mocoloco writes “A week after the rumored date, Dell has begun selling their entry into the netbook/subnotebook/UMPC market, the Inspiron Mini 9. The base system for $349 includes Ubuntu 8.04 “with custom Dell interface”, 512MB RAM, and a 4GB SSD. There are options with XP, one that includes an 8GB drive and a $40 instant savings, another with a 16GB drive and 1GB RAM that has a $55 instant savings. Curiously the Ubuntu systems are a pre-order at this point, to be shipped within 15 days. Also, no Red option yet.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

View source

Nick writes “A few weeks ago a video of a talk given by Adam Savage of the television show MythBusters spread across the internet (including a mention on Slashdot.) On the video, Savage stated that the show was unable to produce an episode about previously known RFID vulnerabilities due to a conference call to Texas Instruments that unexpectedly included several credit card companies’ legal counsel. TI (via a spokesperson talking with cnet.com) stated that only one lawyer was on the call and that the majority of the people on the call were product managers from the Smart Card Alliance (SCA) invited by TI to speak. Then Savage (via a Discovery Communications statement) reaffirmed that he was not on the call himself and that the decision was not made by Discovery or their advertising sales department but rather MythBuster’s production company, Beyond Productions.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

View source

Ned Nederlander writes “Vint Cerf talks the future of the Internet with Ed Cone: ‘I expect to see much more interesting interactions, including the possibility of haptic interactions — touch. Not just touch screens, but the ability to remotely interact with things. Little robots, for example, that are instantiations of you, and are remotely operated, giving you what is called telepresence. It’s a step well beyond the kind of video telepresence we are accustomed to seeing today.’”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

View source

Zonk brings word that Multiverse, the developer who in 2006 acquired the rights to make a Firefly-based MMO, has announced that a Buffy: The Vampire Slayer MMO is now under development. An interview with Corey Bridges from Multiverse seems to indicate that the Firefly MMO, though delayed, is not dead. He also provides a few details on what the Buffy game will be like. Quoting: “What we’re doing with the Buffy game then is releasing it in stages. It will first be a flash-based virtual world, with the full Multiverse server behind it. … So it will start as a 2D flash-based MMO where you can go on missions and interact with other players. This will extend even once we have the 3D client working, where you can both interact with players using the other point of view. We’re going to have these shared spaces where 2D and 3D people can interact. All of this will come out in phases, with staged gameplay coming out. We’re sort of blazing a path with this concept, and we’re really interested in what this might mean for players of the two versions. … I’d love to get [a public beta] out to players by the end of the year.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

View source

schliz writes “Samsung expects Sony’s Blu-ray technology to be superseded within five years, despite winning the high-definition format war in February.” Maybe that means five years from now will be the perfect time to stock up on cheap Blu-ray disks and equipment.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

View source

Death Metal Maniac writes “Dubbed Eva de Naharon, or Eve of Naharon, the female skeleton has been dated at 13,600 years old. If that age is accurate, the skeleton along with three others found in underwater caves along the Caribbean coast of the Yucatán Peninsula could provide new clues to how the Americas were first populated. The skeletons’ skulls hint that the people may not be of northern Asian descent, which would contradict the dominant theory of New World settlement. ‘The shape of the skulls has led us to believe that Eva and the others have more of an affinity with people from South Asia than North Asia,’ González explained.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

View source

alphadogg writes “Sony is recalling 73,000 Vaio TZ laptops because of a possible manufacturing defect that may cause them to overheat, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission said Thursday. The recall relates to a problem with wiring near the computer’s hinge, which could short-circuit and overheat in certain circumstances, perhaps burning the user. One person has suffered a minor burn as a result of the latest defect, and Sony has received 15 other reports of overheating computers, according to the Commission.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

View source

eldavojohn writes “Everyone’s got their favorite theories of Dinosaur extinction, but new speculation is rampant in a book that gives cause to believe it may have been disease-carrying insects. Due to the length of their slow and eventual extinction (the ‘K-T Boundary’), it is argued that this would more likely be attributed to the spread of disease and the rise of parasitic insects like ticks or biting flies. Are our immune systems the only reason any animals survived?”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

View source

When there’s not much left you can shave off the thickness or price of a laptop, what do you do next? Asus, which has already just launched a Bamboo laptop, is now hoping to appeal to your sense of smell. Asus unveiled a new twist this week at the Project 2008 event in Las Vegas with its F6V laptop, complete with a four different scents: floral, grass, ocean and cologne. At least this way if you don’t have time to shower or, you’re sweating out last night’s beer bonanza, one of you will smell OK.And the F6V is not just a concept, with Asus now offering them for pre-order. Other fashion features include glossy LCD covers in pink, blue, green and black and an ergonomic palm rest composed of white carbon fiber for greater durability. Inside, the F6V is powered by Core 2 Duo processors, with 320GB HDD, 4GB of memory and 13.3in screen. There’s also an ATI HD 3470 graphics card, fingerprint authentication reader, HDMI port and a 1.3MP webcam. Prices on the Smellaptops start at around £650 on Amazon.-Martin Lynch laptop fashion asus

View source

Blu-ray may have won the HD war, but it may not be sitting on its throne for long if you believe what director of consumer electronics for Samsung UK Andy Griffiths has to say. While it seems as though 2008 will be Blu-ray’s year with sites like Lovefilm now adding this format to its mix, new formats and technologies are likely to mean that the HD discs, or even the optical disc in general, may well have a limited shelf life. Digital media streaming and downloading is most likely to be the way forwards, with only limited bandwidths preventing us from enjoying live HD content today. TVs sporting technology such as Sony’s Bravia Internet Video Link, which allows you to streaming and watch directly from Amazon’s video on demand service, will be another thorn in Blu-Ray’s side and when you consider that most upscaling DVD players from companies like Toshiba do a decent job of improving content, we wouldn’t be surprised if more savvy consumers decide to wait it out. - Paul Lester [PocketLint] HD Blu-ray media

View source