Celcom Xpax announces BlackBerry Curve 8520

08 September 2009 – Xpax has announced the BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone.

Customers can now pre-register by filling out their details on http://www.xpax.com.my before September 25 but no price was given in the press release.

An acknowledgement email will be sent to customers upon completing the online pre-registration, making them the first customers notified on the availability of the BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone, along with pricing and packages. Early birds who pre-register and purchase their smartphone will enjoy extra savings and receive free BlackBerry accessories.

Dato’ Sri Shazalli Ramly, Chief Executive Officer of Celcom (Malaysia) Berhad said, “In the last few years Xpax has gained tremendously in the youth segment. We see this offering as strategic to win the youth market, by connecting into the social networking and instant messaging culture desired by youths today. By exercising behavioural segmentation to learn more about our customers, paired with Celcom’s reliable high-speed network, we believe that expanding the BlackBerry experience to youths will prove to be beneficial in fulfilling their desire for instant mobile connectivity.”

Microsoft will open stores in Arizona, California

Microsoft plans to open two of its first retail locations in Scottsdale, Ariz., and Mission Viejo, Calif., CNET News has learned.

The software maker confirmed on Tuesday that it has signed leases in both spots as part of an effort to launch its first retail outlets this fall.

"Over a billion people use our products every day yet we don't always have a way to directly connect with them," said Microsoft spokeswoman Kim Stocks. "We see the physical stores, as well as a consistent online experience, helping that."

The Orange County, Calif., store is in a mall that already houses an Apple retail store. Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner said at this month's Worldwide Partner Conference that some of the locations would be right near Apple stores.

The first stores' fall opening comes at an opportune time for Microsoft, which is launching Windows 7 on October 22.

"We're all very excited at Microsoft that we have a huge wave of innovation on the horizon," Stocks said. "The stores are an opportunity absolutely to share with customers those technologies."

Stocks said that Microsoft heard from customers that they wanted a simpler way to buy PCs.

"Our customers have told us three things--they want a more simplified buying option for PCs and devices, great technology, and competitive prices and a knowledgeable staff."

Over time, Microsoft plans to open stores outside the U.S., but the company hasn't said when that will occur. "The goal is to go global," Stocks said. "We are not sharing specific locations beyond the two we are announcing today."

As for products, Stocks said there will be products "in the areas of laptops, mobility gaming, and software." That will include Microsoft software and hardware, of course, as well as brand-name PCs and software from other companies.

On Friday, some of Microsoft's early store plans were leaked onto the Web. In February, Microsoft confirmed it had hired Wal-Mart veteran David Porter to lead up an effort to open up Microsoft-branded retail stores.

Microsoft declined to confirm the details of what will be in the stores--including a rumored "answer bar"--although Stocks did say that the stores would have both sales and support staff.

DIY Cisco Console Cable

Do you have any idea how much a pieces of Original Cisco Console Cable? Does DIY Cisco Console Cable cheaper?

According to the vendor ,the Original Cisco Console Cable worth approximate RM100 above (60USD++). Usually Cisco console cable only come with each Cisco product you bought, but I found that ebay just sold at around 5USD to 10USD exclude shipping fees, while local website sold at RM60 above.

Should be those user who bough a lot Cisco switches and router, and they only use few to configure their Cisco device.

Interview with the Zune source

In May, after months of anticipation and rumors, Microsoft finally confirmed the existence of the Zune HD. The official confirmation was more or less a "let's get this out of the way for E3" move. Microsoft wanted to be sure the Xbox 360 and its Natal controller would be the star of the show.

Like all journalists, I tend to be wary of news tips from people I don't know. Such was the case when I was contacted way back in March by someone claiming to have inside info on upcoming Zune hardware. The tipster told me that the new Zune would be a full touch screen device. I thought this was interesting, so I passed it along on to Twitter much to the delight of my followers.

A few weeks later Engadget published the very first leaked photos of what has come to be known as the Zune HD. The first thing I did after reading the post was to IM my tipster for confirmation that it was indeed real.
His exact words to me were "Yes that is the Zune HD running on Tegra." At this time I had little-to-no idea what Tegra even was. So I dug a little deeper to find out that it was a new "system on a chip" solution from Nvidia that was capable of decoding high definition 720p video and presenting it via HDMI

It was soon after that Neowin partnered with LiveSide.net to bring the first reported specs for the Zune HD, most of which were later confirmed by Microsoft. Just last week, the Zune team confirmed that the ZHD (as I like to call it) would be using Tegra.

