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November 20, 2006

Oregon man sues Acer, Gateway, et al. for violating hinge patent

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Earlier this month, Mr. Khalil Zaidan of Portland, Oregon, sued Acer, Gateway, Toshiba, HP, IBM, and Fujitsu for violating his 1996 patent “Hinge Assembly for Electronic Devices.” A closer reading of the patent indicates that Zaidan seems to have patented the basic principle behind a tablet PC, allowing a computer to perform “rotational adjustment.” Still, the case — filed in United States District Court, Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division — seems like a pretty easy way to milk these big companies for some cash, given that tablet PCs have been around well before November 2006. Nevertheless, while Zaidan is asking the court for damages on patent infringement be decided in a jury trial, we’re betting that this gets settled out-of-court pretty quick. We’re pretty sure that if Zaidan could actually build a Commodore 64-esque tablet (that’s what his diagram is supposed to represent, right?), he could just make money from that instead of going through all this legal nonsense.

 

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

November 16, 2006

CSIRO wins landmark WLAN lawsuit against Buffalo, more to come?

Filed under: CSIRO,aussie,australia,buffalo,dell,hp,intel,landmark,lawsuit,microsoft,netgear,patent,sue,wifi — Darren Murph @ 10:14 pm

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The same folks who brought us fire-proof plastic, air guitar clothing, and wireless air hockey apparently delivered a lot more of the WiFi technology we all utilize daily than was previously recognized. Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization has won a landmark case against Buffalo Technology, “under which it could receive royalties from every producer of WLAN products worldwide.” US patent 5487069 — which “encompasses elements of the 802.11a/g wireless technology that is now an industry standard” — was granted to the body back in 1996, and has subsequently been utilized in seemingly every piece of wireless kit ever since. Considering their recent victory, CSIRO’s pending cases against Intel, Dell, Microsoft, HP, and Netgear definitely have roots now, and if judges continue to rule in the Aussies’ favor, the big boys could be shelling out “hundreds of millions of dollars” in back pay to cover their wrongs. Ruh roh.

[Thanks, Phil]

 

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

November 7, 2006

HP outs price, ship date for its 30-inch LCD monstrosity

Filed under: 30-inch,display,hp,lcd,lp3065,monitor — Paul Miller @ 11:15 am

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The competition is really heating up in the 30-inch display space. Dell keeps slashing its own 3007WFP prices to ridiculous extremes (we just spotted it for $1,274 on Dell’s own site), Apple finally got its 30-incher under two grand in August, and now HP is busting out its own aggressively priced option for full pixel assault. We’ve already spent plenty of time geeking out over the LP3065′s specs, so the real news here is that HP is offering the display for $1,699, and it’s already been spotted on PC Mall for $1,629, so there seems to be some flex to that pricetag. HP is estimating a ship date of November 11th, and while there might not be much to differentiate HP’s offering from the pack — though a trio of dual-link DVI-D ports does sound intriguing — it’s good to see someone else in the US break the $2,000 barrier.

[Thanks, Jaxim]

 

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

October 25, 2006

HP India busts out line of “Fashiontronics”

Filed under: HpIndia,SuneetVarma,fashiontronics,hp,hp india,suneet varma — Paul Miller @ 12:13 am

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All we really need to feel fabulous is our SPOT watch, head mounted display, and DualCor cPC under arm, but for the more discerning fashionistas, HP India is brewing up their new Fashiontronics line. As far as we can tell, this project is mainly comprised of garish colors, skins and cases for regular ol’ HP products, but apparently premier Indian designer Suneet Varma is involved, so perhaps the designs are not totally lacking cred. The new skins will grace HP’s desktop and laptop line, along with some new Bluetooth Jabra headsets, complete with Swarovski crystals, which are being introduced for HP’s iPAQ range. All of this fits into HP’s “The Computer is Personal Again” campaign, a worthwhile slogan not doubt, but which we must say looks quite silly slapped across one of those VoodooPC behemoths, as we ourselves recently witnessed.

[Via Intelligent Cross-Sell]

 

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October 11, 2006

Switched On: Abbott and Costello meet HP’s board

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Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about echnology, multimedia, and digital entertainment:

Lou: Hey, Abbott, there’s sure been a lot of hullabaloo around HP’s board of directors lately.

