subscribers. It started out by delivering DVDs of movies in the mail and now has moved increasingly to streaming content directly over the Web to televisions or PCs.

Netflix offers more than 100,000 movies via mailed DVDs and a growing collection of more than 12,000 titles are available for instant streaming.

The new LG HDTVs will use a broadband connection and Queue-based user interface to stream content.

Viewers can use the TV remote control to make their selections and can fast-forward and rewind the video.

Nothing has been revealed about the cost of the new Broadband HDTV.

Lenovo brings IdeaCentre A600 with Wii functionality

Lenovo has announced an all-in-one PC with a remote control that doubles as a motion-based gaming controller.

The all-in-one IdeaCentre A600 combines a monitor and CPU in a thin system. It will be on display at the Consumer Electronics Show from January 8 to 11 in Las Vegas.

Its wireless remote control is similar to that of Nintendo Wii, which allows users to interact with a video game by waving or pointing the game controller. Using motion-sensing technology, the Wii Remote becomes a racket when swinging during a tennis game, or a weapon when playing a fighting game.

The company is bundling some motion-based games with the PC to use with the remote-based gaming controller.

Lenovo is trying to capitalize on the trend of entertainment options merging into the PC. Few are able to play motion-based games, which could make this motion-based game controller a pioneer.

In addition to controlling TV functions and video recordings on the PC, the remote control can also be used as an air mouse that moves the mouse pointer when waved. It has some advantages over a conventional mouse - it can function without being on a surface and be used at a distance.

If the air mouse wasn't enough, the remote also works as a VOIP (voice over Internet protocol) handset. If you have telephony software on your PC like Windows Live or Skype, you can use your remote to make those phone calls because it essentially can act as a phone.

The desktop has a 21.5-inch screen that supports 1920 X 1280-pixel resolution for high-definition video playback. It runs on Intel Pentium Dual Core or Core 2 Duo mobile processors, supports up to 4GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage. It includes Wi-Fi wireless networking and runs on the Windows Vista OS.

Options include the remote control, Blu-ray DVD player, a TV tuner and a Advanced Micro Devices' ATI graphics card.

The desktop is part of a new portfolio of entertainment PCs that Lenovo plans to show at CES.
The company is also rolling out a new laptop line, the IdeaPad Y series, which is targeted at mainstream users looking to create and view multimedia content. Lenovo has added features that can make watching movies an easier and enjoyable experience.

The IdeaPad Y series laptops come with screens ranging from 14 to 16 inches, run on Intel Core 2 Duo processors and include Windows Vista. The weight of the laptops ranges from 4.6 pounds to 6 pounds.

The IdeaCentre A600 starts at a price of 999USD. The desktop will be available worldwide by the beginning of March.

7mm Thick LCD TV from Samsung at Consumer Electronics Show

Samsung Electronics is going to unveil a flat-panel TV which is just 6.5 millimeters thick. The company will unveil the product at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The TV set is between 6.5mm and 7mm across its width and has an LED backlight.

The backlight sits behind the LCD panel and generates the light that shines through it to allow the image to be seen. Most LCD panels use thicker backlights that make use of fluorescent lights but LEDs are fast finding favor with TV makers for their thinness and better overall light.

If the demonstrations are to be believed then he Samsung TV stands to be the thinnest LCD TV at present.

Until now that record was held by Philips, which unveiled an 8mm prototype LCD television at the IFA electronics show in Berlin last year. At the same event Sony took the wraps off a 9.9mm set that has already gone on sale and fortunately that happens to be the thinnest LCD TV available in retail stores.

Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas begins on Thursday. Samsung has scheduled a news conference at which the TV set is expected to be first shown.

Even thinner TVs based on a newer screen technology called OLED (organic light emitting diode) are also expected to be on show at CES. Sony used last year's CES to launch the first commercial OLED TV into the U.S. market and no manufacturer has yet to follow-up the 11-inch XEL-1 with a competitor.

Get ready for Bluetooth wireless Web cam

Here comes the Bluetooth wireless Web cam. Ecamm Network has introduced BT-1 Bluetooth wireless Web cam. According to Ecamm Network, it is the world's first such device. BT-1 is Mac compatible and will cost $149.99. The device is expected to ship in March.

According to Ecamm, the BT-1 streams H.264-encoded video at 640-by-480-pixel resolution, and AAC-encoded audio at 48 kHz. It measures 2 inches by 2 1/2 inches by 5/8 inches, and sports a standard tripod mount. The device works with iChat, Skype, and other applications.

The BT-1 includes a flexible mini-tripod through which one can adjust camera position, pan, and tilt, along with a USB cable for recharging its battery.

The Web cam requires OS X 10.5 Leopard or later and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR or better.

Ecamm plans to show the Web cam at Macworld Expo in San Francisco next week.

LG Electronics alliances with YouTube and CinemaNow

LG Electronics has announced new alliances for its Network Blu-ray Disc Players. The company is now adding CinemaNow and YouTube to its lineup.

Netflix was LG's first partner on the instant-streaming front. In fact, LG was the first manufacturer to stream movies instantly from Netflix on a Network Blu-ray Disc Player. By adding CinemaNow's library of TV shows and videos - and YouTube's viral video community, LG is trying to boost the sale of its new Blu-ray products at Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

According to Tim Alessi, LG's director of product development, millions of U.S. consumers view and download movies or TV shows through the Internet, and they are demanding easier ways to access content and more home-entertainment options.

From Blu-ray to instant streaming, from Netflix to CinemaNow and YouTube, LG is bridging the gap between packaged media and video-on-demand services to provide entertainment solutions for consumers' demand for content.