So to clear up any lagging questions about the Zune HD , I sat down with my source -- we'll call him "TK" -- to get him to answer a few more questions.

RR: What is your title at Microsoft?
TK: Software Engineer

RR: How long have you worked for Microsoft?
TK: 2 years.

RR: What kind of projects do you work on for Microsoft?
TK: Windows Kernel

RR: Why did you decide to talk about the Zune HD?
TK: Because I love Zune...It's just an all around better product then the iPod & I wanted it do better in the marketplace.

RR: Was it approved by execs higher up, or did you just go ahead without Microsoft approval?
TK: I went ahead without any approval from any of the higher ups.

RR: How did they react when they found out that you were passing info to the Zune community?
TK: I just said yes it is me & went right on giving the Zune community great insider news

RR: So they let you continue sharing news, I guess they liked what you were doing?
TK: There were mixed feelings from quite a few different people.

RR: Who where some of the higher ups that came to you asking Questions?
TK: Well I won't give any names but these people are very powerful

RR: But I guess they decide that the Zune need all the publicity it could get?
TK: Something along those lines.

RR: Do you think the Zune HD will be helped by what you have done?
TK: Yes, I do think so. Because the way I look at it now is that ... at this point that any news, is good news

RR: Do you think Microsoft now sees that giving the community up to date news is a great way to do things?
TK: Yes I do in a way.

RR: Do you think that a company being quiet about a new product is smart... with the Internet these days there are just about no keeping secrets.
TK: Well I think it can hurt or be good for a company; it's really about how high the profile the new product is.

RR: How do you think it will relate for the Zune HD?
TK: Well it is the best Zune Microsoft has ever made, so I think it will be a success in the marketplace.

RR: Do you think Microsoft has finally cracked the MP3 player market, with the ZHD?
TK: Yes I think with the right marketing, the Zune HD has the potential to sell 90% better then previous Zunes

RR: Will it pull people away from the iPod touch ecosystem?
TK: Yes I think that if Microsoft can get the word out, it will.

RR: What are you most looking forward to with the ZHD & Zune 4.0?
TK: Improved battery life, multi-touch and movies.

RR: Ah, so movies are coming to the marketplace at long last?
TK: The Zune team is working hard to get all the licensing agreements in order.

RR: Are they going to try and do it on their own or are they going to use a outside partner?
TK: A lot is in the works when it comes to getting movies on the marketplace but Microsoft is trying to strike a deal with all the big studios

RR: I'm assuming that it would include HD content, Because the HD is going be a awesome portable Video player with it having HDMI out and such.
TK: Yes sir

RR: What are the sizes of The Zune HD?
TK: 16GB and 32GB, Microsoft is considering adding a 64GB Zune later on in the model year

RR: When is Microsoft planning to ship the Zune HD?
TK: Early September

RR: How much is Zune HD projected to cost?
TK: The prices are not set in stone yet, but the 16GB will be somewhere in the range of $249 -$280

RR: You know what I am most excited about, Tegra, how do you feel about it?
TK: I think it's a great idea ... because Tegra brings to the table a lot of new stuff and I think it was a really smart idea on Microsoft's part to do this with the next-generation Zune.

RR: How has the Zune software changed?
TK: The Zune software has evolved to meet the needs of the Zune HD. it is also going to become much more a "center of entertainment" for the whole household. Microsoft also plans to have Zune interact with a variety of other Microsoft services.

RR: Thanks for taking time to chat with us.
TK: Thanks for having me.

Our favorite retail laptops

We've spent the last eight weeks testing and reviewing almost two dozen retail fixed-configuration laptops. Those are the specific models you'll find listed in Sunday newspaper sales circulars and boxed up and ready to go at big brick-and-mortar outlets.

In the entry level category, which refers to laptops under $599, you're going to find systems that are functional, but not particularly exciting. Faster dual-core processors and bigger screens are the main reasons to trade up from a similarly priced Netbook. As long as you keep your expectations modest, an entry level laptop can be good for either cash-strapped students or those with modest computing needs.