Bud: That’s right, Costello. I’ve been reading all about it.

Lou: Ah, then maybe you can help sort it all out for me. Now, the person who used to be HP’s chairman, what’s her name? Bud: Dunn.

Lou: What do you mean, done? You didn’t tell me!

Bud: I just did. Dunn!

Lou: You just did it again!

Bud: Did what?

Lou: Not tell me her name before you finished!

Bud: Oh, sure I did. Stop being ridiculous.

Lou: You’re not very nice to me, Abbott. Why can’t I be heard?

Bud: Because he’s the CEO.

Lou: Hurd?

Bud: Every word you said.

Lou: You mean to tell me the CEO is Hurd.

Bud: Absolutely.

Lou: He’s Hurd everywhere he goes.

Bud: Of course

Lou: He’s Hurd every time, right?

Bud: Well, if he articulates clearly enough, I suppose.

Lou: What does THAT mean?

Bud: You asked me if the man can speak well.

Lou: I did no such thing! Anyway, this Hurd, he’s a good CEO?

Bud: Oh, yes, very good.

Lou: The employees at HP? They respect him?

Bud: Very much so.

Lou: So the HP employees, they follow this Hurd?

Bud: Oh, they’d never do that!

Lou: What do you mean!?

Bud: C’mon, Costello. HP is a very innovative company, They take pride in not following any herd.

Lou: But you just said they respect him!

Bud: They do!

Lou: So they do what the CEO tells them to do?

Bud: Sure, after the CEO is done.

Lou: Dunn is the CEO?

Bud: No, that’s the ex-chairman.

Lou: Who’s the ex-chairman?

Bud: Dunn.

Lou: You did it to me again, Abbott!

Bud: Did what?

Lou: Ah, forget it! So, why is there so much controversy?

Bud: Well, the Board authorized a contractor that engaged in pretexting.

Lou: Pretexting? But I thought you said HP was innovative!

Bud: I did.

Lou: Their computers can handle music, animation and video, right?

Bud: They sure can.

Lou: So what’s wrong with a little pretexting? I do that on my cell phone all the time before I send an SMS.

Bud: Costello, you don’t get it. Contractors posed as employees so they could record what was overheard.

Lou: What could be over Hurd? He’s the CEO!

Bud: Well, as a Board member, he wasn’t over Dunn.

Lou: Why couldn’t he be over Dunn?

Bud: Well, if he overdid things, he would be ineffective like Dunn was.

Lou: Why wasn’t Dunn effective?

Bud: Because the contractors were off the mark.

Lou: I thought Mark is the CEO!

Bud: Of course he is.

Lou: All right, now I’ve got it! Hurd is the CEO and Dunn was the chairman.

Bud: That’s right, Costello!

Lou: Wow, I’ve finally got it down pat.

Bud: I’m not Pat. She’s the ex-chairman.

Lou: Pat is?

Bud: Of course.

Lou: Not Dunn?

Bud: Actually, I am done.

Lou: You’re Dunn?

Bud: No, that’s…

Bud and Lou: the ex-chairman!

Lou: Well, it’s too bad about this Dunn person. Sounds like she’ll need to be looking for jobs.

Bud: Actually, Jobs is… oh, never mind.



Ross Rubin is director of industry analysis for consumer technology at market research and analysis firm The NPD Group and a contributing editor for LAPTOP. Views expressed in Switched On are his own. Feedback is welcome at fliptheswitch@gmail.com.

 

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October 3, 2006

HP’s two megapixel wide-angle webcam

Filed under: 2 megapixel,2Megapixel,hp,web cam,webcam — Donald Melanson @ 8:31 am

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Almost lost amid all the other news HP made last week was this humble little webcam, apparently known only as the HP 2-Megapixel Webcam. Though there’s certainly nothing flashy about it (which we kinda dig, given some of the other webcams we’ve seen), it does pack a fairly decent feature set, with a 2-megapixel still resolution, 800 x 600 video at 30 frames per second, face-tracking, and an integrated microphone. Best of all, however, is the wide-angle lens, which’ll give you (or the person on the other end) a spacious view of 76 degrees diagonally and 65 degrees horizontally. The cam itself measures 6.1 x 1.9 x 2.9-inches and comes with a handy stand that’ll also double as a clip to attach it to a LCD monitor or laptop. No word on price, though it should be out sometime before the holiday season. [Warning: PDF link]

