If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Apple iPhone, move over. At least, that’s the hope of Google and Research in Motion as they ready the first serious competitors to the iPhone, in the "mobile 2.0" market that Apple invented.
Later this month, the first Google Android OS-based phone, HTC’s G1, will come on the market through the carrier T-Mobile. And in November, RIM’s first BlackBerry that supports real Web pages is scheduled to debut. While there have been many pathetic iPhone imitations to date, these two devices look to be the real deal, with hardware, software, and OS capabilities able to compete with Apple’s carefully constructed, elegant platform.

View: The full story @ InfoWorld

Microsoft today announced the availability of Silverlight 2.

Silverlight is a cross-browser, cross-platform, and cross-device plug-in to rival Adobe’s Flash. It allows for developers to build interactive applications for the Web.
Microsoft also announced further support of open source communities by funding advanced Silverlight development capabilities with the Eclipse Foundation’s integrated development environment (IDE) and by providing new controls to developers with the Silverlight Control Pack (SCP) under the Microsoft Permissive License.
“We launched Silverlight just over a year ago, and already one in four consumers worldwide has access to a computer with Silverlight already installed,” said Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president of the .NET Developer Division at Microsoft.
Silverlight 2 features include:

• Support for Mac, Windows and Linux in Firefox, Safari and Windows Internet Explorer
• Improved server scalability and expanded advertiser support
• Advanced content protection
• Deep zoom, for zooming and navigation of ultrahigh resolution imagery
• Advanced skinning and templating support

Silverlight 2 will be available to download tomorrow at http://www.microsoft.com/silverlight

View: Microsoft Silverlight

With a certain other console preparing a large fall update, Sony has decided to release information regarding upcoming firmware updates for both their Playstation 3 and PSP gaming platforms.

Firmware 2.50 for the PS3 will bring about a few new features, including some bluetooth enhancements. The user will now have on-screen access to information such as the volume, battery level, and mute status of their official Sony Bluetooth Headset. In addition, if using the official headset, users will now have access to a "High Quality" mode which will take advantage of the dual microphone design of the headset to improve communication quality. Along with the bluetooth enhancements, the PS3 update will also include support for in-game screenshots (future titles supporting this feature to be announced at a later date), improvements to the Trophy interface aimed at making it more intuitive, thumbnail based scene searching for videos, direct links from the Information Board to the Playstation store, and a power save feature which will power off the console or controllers after a selected period of inactivity.

On the portable side of things, firmware 5.00 for the PSP will bring about direct access to the Playstation Store, thus removing the need to first connect to a PC or PS3 console. Users will be able to download game content, demos, videos and anything else in the store over any available Wi-Fi connection. In addition to the store access, firmware 5.00 will include a full on-screen QWERTY keyboard for web browsing, replacing the mobile phone style pad used now, a sleep timer to be used during music playback, and the ability for compatible PSP’s (meaning not the PSP-1000) to output classic Playstation format titles at the full screen size of the connected TV.

Both updates are slated to be released on October 15th.

During its Notebook event at Apple’s Town Hall today, Apple refreshed its entire notebook line, utilizing glass and aluminum on their redesigned models. The new MacBook and MacBook Pro begin shipping today, and will utilize updated processors, GPU’s, and RAM. In addition, Apple has updated the MacBook Air with a new GPU and a bigger hard drive.

Along with these updates, Apple has announced a new LED backlit cinema display, with a similar aluminum and glass design.

The new laptops have a new kind of trackpad, discarding the button and instead making the whole trackpad a clickable button. The trackpad is also multi-touch, and made completely of glass for smoother tracking.

The GPU utilized in the new notebooks - the nVidia GeForce 9400M and 9600M GT for the MacBook and MacBook Pro respectively - is one of the newest offerings from nVidia. Apple is the first to bring these cards to market, and are promising up to 5x the performance of the previous Intel chipset offered in earlier MacBooks.

Along with the new features and hardware, Apple will now manufacture the laptops in a new way which they say will reduce waste and result in a more durable laptop. The new process involves taking a block of aluminum and carving out the new case. The process is more precise, resulting in a thinner and more durable build.

The new MacBook starts at $1,299 USD, while the MacBook Pro is selling for $1,999 USD and up. Apple is still selling the white, plastic MacBook for $999, and the 17 inch MacBook Pro maintains the classic MacBook Pro design.

Microsoft has confirmed that Windows 7 will be the final name for the next generation operating system.
In a blog, Mike Nash, Corporate Vice President, Windows Product Management confirmed the news.
"Since we began development of the next version of the Windows client operating system we have been referring to it by a codename, "Windows 7." But now is a good time to announce that we’ve decided to officially call the next version of Windows, "Windows 7" Nash said.
This is the first time a Windows OS has been named by its codename. The decision was made for simplicity. Nash added "this is the seventh release of Windows, so therefore "Windows 7" just makes sense."
Microsoft is set to reveal a lot more about Windows 7 at its professional developers conference which starts on the 27th October.

View: Mike Nash Windows 7 Blog Post