The majority have AMD processors, but we found two with Intel Core Duo CPUs (the cheaper cousin of Intel's mainstream Core 2 Duo). Those two Intel laptops were faster than the competition, and of the pair, we preferred the HP G60-235DX for its 16:9 wide-screen display, separate number pad, and better-than-expected battery life.

Stepping up to the budget category, which includes laptops from $600 to $899, we found a wider range of features, screen sizes, and components. The majority of the systems in this category had Intel Core 2 Duo CPUs (the 2.0GHz T6400, to be exact), though there were a pair of AMD-powered laptops that lagged behind in our benchmark tests.

The Gateway MD7818u was our overall favorite in the category, thanks to its large 500GB hard drive, 16:9 wide-screen display, and generally upscale look and feel. Also notable was the Toshiba Satellite A305-S6916, which costs a little more and loses a bit of hard drive space, but adds a 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 graphics card, which is about as good as you're going to do for graphics in this price range.

Finally, we looked at a handful of mainstream laptops, running from $900-$1,200. Our overall favorite is the latest version of Gateway's FX-series 17-inch, the Gateway P-7805u FX. Gamers on a budget will love the 1GB Nvidia GeForce 9800 GPU, but the 17-inch display deserves a higher screen resolution (which the previous model had). A rare entry in the 15-inch gaming laptop category, we also liked the Asus G50VT, which packed in a 512MB version of the GeForce 9800.

While ordering a laptop direct from a PC maker such as Dell or HP gives one an opportunity to custom-build a machine from scratch, there's clearly a big demand out there for boxed-up, ready to go systems. If you're looking for that kind of instant-gratification retail therapy, there are some good deals out there--just make sure to check the component list carefully, making sure you're getting what you need, and are not paying for too many features you don't want.

New Dell Studio XPS 435 PC chock-full of RAM

Update: According to Dell, "nothing has changed with the XPS brand." Also, TB vs. GB typo corrected.

We can't tell too much about Dell's new Studio XPS 435 from the press release. The new case in the picture certainly looks slick enough, and we're glad to see convenient design notes like the top-mounted USB ports and an unconcealed media card reader (unlike Dell's generic Studio XPS PCs). Based on the $1,099 starting price and specs (Intel Core i7 chips, up to a ridiculous 24GB of RAM, single graphics card slot), the Studio XPS 435 seems to be aimed at the performance crowd, if not necessarily dedicated gamers.

Among the Studio XPS 435's other configurable options, you can get up to a 1GB ATI Radeon HD 4870 graphics card, up to 24GB of DDR3 RAM, and a Blu-ray drive. The 3D card, and the 24GB memory and 4.5TB hard drive limits are all new for Dell's Studio XPS family. The memory and hard drive options are impressive for even high-end gaming PCs, let alone an upper-tier generalist desktop. Not even the boutique vendors have 24GB of RAM yet, a discrepancy we expect will last about two seconds after news of this system breaks out. Paired with fast Intel Core i7 chips, that much RAM should excite even pro-level digital media artists.

We also find the fine print of the Studio XPS 435 press release interesting. Wrapping up its PC family at the end of the text, Dell mentions its Inspiron, Studio, and Studio XPS lines, but skips right over vanilla XPS, home of the XPS One all-in-one and Dell's gaming desktops, for Alienware. We've heard rumors that Dell's Alienware division might finally become the full-time standard bearer of Dell's gaming efforts. We'll see if we can find some clarification.

Tales of a Capital Wasteland Wanderer

Wow. Starting off Fallout 3’s main quest with my character being at level 14 brought a whole slew of achievements (and some nice trophies to go along with them). Let’s see, I killed my first Deathclaw (I still hate them), my first Super Mutant Behemoth and a whole lot of Super Mutant Masters. All of which without breaking a sweat.

Prior to this I was happily wandering around the wastelands, performing side quests and gained a whole of experience, and equally important, loot (ammo, weapons, etc etc). I didn’t want to do the main quest without a. being sufficiently prepared, and b. experiencing what the wastelands have to offer.

Strangely, my dialog options with Three Dog were found to be wanting. Despite being level 14, most of the dialogue options tend to indicate that my character is afraid of Super Mutants. Bahh..