 

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

September 29, 2006

HP iPAQ rx5900 Travel Companion reviewed

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The folks at LAPTOP Magazine have come out with some pretty high praise for HP’s iPAQ rx5900 Travel Companion (a slight variation of the rx5915), calling it the best GPS/PDA hybrid yet and bestowing its Editors’ Choice award on the shiny little handheld. The iPAQ scored the most points for its top-end navigation software, courtesy of TomTom, which they say worked like a charm in conjunction with the SiRFstar III antenna. And, being based on Windows Mobile 5.0, the iPAQ also provided all the PDA functionality you’d expect from a regular handheld, with built-in WiFi and Bluetooth to round out the connectivity options. The biggest downside, not surprisingly, is that the battery will run down pretty quickly when you have the GPS turned on, lasting just 90 minutes with the backlight on as well. Although it does come with a car dock and charger, which will come in handy if you don’t want to have to worry about getting stranded on your next cross-country trip.

 

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

HP Pavilion m7600n Series, a1630 to enjoy HD DVD flavor

Filed under: HdDvd,Pavilion,a1630,hd dvd,hp,m7600n — Cyrus Farivar @ 3:21 am

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While we were all distracted with HP’s recent acquisition of Voodoo PC, Misters Hewlett and Packard went and quietly released two new PCs sportin’ that sexy HD DVD that we love so much. The first is the HP Pavilion m7600n Series PC (pictured) running Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, which packs an Intel Viiv chipset with Merom chips — or an Intel P965 Express chipset — up to 4GB of RAM, up to 500GB of storage, that ever-so-lovely HD DVD drive, a TV tuner with PVR software, an FM tuner, optional second tuner, remote control, and of course standard wired and wireless networking. Its more practical counterpart, the Pavilion Desktop PC a1630 with HD DVD prefers the AMD action, with a 2.2 GHz Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core, a nVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE video chipset, up to 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, and a front-panel 9-in-1 memory card reader. Now, while we love these glossy spec sheets as much as the next guy, what we’d really love to see are some price tags and release dates to go with ‘em. [Warning: PDF link]

Read – HP Pavilion m7600n Series
Read – HP Pavilion a1630

 

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

September 28, 2006

HP’s Pavilion dv9000t goes HD DVD

Filed under: HP dv900t,HdDvd,HpDv900t,dv9000t,hd dvd,hdmi,hp,laptop,notebook — Darren Murph @ 10:15 pm

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Looks like the bevy of holiday updates are getting a bit of a headstart this year, as HP is already hoping its revamped Pavilion dv900t will be the prized jewel under a few lucky trees. Raising the already heightened bar, the flagship unit in the dv9000 series is receiving an oh-so-coveted HD DVD drive that doubles as a dual-layer DVD burner. It also packs a 17-inch 1,440 x 900 resolution LCD, 2.16GHz T7400 Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, dual 100GB SATA drives, nVidia GeForce Go 7600 graphics, 1.3 megapixel webcam, HDMI, 7.1 audio out, ExpressCard slot, twin headphone ports, the usual complement of connectivity options, and battery life stretching just over 2.5 hours. For those of you who rushed out to pick up last month’s flavor and just can’t get that craving for HD DVD to subside, HP’s also bringing the High Definition DVD-ROM drive (that’s an external HD DVD drive, folks) to the table. Both items should be hitting shelves (and shopping lists) soon, and while the dv9000t will set you back a respectable $2,395, pricing for the standalone HD DVD unit remains up in the air.

 

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

HP buying VoodooPC

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With its high-profile XPS line and recent purchase of boutique gaming house Alienware, for awhile it looked like Dell would be the only major PC manufacturer willing to cater to serious gamers. Not anymore. In a move that caught everyone, including us, completely by surprise (you’ll notice the lack of backlinks to any rumor posts about this), HP announced today that it will acquire Alienware rival VoodooPC for an undisclosed sum. After the deal closes — following the usual regulatory rigmarole — HP will form a new business unit dedicated to gaming in its Personal Systems Group, with Voodoo co-owners (and brothers) Rahul and Ravi Sood assuming the roles of Chief Technologist and Director of Strategy, respectively. As you’re probably aware, the acquisition comes at somewhat of a turbulent time for HP: not only is the company still reeling from the bruising merger with Compaq under former CEO Carly Fiorina, it’s currently undergoing unwanted public and governmental scrutiny over the so-called “pretexting” scandal that led to the recent resignation of chairwoman Patricia Dunn. Although we doubt that the Voodoo deal is going to make everyone forget about the alleged spying that has occurred, it’s nice to know that once HP finally puts this ugly mess behind it, consumers (especially gamers) can expect to benefit from some hot products and lower pricing that can only be realized now that Dell has some real competition on its hands. [Warning: PDF link]

