Digizmo

The first 2-in-1 netbook and e-reader is ready to be shipped next week. The dual screen gadget from Entourage incorporates a 9.7-inch E-ink screen on the left and a touchscreen LCD display on the right, which serves two purposes, an e-reader or a normal netbook.

As a marketing strategy, Entourage has launched its own e-book store like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Having its own e-bookstore allows them to offer documents based on their customer demand.

The device will come with 4GB storage, SD card slot for additional storage as well as 2 x USB ports. The $490 device will be running on Google’s Android mobile operating system and will support Microsoft Office documents.

In term of battery life, the power is suffice for 6 hours of operation when using both screens, or primarily the LCD screen. But when runs only using the e-ink part, it could last longer up to 16 hours.

The software giant, Microsoft has recently introduced the Windows Phone 7, their latest mobile operating system. It’s expected to hit the smartphone market somewhere in the 3rd quarter of this year.

Although I’m a bit skeptical on this mobile OS due to some prior personal experience when using the WinMo 5 few years back, I’m quite surprised to find that they’re actually developing the OS from scratch!.

Yes, Microsoft’s really went back to the drawing board and come up with totally fresh OS, without retaining the WinMo. The Windows Phone 7 features a completely revamped home screen and user interface (UI). The UI looks much more simple unlike the WinMo which allows you to put lots of notes/reminder that looks so packed.

The integration with Zune and Xbox LIVE gives a new experience Microsoft’s entertainment products, while the social networking tools has been improved. The usual Start screen is replace with tiles which allows you to scroll vertically and can be customized as links contacts and other widgets.

The Windows Phone 7 is believed to be in response to Google’s Android adoption in the mobile phone industry. It’s just a matter of time before we can see who will win consumers’ heart.

Life is so boring when driving without entertainment especially when driving for hundred of miles. That’s the reason why Sony always keep on updating their series of In Car Entertainment (ICE) systems. Sony is known as one of the best ICE manufacturer in the market.

Recently, Sony has announced their soon to-be-launched flagship in-dash AV system, the Sony XAV-60. It comes with a 6.1-inch WVGA TFT touchscreen display with 17:9 aspect ratio.

Generally speaking, it has most of the features in a normal car stereo such as AM/FM radio and supports multiple AV formats such as CD, DVD, MP3, AAC, WMA as well as MPEG-4. It also supports optical media such as CD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW which gives you a wider options to listen to your favourite music or video files.

Its 52 watt x 4 peak power ensures a maximum output while at the same time maintaining the clarity for better enjoyment. And for those gadgets junkies, the XAV-60 allows you to connect to your iPhone, iPod or other USB devices.Additionally, with the Sony Bus technology, this remarkable ICE system gives you expandability to upgrade to Satellite/HD system in future.

You just need to purchase Sony Bus adaptors which sold separately to enjoy digital satellite radio broadcasts and clearer digital audio broadcast with HD Radio tuner.

Although I’m not a big fan of Windows, I still use it as my secondary Operating System (OS) for both my desktop and notebook. At work, Windows is our primary OS since most of our servers as well as clients are Windows-based. I’m using GRUB as a boot manager, so I could toggle between Windows and Red Hat, one of the most popular distributions of Linux.

Speaking of Windows, I have been its user for quite some time. I have been using a number of Windows OS including Windows 3.1, Windows 95, 98, 2000, XP, Vista and now Windows 7. These has given me opportunities to explore deeper on Windows architecture and understand the common issues that has been reported.

One of my favourite Windows is XP. Why? Because I found this is the best Windows that Microsoft has ever came up with. It’s much more stable compare to others and uses less resources compared to newer Windows such as Vista. I can still remember how disappointed I was when I tried to use Vista with my 1GB memory PC. Only after I did some research on the Internet I found that Vista really sucks out our computers’ resources.

But to use Windows XP, we need to know its need to be updated frequently. We also need to upgrade its Service Pack to ensure that we could use the latest features and its well protected with the latest security patches. A friend of mine used to ask how to setup Windows XP SP2, one of the SP for Windows (the latest available SP for XP is SP3). It’s actually pretty easy to upgrade your service pack. What you need to do is just go to Microsoft’s website and search for ‘Windows XP Service Pack’ and you may download it immediately. Once downloaded, you just need to run the SP upgrade file and follow the easy, step by step instructions.

Today, Windows XP is considered obsolete with the arrival of Windows Vista and 7. But it will be remembered as a legend and the most Windows based OS that’s so reliable and robust. Microsoft will stop suporting Windows XP soon, so ensure that you get the most latest updates before they discontinue the supports.

One of my favourite subject during my college days was Computer Networking. I had to admit that this is one of the most interesting subject in Information System degree programme. And if you’re wondering why, I would simply say because it brings the computers across the world interconnected. The Internet clearly illustrates the advantage of connected world – the ability to share the information and knowledge.

This subject not only gives us the opportunity to explore the fundamentals of computer networking theoretically but also practically with hands on experience. We were required to do hands on networking jobs such as cable crimping, network point installation, wireless AP installation and router configuration.

During our final year, we were also required to attend a 3-month attachment period with IT related companies such as System Integrators and Telecommunications to have a better view of the equipments involved in the real world when they start working soon.

With these experience, we would have a little bit of sneak preview on how the real working environment like. Future employers would prefer fresh graduates with some practical experience rather than merely have theoretical experience. Students with these experience will also have better understanding when they’re introduced to working life.