 

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September 17, 2006

HP Compaq’s tc4400 tablet PC joins the Merom crowd

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If you thought the bevy of Merom-based laptops coming at you had finally stalled, well, maybe it has — but HP Compaq’s tc4000 tablet PC has arrived (albeit fashionably late) with spec-bumped innards that include an Intel Core Duo 1.83GHz T5600 processor. Aside from the Merom boost, this convertible also packs 512MB of DDR2 RAM, a 12.1-inch XGA display, 5,400RPM 80GB hard drive, 56k modem, gigabit Ethernet, 802.11a/b/g, biometric fingerprint sensor, and a 6-cell battery. It comes fully prepared for that stylus abuse thanks to the included Windows XP Tablet Edition 2005, and sports the usual complement of ports: VGA out, S-Video out, microphone in, headphone jack, IR, and a trio of USB 2.0 connectors. If you’ve somehow held out on those Merom-powered laptops and just can’t resist the allure of taking notes on an LCD, the tc4400 is available now for $1,479.

[Via Laptoping]

 

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

September 8, 2006

HP iPAQ hw6940 hits retail channels, finally

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Has HP come through in the clutch — or is it too little, too late? That’s the question Pocket PC-hungry consumers will be answering in the next few weeks now that the long… nay, long-rumored hw6940 Mobile Messenger is finally shipping stateside. We were sorta excited about this thing, like, nine months ago, but at this point we’re not sure how we feel about Bluetooth 1.2, a pedestrian 64MB of RAM, and the lack of 802.11g — not to mention that the inclusion of AKU2 doesn’t command the same respect it did just a few short months back. Add to that the $600 this thing will set you back, and needless to say we’re hoping Cingular’s going to bless it with a hefty subsidy when it finally drops in their neck of the woods.

[Via MobilitySite]

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August 24, 2006

Apple, Dell, Lenovo, HP working on battery manufacturing standards

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If there’s one thing this summer’s taught us, it’s that pleather is never a good idea during a heat wave. But if there’s two things this summer’s taught us, it’s that batteries are extremely combustible, and one company with a recent history of naughty mishaps can spoil a lot of peoples’ fun with some lithium-ion charged explosions. This is probably why Apple, Dell, Lenovo, HP, and other laptop manufacturers are planning to hold a summit in San Jose, California with the intent to tackle some of the issues associated with li-ion cells powering today’s portables, and to come to some agreement about standards for manufacturing processes and quality control. They and the rest of the OEM Critical Components Committee of the IPC-Association Connecting Electronics Industries are expected to lay the groundwork for such battery manufacturing standards with the hopes that no man or woman or child’s box shall ever again unexpectedly explode on their table, in their car, in their home, plane, pocket, or anywhere else for that matter. Gee golly, we are so stoked at the idea of our laptops not, like, totally burning down our home that you guys soo don’t even know.

[Via AppleInsider]

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July 27, 2006

Core 2 Duo-powered Dell XPS 410 and HP Pavilion d4600y desktops announced, reviewed

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If there's anything better than killing two birds with one stone it's killing four of them, and thanks to a pair of early looks from Cnet, we're able to cram two product announcements and their corresponding reviews into one tidy little post. Even though they were just unveiled today, the tech mega-site was already able to take Dell's XPS 410 (pictured, left) and HP's Pavilion d4600y (pictured, right) Core 2 Duo-powered desktops out for a spin, and both machines come across as very capable performers. The two rigs share the same 2.4GHz E6600 CPU and 2GB of 667MHz DDR2 RAM -- meaning that they throw down almost identical benchmark numbers, with the HP enjoying a slight but ultimately inconsequential edge -- but the Dell's nVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS graphics card with 512MB VRAM makes short work of the ATI Radeon X1600XT-sporting Pavilion in the all-important gaming department. Dual 320GB hard drives also put the XPS 410 on top when it comes to storage capacity (although the d4600y still offers a very reasonable dual 250GB HDD array), and both towers seem equally well-suited for multimedia applications with their on-board dual-tuner TV cards and plethora of connectivity options. In the end, each $2,000 system earned a Very Good score of exactly 7.2 from Cnet, with the Dell obviously getting the nod for gamers, while the cheap-looking but feature-filled HP sounds like a better choice for the all-around user who wants greater expandability. Luckily, the hot new dual-core processors in both PCs means that you'll be getting one of the fastest machines on the market, no matter which model you choose.

Read- Dell XPS 410
Read- HP Pavilion d4600y
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July 17, 2006

HP’s very tiny wireless chip dubbed Memory Spot

Filed under: DataChip,Wireless,data chip,hp — Darren Murph @ 9:48 pm

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So we’ve seen how cramming an incredible amount of information onto a small strip (ahem, RFID) is changing logistics and data processing functions, but the brains at HP have created something a bit more substantive. Cleverly named Memory Spot, their new wireless chip is the size of a grain of rice and can hold between 256k and 4MB of data (depending on its corresponding physical size); the Spot can disseminate information at 10Mbps to any reader-equipped device, such as a cell phone, notebook, or PDA. So what’s the need for yet another fancy microtransmitter system? Well, it’s the inherit storage capacity that makes the microscopic technology stand out over today’s more familiar NFC technologies; HP seems to believe that Memory Spots can be used in storing medical records on patient’s wristbands, adding audio clips to paintings, security passes, etc., eerily encouraging your imagination to go wild. (Just think of the dirt you could get on your mobile screen passing a bus-load of tagged inmates, yikes.) Howard Taub, VP of HP Labs, stated that these would go for 10-50 cents a piece when they’re released commercially in a couple years, after which we’re sure they’ll immediately be put to good use within HP’s management team.

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July 14, 2006

Atlanta families test washers and dryers of the future

Filed under: InternetHomeAlliance,dryer,hp,internet home alliance,microsoft,panasonic,washer — Donald Melanson @ 4:40 pm

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Next week, three Atlanta families will begin an eight-week trial put on by the Internet Home Alliance in which they face off against Internet connected washers and dryers in a battle of laziness and sanity. The technology in question comes courtesy of Microsoft, HP, Panasonic, Proctor & Gamble and Whirlpool, whose combined efforts have resulted in appliances that can contact you via your TV, PC, or cellphone -- letting you know when a load is finished, if there's a problem, or if you forgot to turn them on in the first place. Unfortunately, the Alliance seems to have overlooked the much-needed robotic component, which is vital for picking up your dirty laundry and hauling it down to the basement; so, as is often the case around here: no robots, no sale.

[Via Slashdot]
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July 13, 2006

Lightscribe to get color?

Filed under: DVD,burner,cd,color,hp,lightscribe — Stan Horaczek @ 6:48 am

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Apparently, the staff at TGDaily were flipping through the user's manual for one of their Lightscribe-equipped drives when they stumbled across a rather oblique mention of an upcoming color version of the current monochrome technology. They did a little journalizing and eventually contacted an HP PR staff, who informed them that "Lightscribe color background CDs are expected to be available later this year." This could be referring to the different colored Lightscribe discs that have seen release here and there, but when it comes to truly color laser CD imaging, obviously no official announcements have been made yet. We wouldn't be entirely surprised if the launch so many a Lightscribe fans have been waiting for winds up being timed to coincide with the announcement of an HP HD DVD drive or two. For right now though, we'll be sticking to our analog CD and DVD labeler, or as you may know it by its other name: a Sharpie marker.

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July 12, 2006

HP’s Compaq Presario v6000 laptop

Filed under: compaq,hp,laptop,presario,v5000,v6000 — Paul Miller @ 11:23 am

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HP has more laptop love for us today, this time with some of that Compaq branding. It's nothing new in the design department, but the shiny new v6000 has a fresh model number, and accompanies the v3000 with more budget laptop goodness. It's replacing the v5000 models, but there's nothing too terribly exciting to see here. The units feature AMD Turion 64 X2 and Mobile or AMD Sempron processors, and eke by with a GeForce Go 6150 graphics card. Luckily, the v6000 shines in the little things, featuring a 5-in-1 card reader, Firewire, three USB 2.0 ports, ExpressCard/54 slot, 802.11a/b/g WiFi and Bluetooth. Unfortunately, most of those features are optional, and it sounds like the barebones version of this PC is very bare indeed. No word on price or exact availability, but at 6.6 pounds, with a 15.4-inch display and some nice new looks, it still shouldn't be a terrible option for the style-conscious consumer on a budget when it does drop.
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HP Pavilion DV6000 and DV9000 laptops

Filed under: Pavilion,compaq,dv6000,dv6000z,dv9000,hp,laptop,notebook — Stan Horaczek @ 10:29 am

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The 15.4 and 17-inch iterations of HP’s consumer-centric Pavilion line of laptops have gotten another update from two less-than jaw dropping, at least performance-wise, machines. Both the DV6000 and DV9000 come out of the box with an ExpressCard slot, Altec Lansing speakers, an optional webcam, a 5-in-1 media readers and your choice of an AMD Turion 64 X2 dual-core or a plain old AMD Sempron processor. The 7.8-pound DV9000 (replacing the DV8000) sports a 17-inch WXGA (yuck) or WSXGA screen, a dual hard disk configuration and NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600 graphics. The 6.5-pound DV6000 (replacing the DV5000) rocks a 15.4-inch WXGA screen, as well as the NVIDIA GeForce Go 7200 card, for a starting price around $850. Things get slightly more impressive on the outside, with same piano black, Zen rock garden-inspired design as the smaller DV2000. The DV6000 is available on HP’s website right now for a starting price of $879, but you’ll have to sit and meditate a little longer while they prepare the DV9000.

 

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July 6, 2006

HP dons white hat to hack customers’ servers

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Usually the term "hacking" has some rather negative connotations, so it almost seems counterintuitive to pay someone good money for breaking into your system, but that's exactly what HP is offering to do for its corporate customers with a new service called HP Active Countermeasures, or HPAC. As you'd imagine, HP's hackers won't do anything malicious once they break into a client's server -- propagating a worm, for instance, would seem to be bad for business -- but they will use a combination of buffer, heap, and stack overflows to exploit a system in much the same way that black hatters cause Internet terror on a daily basis. Specifically, the company will employ one of its own servers to launch attacks using eight to ten scanning clients for every 250,000 devices that are part of the program, and offer customers a temporary patch until they're able to hire a dedicated security firm for shoring up any vulnerabilities. Pricing is promised to be "aggressive," with firms using less than 20,000 IP addresses expected to pay only a few dollars per user per year for the privilege of learning how shoddy their security really is.

[Via The Inquirer]
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July 3, 2006

HP Pavilion md5880n 1080p DLP TV reviewed

Filed under: 1080p,58-inch,HD,HDTV,dlp,high-definition,hp,md5880n,pavillion,rptv — Stan Horaczek @ 1:40 pm

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Those good sports over at PC World subjected themselves to the tough job of spending time with that 58-inch DLP HDTV from HP we first heard about at CES, and the verdict is overwhelmingly positive. The 118-pound wobulator takes up its fair share of living room space, but with a wide array of features, like built-in 2.1 sound, 1080p resolution, a menu system that’s “just about perfect,” and an extensive array of picture tweaking options, the trade-off is easily justified. The inputs, which are conveniently located in the front of the TV, include two HDMIs, two component-videos, a VGA, CableCard and two RF inputs, as well as a USB port for firmware upgrades. At $3,500, it’s a lot cheaper than most other, flatter alternatives, so you might even have enough money left over to keep your PS3 fund alive.

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June 2, 2006

HP’s Pavilion DV1700 and DV5200 laptops

Filed under: Pavilion,core duo,coreduo,hp,japan,laptop,notebook — Thomas Ricker @ 9:31 am

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HP just gave a bump to their Pavilion lineup with the introduction of their DV1700 and DV5200 laptops in Japan. Destined for casual consumers, not suits, both models feature Core Duo CPUs, up to 2GB memory, ExpressCard slots, a multi-format memory card slot, and HP QuickPlay allowing you to fire-up DVDs and CDs without booting into XP. The DV1700 gets down with a Core D14-inch, 1280 x 768 (WXGA) LCD, up to 100GB SATA disk, Intel’s 945GM Express integrated graphics and the ability to tuck the remote control card away in the ExpressCard slot. The DV5200 features a 15.4-inch LCD with a 1280 x 800 resolution, up to 120GB of SATA disk, integrated Altec Lansing speakers, and the same Intel integrated graphics which may, or may not be adequate to make Vista’s Aero interface sing. Both slabs will drop in Japan on June 2 with base configs for the DV1700 pulling ¥79,800/$710 while the DV5200 will start at ¥84,000 or about $750. Snap of the DV5200 after the break.

[Via Impress Watch]

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May 15, 2006

HP iPaq hw6915 PocketPC phone reviewed

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We’ve been on the fence about HP’s hw6000 line of Swiss Army phones ever since we first spotted the GPS-equipped iPaq hw6515 — these models include everything but the kitchen sink, but they also force you to use that non-standard 240 x 240 screen. Still, MobileTechReview’s in-depth look at the latest member of the family, the hw6915, makes us think we could overlook the square screen and lack of 3G data options because, well, the rest of this Windows Mobile 5.0-powered smartphone sounds like exactly what us convergence-geeks are seeking. According to MTR, the quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE handset impresses on many fronts, including its solid keyboard, powerful internal antenna, GPS performance, and best-in-class benchmark numbers. HP also throws in some nice extras, like helpful Today screen plug-ins, a full-featured wireless radio manager, the ability to location-stamp photos, and even A2DP in the Bluetooth stack, which isn’t normally included in WM5 AKU2 devices out of the box. Besides the fact that this screen resolution may not support all third-party apps, the only real knock to this model concerns the camera’s startup/shutter lags — and if that’s the worst thing to be said about a device that seemingly does it all, then we’re totally sold.

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HP iPaq hw6915 PocketPC phone reviewed

Filed under: , ,

We’ve been on the fence about HP’s hw6000 line of Swiss Army phones ever since we first spotted the GPS-equipped iPaq hw6515 — these models include everything but the kitchen sink, but they also force you to use that non-standard 240 x 240 screen. Still, MobileTechReview’s in-depth look at the latest member of the family, the hw6915, makes us think we could overlook the square screen and lack of 3G data options because, well, the rest of this Windows Mobile 5.0-powered smartphone sounds like exactly what us convergence-geeks are seeking. According to MTR, the quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE handset impresses on many fronts, including its solid keyboard, powerful internal antenna, GPS performance, and best-in-class benchmark numbers. HP also throws in some nice extras, like helpful Today screen plug-ins, a full-featured wireless radio manager, the ability to location-stamp photos, and even A2DP in the Bluetooth stack, which isn’t normally included in WM5 AKU2 devices out of the box. Besides the fact that this screen resolution may not support all third-party apps, the only real knock to this model concerns the camera’s startup/shutter lags — and if that’s the worst thing to be said about a device that seemingly does it all, then we’re totally sold.

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May 9, 2006

Five new Compaq business laptops from HP

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Because we know that you can never get tired of reading laptop specs, we have five more HP models to drop on you, including the waif-like 12-inch nc2400 (pictured) which weighs in at a mere 2.8-pounds. All five of these Compaq-branded notebooks are targeted at business users, and all but the 15.4-inch (WXGA or WXSGA+) nx7400 series — which can also be equipped with a Celeron M — sport one of several Core Duo or Solo flavors. Graphics here range from integrated (the 12.1-inch nc4400) to ATI Mobility Radeon X1300 (14.1-inch, WXGA or WXGA+ nc6400) to an ATI Mobility FireGL V5200 card available in certain configurations of the15.4-inch nw8440 series. All these machines offer WiFi and a minimum of 512MB RAM and a 40GB HDD out of the box, with some models sporting extras like a fingerprint reader, 7200RPM hard drive, and LightScribe dual-layer DVD burner. No prices are known for the nc2400 or the nc4400, which are coming on May 22nd, but the other models are available immediately with prices starting at $1,549 for the nc6400, $740 for the nx7400, and $1,599 for the nc8400 series.

Read- nc2400
Read- nc4400
Read- nc6400
Read- nx7400
Read- nc8440

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